By the end of 2023, the team at Barket Epstein had won an extraordinary number of cases over a short four-month period, including a win in the Court of Appeals, two in the appellate division, and four jury trials, including the acquittal of a teenager charged with murder, two sexual assault cases and a DWI.
Since that time, there have been multiple additional substantial court wins to add to the win streak.
While keeping track of win statistics at law firms is not a thing, this kind of success is not typical, though it is the most objective testament to the hard work and expertise this firm brings to bear on every case it touches.
Here is a short list of some of notable, recent wins:
- Million Dollar Settlement for the Estate of Kevin Callahan: On June 10, 2024, Bruce Barket, Donna Aldea, and Alexander Klein settled Callahan v. County of Suffolk for $1.75 million. A shining example of the tenacity of representation offered at BEKAL, the litigation spanned a dozen years, four judges, and two make-or-break trips to the United States Court of Appeals—where Barket, Klein and Aldea won on both occasions. The settlement came on the doorstep of what would have been a second trial, and the resolution of the matter has drawn significant attention in the media, including from Newsday and ABC News.
- Settlement for the Estate of Tony McClam: In September 2020, Tony McClam was incarcerated and awaiting trial at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan (MCC). In the early morning hours of September 24, Tony began suffering a heart attack in his cell. He received no attention from guards or other staff until approximately 7:00 a.m., at which point he had been deceased for so long that his body was cold to the touch.
Led by Bruce Barket and Alexander Klein, BEKAL brought a claim directly against the United States government under what is known as the “Federal Tort Claims Act,” arguing that the government was vicariously liable for the alleged negligence and related torts of MCC’s staff. Toward the conclusion of discovery, BEKAL reached a settlement with the United States government to bring a measure of justice to the McClam family for their loss.
- Appellate Reversal for Cornell Student: Donna Aldea, head of Appellate and Post-Conviction Litigation at Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea and LoTurco, LLP, obtained a reversal of a Cornell University student’s conviction of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree and Attempted Rape in the First Degree in a unanimous and detailed 10-page decision from the Appellate Division, Third Department.
Osman was a Cornell University undergraduate student who was charged with sexually assaulting another student through forcible compulsion. The complainant’s testimony was graphic, but her actions before and after the incident – including giggling on Osman’s lap while protesting that she had a boyfriend, hugging and kissing him goodbye after the alleged assault, and then inviting him back to her apartment later that day in a series of text messages that she purposely deleted from the copies she showed her friends and subsequently provided to law enforcement – seemed inconsistent with a forcible sexual assault. The Appellate Division held that the trial court committed reversible error in permitting the prosecution to elicit Osman’s statement to the complainant, just before the alleged assault, that he had previously served time in prison.
While the District Attorney argued that this statement was inextricably interwoven with the crime itself, and constituted proof of intent or a threat to secure the complainant’s compliance, the Appellate Division rejected these arguments as insufficient in probative value to overcome the prejudice to the defendant. Additionally, the Court held that while the evidence against Osman was legally sufficient to support the conviction, it was not overwhelming; accordingly, in this case based entirely on credibility, the Court concluded, the error in admitting this evidence was not harmless.
- Trial for Craig Costello: The matter of Craig Costello involves a federal civil rights claim arising from the use of a taser gun against an unarmed man in his brother’s driveway. On August 21, 2023, the Suffolk County Attorney’s Office filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming that the officer’s force was reasonable under the circumstances or that he was otherwise entitled to dismissal on account of “qualified immunity.” On November 27, 2023, Alexander Klein opposed the motion—highlighting that the degree of force was unreasonable across a wide spectrum of considerations, including the severity of the alleged offenses under investigation, the lack of immediate threat that Craig posed as he stood unarmed and stopped in his brother’s driveway, and Craig’s lack of resistance immediately before being shot with the taser.
On June 26, 2024, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York agreed with Klein and denied the County’s motion on all counts. The matter is now scheduled for trial on October 21, 2024.
- Criminal Indictment Dismissed for Corey S.:Our partner, John LoTurco head of our Suffolk County criminal practice group, obtained a complete dismissal of a criminal indictment on June 5, 2024 at the Suffolk County Court on behalf of our client, Corey S.
The dismissed indictment charges included the Class B Violent Felony of Assault in the 1st Degree, and two counts of the Class C Violent Felony of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 2nd Degree. This was a de novo indictment whereby the Suffolk County Police Department and the Suffolk District Attorney investigated a shooting at an Islip biker bar where it was alleged that our client shot a rival biker gang member and fled the scene on foot.
Ultimately, the presiding judge agreed to release Corey in his own recognizance at the time of the arraignment based upon LoTurco’s written argument supporting Corey’s innocence, and eventually agreed to dismiss the entire indictment based upon LoTurco’s investigation with the DA’s consent.
