Barry I. Slotnick | |
---|---|
Born | 1939 |
Alma mater | City College of New York New York University Law School |
Occupation | Attorney |
Spouse | Donna Slotnick |
Children | 4, including Stuart Slotnick |
Barry I. Slotnick (born 1939) is a New York City-based defense attorney. Slotnick is well-known for defending infamous Mafia crime boss, John Gotti [1] and New York City subway shooter, Bernhard Goetz. [2] Along with his son Stuart, he negotiated former First Lady, Melania Trump's pre-nuptial agreement with Donald Trump. In 2021, he was the subject of a NY Times best seller, The Defense Lawyer, written by author, James Patterson, chronicling Slotnick's life. [3] [4]
Slotnick was born in The Bronx in 1939 to Orthodox Jewish Russian immigrants. [5] He graduated with a B.A. from City College of the City University of New York, a J.D. from New York University Law School, and was admitted to the bar at age 21. [6] After graduating from law school, Slotnick established his own practice in Manhattan. [7] Slotnick specialized in criminal defense, and found clients by sitting in the front row of a court, waiting until the judges would say “Slotnick, the next client is yours.” [7] From there, he started his own "boutique law firm" that eventually became Slotnick, Shapiro & Crocker.
In 1985, Slotnick defended Bernhard Goetz, who shot four young black men on a New York City subway. [8] Goetz was charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment and several firearms offenses. Goetz maintained that he acted in self defense. The trial received national attention. A Manhattan jury found Goetz not guilty of all charges, except an illegal firearms possession count, for which he served two-thirds of a one-year sentence. [9] [10]
The jury decision was based primarily on bullet wounds and shooting witnesses. [11] [12] The New York Times attributed the victory to Slotnick’s “clever courtroom tactics,” stating that he “turned out to be a shrewder, more accomplished performer than the prosecutor, Gregory Waples.” [13] In particular Slotnick’s aggressive questioning of James Ramseur, one of the four shot by Goetz, caused Ramseur to react explosively, which resulted in Ramseur’s entire testimony being stricken from the record including negative statements Ramseur made about Goetz. [14] [15] This outburst, along with Ramseur's rape conviction and admission of staging his kidnapping by Goetz's agents, greatly influenced the jury. [16] [11]
When later talking about the case, Slotnick said "I've had greater victories and I've had much more difficult cases to try, but for the public perception, for the public need, Goetz was important. Goetz was my public service case.” [17]
Originally an appellate attorney, Slotnick eventually began doing high-profile criminal cases that garnered national media attention. In his early 30s, Slotnick defended Mafia boss Joe Colombo in front of the United States Supreme Court and won. [5] Ultimately, the New York Court of Appeals declared New York's contempt statute unconstitutional. [7] He would later be a lead counsel in the first John Gotti trial, which resulted in an acquittal for Gotti and his associates. [18] [19]
Slotnick has also represented former Democratic Congressman Mario Biaggi, as well as Vyacheslav Kirillovich Ivankov, who was accused by the United States Department of Justice of being a major boss of the Russian mafia. [20] [21] [22] He then represented casino magnate Steve Wynn, Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, and Rabbi Meir Kahane. [5] [23] [24] [25] He also handled the divorce proceedings on behalf of actor Anthony Quinn and of June Gumbel—wife of television personality Bryant Gumbel. [26] Slotnick also represented Tim Richmond during his attempted comeback in 1988, when NASCAR suspended Richmond for testing positive for banned substances. [27]
In 2004, Slotnick worked with his son Stuart to defend retired Army Captain Jay Ferriola pro-bono. Ferriola had been ordered to redeploy to Iraq after completing eight years of service, and then sued the Army on the grounds that they violated his due process rights. [28] [29] The Department of Defense later allowed Ferriola to retire from the Army. The case was the first to challenge the Army's stop-loss policy, which had affected tens of thousands of soldiers since the start of the Iraq War. [30] Slotnick then successfully tried four similar cases. [31]
With his son, Stuart, Slotnick also obtained a settlement for publicly traded company Sportingbet with the U.S. Government's Department of Justice for $30 million and a non-prosecution agreement. [32] This amount was a quarter of what competing site PartyGaming paid in a similar lawsuit. [33] Pursuant to the non prosecution agreement, Sportingbet will not be indicted for their criminal acts in the United States. [32]
During 2005, he merged Slotnick Shapiro & Crocker with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, with which he is currently a partner and shareholder. [34]
Slotnick has been a member of the New York Governor's Judicial Selection Committee, Chairman of the New York State Bar Association's Committee on Capital Crimes, and a former Special Deputy Attorney General.
Slotnick is married to Donna Slotnick and has four children, one of whom is attorney Stuart Slotnick, best known for defending the company American Apparel. [35]
He once had a 12-year winning streak, and has said that his favorite client was Winnie the Pooh, whom he represents adverse to Disneyland. [23] He received the American Lawyer's AMMY Award as the best defense lawyer in America, was named to the New York Super Lawyer List during 2006, 2007, and 2009, and was included in the American Trial Lawyers Association Top 100 Trial Lawyers of 2009. [36]
Slotnick and his defense of Bernhard Goetz in the 1984 New York City Subway shooting was mentioned in the song Rising to the Top by rappers Sean Price and Agallah.
