Albany

The lawyer for the former city worker accused of slugging Recreation Commissioner John D'Antonio has asked a judge to dismiss the assault case against his client because of D'Antonio's insistence that the man "hit like a girl" and did not hurt him.

Brian Nolan, 25, of Whitehall Road, was charged with misdemeanor assault following the Dec. 20 confrontation inside the Recreation Department's Hoffman Avenue headquarters.

But in a motion to dismiss the charge filed earlier this week in City Court, Nolan's attorney, Edmund Schupp, argued D'Antonio's statements to the Times Union in the wake of the clash prove the alleged haymaker didn't meet the legal threshold for third-degree assault, which requires some kind of physical injury.

A police incident report filed that day alleges Nolan's punch caused D'Antonio "to suffer substantial pain, swelling and bleeding to the area of his mouth."

D'Antonio, an avid boxer and former bouncer, however, forcefully refuted that to the Times Union the next day, insisting Nolan's alleged blind-side, running punch didn't even faze him.

At the time, D'Antonio recounted the event saying, "He suckered me dead in the face, and I said, 'You hit like a girl.'"

Schupp's motion asserts: "The alleged victim states that Mr. Nolan 'hits like a girl' and that the punch did not draw blood and left him only with a swollen lip."

"Clearly Mr. D'Antonio does not state any type of injury that would be defined as assault."

Schupp's filing also references D'Antonio's assertion that "it would take Brian Nolan and probably four more of his buddies to get me to the ground."

Neither Nolan nor Schupp have spoken publicly about what sparked the alleged fisticuffs that day. D'Antonio has insisted he was sucker-punched from behind by Nolan — then a part-time Recreation Department employee — as he retrieved payroll sheets from his secretary. D'Antonio said he had never spoken to Nolan before he allegedly barged into his office moments earlier hoping to speak to him.

Nolan was fired from his part-time recreation aide's job after his arrest, and Mayor Jerry Jennings — a longtime friend of D'Antonio and his brother, General Services Commissioner Nick D'Antonio — said he would not tolerate attacks on public officials.

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Cecilia Logue, a spokeswoman for District Attorney David Soares, declined comment other than saying prosecutors would respond to Schupp's motion.

jcarleo-evangelist@timesunion.com • 518-454-5445 • @JCEvangelist_TU