Judge drops sex assault charges against New Haven rabbi, leaves others pending

Rabbi Daniel Greer, 77, of New Haven, leaves New Haven Superior Court on Elm Street in New Haven, Conn. Monday, August 14, 2017 after he was arraigned on a criminal charge of second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. Greer did not enter a plea. The alleged victim in the criminal charge is Eliyahu Mirlis, of New Jersey, who was awarded $15 million in in his civil lawsuit against Greer in May of 2016. Greer was a dean of the Yeshiva of New Haven/the Gan School, where the alleged victim was a high school student. Greer was accused in May 2016 of repeatedly sexually assaulting Mirlis, of New Jersey, over several years in the early- to mid-2000s. Mirlis attended the school from 2001 to 2005. Greer has denied the allegations. less Rabbi Daniel Greer, 77, of New Haven, leaves New Haven Superior Court on Elm Street in New Haven, Conn. Monday, August 14, 2017 after he was arraigned on a criminal charge of second-degree sexual assault and ... more Photo: Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Judge drops sex assault charges against New Haven rabbi, leaves others pending 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN — In a startling development on the last day of testimony, a Superior Court judge Monday dismissed four counts of second-degree sexual assault against Rabbi Daniel Greer, leaving him accused solely of four counts of risk of injury to a child.

After defense attorney William Dow III rested his case in the late morning and the jury was dismissed for an early lunch break, Dow surprised Superior Court Judge Jon M. Alandar and others in the courtroom by saying, “I move for acquittal” on the sexual assault counts.

Dow said there is a statute of limitations requirement. He then cited a phrase in Connecticut law stating allegations of sexual assault must be reported by the alleged victim within five years of the purported offenses. The alleged victim in this case, Eliyahu Mirlis, has said Greer sexually assaulted him from 2002-05 but he didn’t make his complaint with New Haven police until 2016. The prosecutors have charged just for the alleged conduct from 2002-03.

The New Haven Register is identifying Mirlis because he has said he wants his name used.

Alandar, clearly surprised by Dow’s motion, asked why he had waited this long to raise the issue. Dow replied it was a “tactical” decision.

The prosecutors, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Maxine Wilensky and Assistant State’s Attorney Karen Roberg, also were obviously surprised by Dow’s motion. With court still in session, they quickly began studying the state statute, then asked Alander for a 30-minute recess to look into it more closely. Alander agreed to the break, saying he needed to study the law too.

When court reconvened, with the jury still absent, Alander said the Connecticut legislature had established a statute of limitations of 30 years for sex crimes. But Alander noted the legislators added a provision, specifying the accuser must tell police or another state authority about the allegations “not later than five years after the alleged offense.”

“The defendant is correct,” Alander said. “The motion for acquittal on those four counts is granted.”

The attorneys went ahead with their closing arguments Monday afternoon to the jury on the four remaining risk of injury to a child counts. That charge is a felony. Wilensky said if Greer were convicted on all four counts, the maximum sentence would be 80 years.

Greer, 79, of West Park Avenue, was dean of Yeshiva New Haven when the alleged conduct occurred. Mirlis was 15 , according to the prosecutors.

Outside the courtroom, Dow said, “We’re gratified that the judge applied the law and dismissed four counts that were time-barred. But we’re facing four equally serious charges. I hope the jury applies the law of reasonable doubt.”

Dow added, “I don’t want to win the battle (getting four of the counts dismissed) and lose the war in a conviction.”

He declined to say at what point he discovered the key phrase in the law that allowed him to argue for dismissal of the sexual assault charges.

Before Dow rested his case Monday, he called to the witness stand Thomas DeRosa, who taught at Yeshiva New Haven and had Mirlis as one of his students. He described Mirlis as “uncooperative, to say the least” as well as “dangerous” and “acting out a great deal.”

DeRosa said he gave Mirlis a grade of F in math because he was rarely in class and refused to take the final exam. But he said Avi Hack, the assistant dean, then asked him to “justify” the failing grade. DeRosa said school officials overruled him and gave Mirlis a B.

