![]() ![]() The cash was to be transferred into an escrow account controlled by Freeman by Alex Rosenstrach and released to Handy once it was assured all four defendants in the case would not face prosecution.Ī second document shows a screenshot of a text message allegedly sent by Freeman to Hacker, a Troy-based personal injury lawyer. The filings included an undated, unsigned draft settlement between the defendants and Handy for $650,000. The planned start of the criminal trial in November was scuttled after court filings brought to light communications between Paul Freeman, Handy’s civil attorney, and Jim Hacker, a civil attorney for the Rosenstrachs, in which they discussed a settlement that would hinge on the four escaping indictment - an arrangement that raised the prospect of the Handys refusing to assist prosecutors in exchange for the settlement. The defendants still faced a single felony count of unlawful imprisonment and several misdemeanors. “The word that comes to mind is extortion,” Marcelle said.įour people - Columbia County Sheriff’s Deputy Kelly Rosenstrach her husband, gym owner Alex Rosenstrach IRS agent Bryan Haag and local contractor Corey Gaylord - were initially indicted on gang assault charges in the case, but Judge Richard Koweek dropped the top charges in late 2021 after prosecutors were unable to prove Handy was sufficiently injured. Marcelle said it was clear that Handy had been aware of his attorney’s outreach. ![]() On Wednesday, Marcelle said any such negotiations would be legally problematic, and that the problem laid “squarely at the feet of the Handys,” referring to the alleged victim and his wife, who was present at the July 4, 2020, party where Handy was injured. The case was upended late last year after it was revealed that Handy’s civil attorney had attempted to secure a settlement with a lawyer for one of the defendants that would have been conditioned on no one being indicted for the incident - a deal that would have raised a host of ethical as well as potentially criminal issues. HUDSON - Calling it “a legal futility” to continue moving forward, state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Marcelle dismissed the case against four defendants charged with various crimes in the July 2020 beating of local mechanic Harold Handy at a party at a sheriff deputy’s house. Facebook Twitter Email Defendants gym owner Alex Rosenstrach, left, and wife, Columbia County Sheriff's Deputy Kelly Rosenstrach, right, appear with their attorneys before state Supreme Court Judge Thomas Thomas Marcelle during a pretrial hearing for the four people accused of beating Columbia County car mechanic Harold Handy on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, at the Columbia County Courthouse in Hudson N.Y.
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