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Court overturns Brooklyn rabbi's abuse conviction
Rabbi Baruch Lebovits was sentenced to up to 32 years in prison over sexual abuse; freed after lawyer wins appeal
A New York Court overturned the sexual abuse conviction of Brooklyn Rabbi Baruch Lebovits last week.
Rabbi Lebovits, 61, was sentenced to up to 32 years in prison in 2010, after he was convicted of molesting a teenage boy, the New York Daily News reported.
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The appellate court agreed: "The late disclosure all but set a trap for the defendant which had already sprung at the time the notes were finally furnished," the ruling said.
"Total victory and it's probably the end of the case," defense attorneys Arthur Aidala and Alan Dershowitz told the newspaper.
The severity of Lebovits' sentence rattled Brooklyn's close-knit ultra-Orthodox community.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes said that "We are prepared to retry the case."
The defense said they're hopeful that both sides will reach another resolution.
"I can't believe a responsible prosecutor will bring it again to trial," said Dershowitz. "It's inconceivable to me."
