Pleading in a Long Island Sexual Assault Case

In Long Island, a lawsuit begins with a summons of complaint that lays out the causes of action to which the defendant must respond. At some point during this, legal counsel may provide defense lawyers with information about their legal goals. Attorneys, in this case, provided the defendant, who represented himself, with a bill of particulars, which is a specific set of documents giving information to the other side about the plaintiff’s case and what the attorneys are specifically claiming. Afterward, the client’s attorneys had their first conference in court where a discovery was scheduled, including depositions of both parties.

The Defendant’s Response to the Sexual Assault Complaint

The amount of time that a defendant has to respond to an initial summons of complaint could be 20 or 30 days, but they may get extensions of up to 60 days later. People are not typically bound by these exact dates, but they usually get about a month to respond.

The defendant, in this case, was unable to deny that the incident occurred but probably denied that the intent was to hurt the plaintiff or that they owed the plaintiff any money. There was not much they could deny in response to the attorneys’ complaint, because the defendant already pleaded guilty to the crime. This case’s uncertainty had to do with whether the defendant was going to put up any defense about their alleged intention to hurt the plaintiff or their financial ability to compensate the victim.

Once an answer is received, the parties start exchanging discovery materials with each other. The attorneys would have provided the defendant with copies of the client’s hospital and therapy records, as there was not much to get from them other than a deposition, which was achieved.

Summary Judgement

A motion for summary judgment means the party making the motion states that there is no case if everything the other party says is accurate. In other words, there is nothing for a jury to decide. In order to defeat a motion for summary judgment, the other party must state that there are issues that have to be decided by a jury and subsequently present triable issues. A judge may deny that motion for summary judgment.

The client’s attorneys made a motion for summary judgment, which was ideal in this case because the defendant already pleaded guilty to sexual assault. In order to skip that part of the civil case, attorneys asked the court to summarily decide the liability of the civil action based on the defendant’s guilty pleading to the criminal case, which is a much higher standard of proof. The defendant put up an opposition, but there was nothing they could have said or done that would have stopped the order of granting summary judgment. It was an easy motion, and the judge granted it.

Out-of-State Issues in a Sexual Assault Case

If the defendant was out of state, and if the case was brought in federal court, the documents would be somewhat similar. However, if the case was brought in another jurisdiction, it would be up to that jurisdiction to determine what documents are needed, which might be called something different but may end up being similar nonetheless. For more information, reach out to a knowledgeable lawyer.