” I know Mr. _____ very well for at least 17 years, he is a very good man and an extremely honest person. He is a compassionate man, a lover of animals and pets, and also highly dedicated to the needs of his community. When he enters the office, he greets people younger than him before they get the chance to greet him. The care he gives to others is even more than caring for himself as. He is the most amazing person I ever had the honor of knowing ____ and___ and ___ He is a good photographer.”
The above quote is from an actual character reference letter written in support of an individual who was convicted of multiple felonies in a state court and awaiting sentencing. Interestingly, the quote has some resemblance to the character reference letters sent in support of Steven Markowitz in the Great Neck News and Great Neck Record.
Defense lawyers often provide sample letters for the supporter of their found-guilty client to get a more lenient sentence. These letters do not reverse the evidence nor the conviction. Some attorneys submit countless character reference letters to the court even though this process is quite well-known to the judges.
Some seasoned defense attorneys, however, believe in a sincere letter with the exclusive admission of wrongdoing and expression of regret by the found-guilty client along with only a few genuine character reference letters. They reason that most judges won’t even bother reading repetitious support letters and interpret them as a lack of admission of guilt.
Last weekend, Steve Markowitz’s request for character reference letters from the rabbis, acquaintances and his political friends, various boards members was the talk of the town. It partially worked as some wrote supportive letters for him and sent them to the local newspapers.
Did that really help?
I don’t consider Mr. Markowitz a criminal. He should not rely on others to make a good name for him. He can make a good name by good actions and good words. The fact that even convicted criminals are able to get a mass of supportive letters illustrates that these letters do not necessarily mean much.
The validity of Mr. Markowitz’s 2015 email, which included scare tactics and hate language towards the Orthodox Jews, now has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt – thanks to an individual who shared his immediate response to that email, which was sent to 13 people.
Subsequently, Mr. Markowitz wrote a letter taking responsibility for the 2015 email at the end of a very long letter suggesting that there should be unity while attacking his political opponents who were attacked initially in 2015 in the now-famous email.
Is this a sincere apology?
Leon Manoucheri
Great Neck
