Judge drops sex assault charges against New Haven rabbi, leaves others pending
NEW HAVEN — In a startling development on the last day of
testimony, a Superior Court judge Monday dismissed four counts of second-degree
sexual assault against Rabbi Daniel Greer, leaving him accused solely of four
counts of risk of injury to a child.
After defense attorney William Dow III rested his case in
the late morning and the jury was dismissed for an early lunch break, Dow
surprised Superior Court Judge Jon M. Alandar and others in the courtroom by
saying, “I move for acquittal” on the sexual assault counts.
Dow said there is a statute of limitations requirement. He
then cited a phrase in Connecticut law stating allegations of sexual assault
must be reported by the alleged victim within five years of the purported
offenses. The alleged victim in this case, Eliyahu Mirlis, has said Greer
sexually assaulted him from 2002-05 but he didn’t make his complaint with New
Haven police until 2016. The prosecutors have charged just for the alleged
conduct from 2002-03.
The New Haven Register is identifying Mirlis because he has
said he wants his name used.
Alandar, clearly surprised by Dow’s motion, asked why he had
waited this long to raise the issue. Dow replied it was a “tactical” decision.
The prosecutors, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Maxine
Wilensky and Assistant State’s Attorney Karen Roberg, also were obviously
surprised by Dow’s motion. With court still in session, they quickly began
studying the state statute, then asked Alander for a 30-minute recess to look
into it more closely. Alander agreed to the break, saying he needed to study
the law too.
When court reconvened, with the jury still absent, Alander
said the Connecticut legislature had established a statute of limitations of 30
years for sex crimes. But Alander noted the legislators added a provision,
specifying the accuser must tell police or another state authority about the
allegations “not later than five years after the alleged offense.”
“The defendant is correct,” Alander said. “The motion for
acquittal on those four counts is granted.”
The attorneys went ahead with their closing arguments Monday
afternoon to the jury on the four remaining risk of injury to a child counts.
That charge is a felony. Wilensky said if Greer were convicted on all four
counts, the maximum sentence would be 80 years.
Greer, 79, of West Park Avenue, was dean of Yeshiva New
Haven when the alleged conduct occurred. Mirlis was 15 , according to the
prosecutors.
Outside the courtroom, Dow said, “We’re gratified that the
judge applied the law and dismissed four counts that were time-barred. But
we’re facing four equally serious charges. I hope the jury applies the law of
reasonable doubt.”
Dow added, “I don’t want to win the battle (getting four of
the counts dismissed) and lose the war in a conviction.”
He declined to say at what point he discovered the key
phrase in the law that allowed him to argue for dismissal of the sexual assault
charges.
Before Dow rested his case Monday, he called to the witness
stand Thomas DeRosa, who taught at Yeshiva New Haven and had Mirlis as one of
his students. He described Mirlis as “uncooperative, to say the least” as well
as “dangerous” and “acting out a great deal.”
DeRosa said he gave Mirlis a grade of F in math because he
was rarely in class and refused to take the final exam. But he said Avi Hack,
the assistant dean, then asked him to “justify” the failing grade. DeRosa said
school officials overruled him and gave Mirlis a B.
Dow also called upon Rabbi Abraham Nottis of Lancaster, Pa.,
who formerly had a school within Yeshiva New Haven. He said he has never met
Mirlis but knew Greer. Nottis said he was “evicted” and so moved his school to
Lancaster.
Dow asked Nottis a series of questions about the honor of
having a person named as a witness at a Jewish wedding and being designated to
hold the child at a circumcision ceremony (bris). Mirlis chose Greer for both
roles.
Nottis said it’s important to name a person who is not
“tainted” to be a witness at a wedding or the marriage is considered “invalid.”
As for the bris role, he said it’s an honorable designation given to “a father
figure.”
Dow has asserted that if Mirlis had been sexually assaulted
by Greer, he would not have given him those honors.
When the jurors returned to hear the closing arguments,
Alander informed them Greer is now charged only with the risk of injury to a
child counts. “Do not speculate as to the reasons why,” he told them. “It’s not
important.”
Wilensky, who handled the first part of the state’s
two-pronged closing arguments, said that when Mirlis arrived at Yeshiva New
Haven in the fall of 2001, he was 13, had had no sex education because of his
Jewish Orthodox upbringing and was “completely naive in the ways of the world.”
Wilensky said Greer was “the pinnacle, the center, the power
in that community. You would go to him for just about everything.”
According to Wilensky, Greer “became a parental figure” to
Mirlis. She said during Mirlis’ second year at the school, Greer manipulated
him and “introduced him to his first sexual experience.”
But she said Mirlis was “brainwashed” by Greer and didn’t
dare tell anybody what was happening. He feared nobody would believe him.
“He knew it felt good,” Wilensky said of Mirlis’ confused
reaction. “But he also knew he felt horrible afterward.”
While Greer and his wife, Sarah Greer, sat in the courtroom,
Wilensky outlined in detail the specifics of the four charges, which involve
anal and oral sex.
“There was nothing accidental about this,” Wilensky said.
“The defendant’s actions were purposeful and well thought-out.”
Wilensky said if you count the years of all the alleged
sexual conduct, from 2002 to 2006, including the uncharged conduct, the total
number of alleged encounters is “about 106 times.” Mirlis testified Greer
arranged for them to get together once or twice a week at locations around the
school campus, at Greer’s house and once at a motel in Branford.
Addressing Dow’s assertions that Mirlis’ accounts are
inconsistent, Wilensky said: “Will he remember every single episode, where it
took place, what took place?”
Wilensky cited testimony by Lisa Melillo, a school
psychologist, who said lost memories can be “triggered” by events many years later.
“Omission is not an inconsistency,” Wilensky said. “It’s not a lie.”
Focusing on why Mirlis didn’t say Greer touched his crotch
area during their first alleged encounter until he testified last week,
Wilensky said, “Eli was so freaked-out” that he forgot about that in his
earlier accountings.
Dow began his closing argument by reminding the jurors there
is no scientific evidence the encounters happened.
Dow also repeatedly cited the fact Mirlis filed a civil
lawsuit against Greer in 2015, a year before he reported the allegations to New
Haven police, which began the criminal investigation. Dow charged Mirlis filed
the civil lawsuit because he wanted to collect a financial settlement. (A jury
in 2017 awarded him $21.7 million, which he is still trying to collect.)
In addition, Dow asked why Mirlis would return to New Haven
and Greer’s school from New Jersey “no less than 30 times” after he graduated
if it had been the scene of sexual trauma.
Focusing on Mirlis designating Greer to hold his infant son
at the bris, Dow asked: “You’re gonna let the man who abused you hold your
child? Think about that.”
Naming other inconsistencies in Mirlis’ account, Dow noted
he didn’t report an oral sex encounter in Edgewood Park until he got on the
witness stand last week.
Dow reminded the jurors Mirlis “waited 10-12 years” to
report the alleged sexual encounters.
The prosecutors answered Dow’s defense by listing his
assertions. Wilensky said Mirlis kept returning to New Haven because he was
“anchored in that community.” And she said he didn’t need a financial
settlement because he owns 13-15 nursing homes “and is worth $47 million.”
Roberg said during her argument: “You can have love and
loyalty” toward your abuser. “Sexual abuse is only one aspect of a relationship.”
The jurors are expected to begin deliberations Tuesday
morning after hearing legal instructions from Alander.
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