May 2020 E-Newsletter
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Federal Court Rules: County of Nassau's Attempt to Block Deposition of Former Sheriff About Disciplines and Charges is Defeated and Court Allows Retired Corrections Officers to Question Nassau County Sheriff in His Refusal to Issue "Good Guy" Letters Which Prevented Their Obtaining Pistol Permits
In a nine-page decision, Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson ruled that she will uphold her order from March of 2019 and require former Nassau County Sheriff Michael Sposato to be questioned about prior record
A group of retired Nassau County Corrections Officers — Alexandros Perros, Thomas Delle, Nicholas Lenoci, Victor Patalano, Ronald Lanier and Ibrahim Zahran — were successful in opposing the County of Nassau’s effort to shield its former Sheriff from having to answer questions by their lawyer about his history.
On June 28, 2018, during his deposition, Defendant Michael Sposato, a retired Nassau County Sheriff, was asked by the Plaintiffs’ counsel if he was ever disciplined or charged with any offenses while working for the Town of Oyster Bay or Nassau County. The defense argued that the question was irrelevant and, after both parties conferenced on the phone with the Court, an initial determination was made, limiting the scope of the question that could be posed to Sposato. In essence, “the Court limited the scope of the questions to the timeframe of Sposato's tenure as sheriff — a period of ten years.” At that time, the Plaintiffs reserved their right to make a further application to the Court regarding this topic, and later obtained leave to file a motion for reconsideration.
In their motion for reconsideration, the Plaintiffs presented “new evidence,” obtained after the Court's oral ruling, in which Sposato further testified about training he received in 1994 as a cook and kitchen supervisor at the jail before joining the Sheriff's office. In part, Plaintiffs’ counsel argued that, if Sposato was disciplined during his training, that would impact his credibility.
The Court ruled, stating: “The Court will allow Plaintiffs’ counsel to re-open the deposition of former Sheriff Sposato in order for Sposato to answer Plaintiffs’ questions about any ‘prior charges and disciplines’ during his tenure working in the Nassau County jail beginning in 1994.”
After this ruling, in March of 2019, the County submitted an affidavit from Michael R. Golio, Captain of the Nassau County Sheriff's Department, that stated the Plaintiffs were issued “good guy letters,” which would now allow them to obtain pistol permits as retirees. The Plaintiffs argued the affidavit should be disallowed as Golio was never named on the Defendants’ witness list and his after-the-fact affidavit was not relevant.
A year later, on March 31, 2020, U.S. Magistrate Judge A. Kathleen Tomlinson denied Sposato's motion for reconsideration of his deposition to be reopened. Writing in response to the County’s effort, Magistrate Judge Tomlinson stated, “Defendants contend the fresh ‘good guy’ letters render Sposato’s reopened deposition irrelevant; the Court disagrees. This motion is an unabashed attempt by Defendants to take a second bite at the apple of objecting to the scope of testimony which Plaintiffs seek to elicit from Sposato.”
Magistrate Judge Tomlinson also pointed out that the Defendants had access to the information provided by the Plaintiffs in their initial motion and had the opportunity to challenge the Plaintiffs’ motion before the March 2019 Order was issued, but, “for whatever reason, Defendants opted not to file any opposition to Plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration.” The Defendants opposed the motion only after a favorable decision for Plaintiffs, and then they “chose to bring NCSD’s change in policy to the Court’s attention” in an attempt to use “as a vehicle to interpose arguments about . . . Sposato’s testimony,” which the Court found "unconvincing.” The Court saw “no reason to disturb its March 28, 2019 order."
Frederick K. Brewington, Esq. and Student Intern Gulfam Dhillon of The Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington worked on this motion for the Plaintiffs in this case.
To read the decision, click here.
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