A Nassau County Court judge on Tuesday found Saddle Rock resident Sasha Masri guilty of a misdemeanor charge of attempted assault in connection with an October fight between him and Saddle Rock Mayor Dan Levy, but acquitted Masri of four more serious charges, including felony assault.
Judge Philip Grella convicted Masri of the attempted assault, a class B misdemeanor, after Masri testified that he slapped Levy following a profanity-laced exchange that included Levy insulting Masri’s mother.
But Masri was found not guilty on assault, drug and weapons charges, brought after Levy alleged that Masri punched him in the face while holding keys and was the aggressor in a fight that left the mayor with a laceration to his head and a broken shoulder.
“All of the charges indicating my client caused any injury to Mayor Levy my client was found not guilty of,” said Masri’s defense attorney Robert McDonald.
“The judge has found Sasha Masri guilty of a crime committed upon my client, Mayor Dan Levy. Mayor Levy suffered serious injuries as a result of Mr. Masri’s conduct – medical records depict how his shoulder was broken and that he had 14 stitches to his head,” said Levy’s attorney Elizabeth Kase in a statement. “We respect Judge Grella’s decision, but we had hoped the severity of the crime and the seriousness of the Mayor’s injuries would have resulted in a felony conviction. That Judge Grella determined Mr. Masri attempted to assault Mayor Levy proves that Masri is a criminal.”
McDonald had argued that Masri did not injure or intend to injure Levy. He also said Levy may have been motivated to discredit Masri due to a dispute with him over Levy’s handling of village finances.
In his decision, Grella lifted an order of protection that prevented Masri from attending board meetings at Village Hall – the site of the violent confrontation between himself and Levy. Grella replaced the order of protection with a less restrictive do-not-harass order.
“Sasha is now absolutely free to go to village meetings and exercise his constitutional rights at village meetings,” McDonald said.
The confrontation which led to Levy’s injuries and Masri’s arrest occurred after an Oct. 3 village board meeting, when Masri, a former trustee candidate who was considered a “disruptive” presence at village meetings by Levy, approached Trustee David Schwartz with questions about an ongoing audit of village finances.
Witnesses for both the prosecution and the defense testified that Levy belittled Masri, the two men swore at each other and Levy insulted Masri’s mother.
What happened after that – whether Masri slapped Levy with an open hand, or whether he punched Levy in the face while holding keys – was the subject of differing accounts in McDonald’s and Geier’s closing arguments on Tuesday.
McDonald, who spoke first, said Levy’s injuries were not the result of Masri’s initial strike and portrayed the mayor as motivated by anger and a desire to discredit a troublesome political gadfly who he believed had reported financial irregularities to village auditors.
“I submit the only injury caused by that initial slap was to the ego of Mayor Levy, and that he could not abide it,” McDonald said.
Levy, argued McDonald, insulted and deliberately provoked Masri in response to Masri’s allegations of financial wrongdoing. The financial issues discussed at the trial were the subject of a July letter from the village’s auditing company to village, which asked the board to address irregularities including Levy’s signing and cashing of checks made out to a contracting firm owned by a personal friend.
“Those words were used as a weapon to get [Masri] upset,” McDonald said.
Geier, in her closing statement, cited medical testimony from the plastic surgeon who treated Levy’s head wound as evidence that the injury was sustained by a sharp object – like Masri’s keys – rather than the molding of the village hall’s dais, as the defense contended.
“Both medical science and common sense tell us this: that is simply not possible,” Geier said.
Geier also cast doubt on McDonald’s contention that Levy was attempting to cover up financial wrongdoing. He argued that by the time of the fight the board had already sent affidavits addressing the financial problems to the village’s auditors, so had nothing to hide.
“I submit that the defendant is admitting what he can’t deny and denying what he can’t admit,” Geier said. “Sasha Masri knew that he assaulted Dan Levy that night.”
But Grella ruled otherwise, finding Masri not guilty on the four original charges and convicting him of a lesser attempted assault count.
The attempted assault charge, which was introduced by Geier at Tuesday morning’s hearing, carries a maximum sentence of 90 days in jail and one year of probation. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 14.