Clarence Seward Darrow was an American lawyer who became famous in the 19th century for high profile representations of trade union causes, and in the 20th century for several criminal matters, including the Leopold and Loeb murder trial, the Scopes "monkey" trial, and the Ossian Sweet defense. He was a leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union and a prominent advocate for Georgist economic reform. Darrow was also well known as a public speaker, debater, and writer.
On December 7, 1993, a mass shooting occurred aboard a Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) train in Garden City Park, New York, United States. As the train arrived at the Merillon Avenue station, passenger Colin Ferguson began firing at other passengers with a semi-automatic pistol. Six of the victims were killed and nineteen others were wounded before Ferguson was tackled and held down by other passengers on the train.
The urban survival syndrome, in United States jurisprudence, can be used either as a defense of justification or of excuse. The first case using, unsuccessfully, the defense of "urban survival syndrome" is the 1994 Fort Worth, Texas murder trial of Daimion Osby.
On December 22, 1984, Bernhard Goetz shot four black teenagers on a New York City Subway train in Manhattan after they allegedly tried to rob him. All four teenagers survived, though one, Darrell Cabey, was paralyzed and suffered brain damage as a result of his injuries. Goetz fled to Bennington, Vermont, before surrendering to police nine days after the shooting. He was charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment, and several firearms offenses. A jury subsequently found Goetz guilty of one count of carrying an unlicensed firearm and acquitted him of the remaining charges. For the firearm offense, he served eight months of a one-year sentence. In 1996, Cabey obtained a $43 million civil judgment against Goetz after a civil jury ruled Goetz as liable, equivalent to $84 million today.
William Moses Kunstler was an American attorney and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the co-founder of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the "leading gathering place for radical lawyers in the country."
C. Vernon Mason is a former lawyer and civil rights advocate from Tucker, Arkansas. Best known for his involvement in several high-profile New York City cases in the 1980s, including the Bernhard Goetz, Howard Beach, and Tawana Brawley incidents, Mason has not practiced law since his 1995 disbarment. He then served as the CEO of a non-profit organization. He is also an ordained minister.
Ronald L. Kuby is an American criminal defense and civil rights lawyer, radio talk show host and television commentator. He has also hosted radio programs on WABC Radio in New York City and Air America radio.
Gerald Leonard Spence is a semi-retired American trial lawyer and author. He is a member of the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame, and is the founder of the Trial Lawyers College. Spence has never lost a criminal case before a jury either as a prosecutor or a defense attorney, and did not lose a civil case between 1969 and 2010. He is considered one of the greatest lawyers of the 20th century, and one of the best trial lawyers ever. He has been described by legal scholar Richard Falk as a "lawyer par excellence".
Bruce Cutler is an American criminal defense lawyer best known for having defended John Gotti, and for media appearances as a legal commentator.
People v. Goetz, 68 N.Y.2d 96, was a court case chiefly concerning subjective and objective standards of reasonableness in using deadly force for self-defense; the New York Court of Appeals held that a hybrid objective-subjective standard was mandated by New York law.
Jeffrey Harris Lichtman is a New York-based criminal defense lawyer.
Gerald "Jerry" Lawrence Shargel was an American defense attorney who was based in New York City and generally considered one of the best criminal defense lawyers in the country.
Mark M. Baker is a New York City criminal defense attorney. He is mainly known for obtaining an acquittal with then partner, Barry I. Slotnick, of New York City resident Bernhard Goetz on attempted murder and assault charges related to his shooting of four would-be muggers on a subway train in 1984.
Gerald Bernard Lefcourt is an American criminal defense lawyer. He has represented a number of high-profile clients, including financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Black Panthers, activist/author Abbie Hoffman, hotelier Harry Helmsley, former Speaker of the New York State Assembly Mel Miller, and actors Russell Crowe and Tracy Morgan.
Brendan V. Sullivan Jr. is an American lawyer who is currently a senior partner in the law firm Williams & Connolly. Sullivan is a white-collar criminal defense attorney best known for his defense of U.S. Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North in the wake of the Iran-Contra scandal in the late 1980s. He is known for his combative style and several prosecutors have been fired, disbarred, or jailed for prosecutorial misconduct Sullivan had uncovered.
Mark Lesly appeared in the credits of The Wanderers. He later served on the Bernie Goetz jury and wrote a book about it called Subway Gunman.
Stuart Slotnick is a New York City defense attorney and a partner at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney.
Nidal Malik Hasan is an American former United States Army major, physician and mass murderer convicted of killing thirteen people and injuring more than 30 others in the Fort Hood mass shooting on November 5, 2009. Hasan, an Army Medical Corps psychiatrist, admitted to the shootings at his court-martial in August 2013.
Albert Joseph "Al" Krieger was an American criminal defense lawyer, most prominently for figures in organized crime and drug trafficking, as well as for a number of Oglala Lakota activists during criminal proceedings following the Wounded Knee Occupation.
Thomas Clair Binger is an American lawyer and government official who has served in the role of Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney since 2014. He was raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he attended the local Washington High School. He ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for the office of the Racine County District Attorney in 2016. He served as the lead prosecutor in the 2021 trial of Kyle Rittenhouse following the 2020 Kenosha unrest shooting, which ended in Rittenhouse's acquittal.