Dow also called upon Rabbi Abraham Nottis of Lancaster, Pa., who formerly had a school within Yeshiva New Haven. He said he has never met Mirlis but knew Greer. Nottis said he was “evicted” and so moved his school to Lancaster.

Dow asked Nottis a series of questions about the honor of having a person named as a witness at a Jewish wedding and being designated to hold the child at a circumcision ceremony (bris). Mirlis chose Greer for both roles.

Nottis said it’s important to name a person who is not “tainted” to be a witness at a wedding or the marriage is considered “invalid.” As for the bris role, he said it’s an honorable designation given to “a father figure.”

Dow has asserted that if Mirlis had been sexually assaulted by Greer, he would not have given him those honors.

When the jurors returned to hear the closing arguments, Alander informed them Greer is now charged only with the risk of injury to a child counts. “Do not speculate as to the reasons why,” he told them. “It’s not important.”

Wilensky, who handled the first part of the state’s two-pronged closing arguments, said that when Mirlis arrived at Yeshiva New Haven in the fall of 2001, he was 13, had had no sex education because of his Jewish Orthodox upbringing and was “completely naive in the ways of the world.”

Wilensky said Greer was “the pinnacle, the center, the power in that community. You would go to him for just about everything.”

According to Wilensky, Greer “became a parental figure” to Mirlis. She said during Mirlis’ second year at the school, Greer manipulated him and “introduced him to his first sexual experience.”

But she said Mirlis was “brainwashed” by Greer and didn’t dare tell anybody what was happening. He feared nobody would believe him.

“He knew it felt good,” Wilensky said of Mirlis’ confused reaction. “But he also knew he felt horrible afterward.”

While Greer and his wife, Sarah Greer, sat in the courtroom, Wilensky outlined in detail the specifics of the four charges, which involve anal and oral sex.

“There was nothing accidental about this,” Wilensky said. “The defendant’s actions were purposeful and well thought-out.”

Wilensky said if you count the years of all the alleged sexual conduct, from 2002 to 2006, including the uncharged conduct, the total number of alleged encounters is “about 106 times.” Mirlis testified Greer arranged for them to get together once or twice a week at locations around the school campus, at Greer’s house and once at a motel in Branford.

Addressing Dow’s assertions that Mirlis’ accounts are inconsistent, Wilensky said: “Will he remember every single episode, where it took place, what took place?”

Wilensky cited testimony by Lisa Melillo, a school psychologist, who said lost memories can be “triggered” by events many years later. “Omission is not an inconsistency,” Wilensky said. “It’s not a lie.”

Focusing on why Mirlis didn’t say Greer touched his crotch area during their first alleged encounter until he testified last week, Wilensky said, “Eli was so freaked-out” that he forgot about that in his earlier accountings.

Dow began his closing argument by reminding the jurors there is no scientific evidence the encounters happened.

Dow also repeatedly cited the fact Mirlis filed a civil lawsuit against Greer in 2015, a year before he reported the allegations to New Haven police, which began the criminal investigation. Dow charged Mirlis filed the civil lawsuit because he wanted to collect a financial settlement. (A jury in 2017 awarded him $21.7 million, which he is still trying to collect.)

In addition, Dow asked why Mirlis would return to New Haven and Greer’s school from New Jersey “no less than 30 times” after he graduated if it had been the scene of sexual trauma.

Focusing on Mirlis designating Greer to hold his infant son at the bris, Dow asked: “You’re gonna let the man who abused you hold your child? Think about that.”

Naming other inconsistencies in Mirlis’ account, Dow noted he didn’t report an oral sex encounter in Edgewood Park until he got on the witness stand last week.

Dow reminded the jurors Mirlis “waited 10-12 years” to report the alleged sexual encounters.

The prosecutors answered Dow’s defense by listing his assertions. Wilensky said Mirlis kept returning to New Haven because he was “anchored in that community.” And she said he didn’t need a financial settlement because he owns 13-15 nursing homes “and is worth $47 million.”

Roberg said during her argument: “You can have love and loyalty” toward your abuser. “Sexual abuse is only one aspect of a relationship.”

The jurors are expected to begin deliberations Tuesday morning after hearing legal instructions from Alander.

randall.beach@hearstmediact.com