The Nassau County district attorney has been blocked from re-presenting to the grand jury an alleged extortion case against a lawyer and his client by a judge who ruled the prosecution had let too much time elapse after the indictment was dismissed. Acting Supreme Court Justice Daniel Martin in Suffolk County (See Profile) issued the writ of prohibition on Jan. 4, holding that prosecutors could not re-present their case against Smithtown lawyer Robert Del Col and his client, Leftheris Doukas. They were charged two years ago with second-degree grand larceny for alleged extortion attempts against a patent-holding company.
The district attorney’s office used a former assistant, appointed as a “special assistant district attorney,” to present the case to the grand jury. But Nassau County Court Judge Meryl Berkowitz (See Profile) in October 2010 dismissed the indictment, ruling the office lacked authority to make such an appointment. She gave prosecutors another 45 days to re-present the case to a new grand jury. The Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed and the Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal. Between the denied leave to appeal and the commencement of the instant proceedings, Martin noted 103 days had passed when no stay was in effect. “It is evident that respondents’ time to re-present the criminal matter to a grand jury has expired, more than twice the allotted time having elapsed,” Martin wrote in Del Col v. Rice, 21193-12.
