The trial of the century is on!
Opening arguments are expected today in the bizarre case against former Bay Ridge Democratic District Leader Ralph Perfetto, the scrappy 75-year-old boxer-turned-private eye accused of a crime right out of “My Cousin Vinny” — he allegedly misrepresented himself as an attorney to help a relative in need.
Perfetto, who’s never been one to duck and weave, said he’s looking forward to the start of a trial so hot that the district attorney had to recuse himself.
“I’ve been waiting for two years for this,” explained Perfetto, who says he never claimed to be an attorney on Aug. 21, 2008, when he presented some evidence that would help Anthony Martire, his cousin’s son, fight a harassment charge.
“I never pretended to be an attorney. This whole thing is preposterous.”
Yet prosecutors — who bristle at the thought of lay people with “Law & Order” addictions masquerading as officers of the court — claim that the always nattily dressed Perfetto not only looked the part, but spoke on Martire’s behalf during the brief arraignment proceeding. Perfetto even waived Martire’s rights to a formal reading of the charges, prosecutors allege.
Though he is not a lawyer, Perfetto played his role perfectly, prosecutors say, pointing to the case transcript, where he says, “If I may, Your Honor, with the Court’s permission, may I submit two notarized affidavits from eyewitnesses that speak to the contrary of what did happen?”
Richmond County Assistant District Attorney Om Kakani — who is prosecuting the case after Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes recused himself citing Perfetto’s political work — wants to bring the hammer down on the longtime insider.
Kakani said he’ll call as a witness the judge who oversaw Martire’s arraignment. He also asked Judge Alexander Jeong to provide jurors with pages from the website of Perfetto’s PI firm, Grey Fox Investigations — pages that will prove that Perfetto knowingly misrepresented himself as an attorney.
“[The website] is highly relevant to this case,” Kakani said. “It’s filled with procedural case files that show he has a great knowledge of what to do and what not to do in a courtroom, where to stand and where not to stand. Mr. Perfetto’s not new to the American justice system.”
Defense attorney Andrew Rendeiro also has a list of witnesses that refute the charges, but believes the entire case falls on one simple fact.
“[Perfetto] never said he was an attorney and never presented himself as an attorney,” Rendeiro said.
Perfetto believes the criminal charges — as well as the year in jail he could face if convicted — were brought forth because the wet-behind-the-ears prosecutor handling Martire’s case mistook him as an attorney when he showed up to present information about the man accusing his relative of harassment.
“If I had extra copies of the information I had brought, I wouldn’t be here today,” Perfetto said. “Since I didn’t have one for him, [the assistant district attorney] asked me to fax a copy over and when I did, I sent it over on letterhead from my PI firm. Because the ADA assigned to my cousin’s case was new and didn’t expect evidence to be introduced at an arraignment, he filed the complaint against me.”
The case hasn’t begun, but it may have already done some damage. Prosecutors charged Perfetto in June, 2010 — three months before he lost his district leader primary to upstart Kevin Peter Carroll, who got 62 percent of the vote.
