07/03/2024
On June 11th, 2024, The Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division has ruled in favor, overturning Judge Frac Perry's September 30th, 2022, motions to dismiss plaintiffs, Anthony Dolci and Ming Infante’s, defamation lawsuit against defendants Dorchester Towers, Ogden Cap Property, Vice President John McDermott, and former property manager Kelly Ann (Whipple) Desrosier. The lawsuit will move forward.
According to Index No. 150136-2021, Case No.2023-00491, New York State Supreme Court Judges, Oing, J.P., Friedman, Gesmer, Shulman, Rodriguez, JJ. said "Plaintiffs’ allegations in the AMENDED VERIFIED COMPLAINT met the heightened pleading standard for defamation by pleading with particularity the substance, place, and manner of the alleged defamatory statements made to police or the district attorney’s office. We find that plaintiffs have sufficiently pleaded the malice requirement necessary to survive dismissal of the defamation cause of action as to both falsity and malice.”
In April 2021, Anthony Dolci and Ming Infante, along with NY State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, spoke out in support of the gay couple at their Stop False Police Reporting rally at One Police Plaza. In a statement to Gay City News, Hoylman called the allegations of false police reports “troubling” and said he hopes “we can get to the bottom of it.” Senator Brad Hoylman-Segal wrote two letters of support to former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. on November 17, 2020, and April 22, 2021, requesting his office contact Mr. Anthony Dolci directly to follow up on his complaint.
The lawsuit alleges, Anthony Dolci and Ming Infante were systematically discriminated against and made subject of harassment tactics of employees of Dorchester Towers including John McDermott and Kelly Ann Whipple. Defendants abused the use of police reports, made false statements to police and instructed the staff to call the police on the plaintiff after 2 minutes in the common areas of the building. Defendants called the police more than 30 times from Oct 2018 to July 2019 for false and/or frivolous complaints resulting in Dolci being taken in handcuffs against his will to either jail or Bellevue or Mount Sinai Hospital on 10 occasions. All criminal charges against Anthony Dolci were dismissed by the New York City Criminal Court System after Dolci turned down four plea bargains at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office combined with-complainant’s failure to provide supporting evidence, eyewitness testimony, and security footage of the allegations.
Noted anti-wrongful conviction advocate, Jeffrey Deskovic, Esq., of The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice whose mission is to free the innocent and prevent wrongful convictions through policy changes, said, “It is important that all victims of false accusations as well as discrimination be given the opportunity to seek justice in court and have their claims considered on the merits as opposed to being summarily dismissed. The fact that: Mr. Dolic was placed in handcuffs 10 times while ultimately being found guilty of nothing nor of having any mental health issues requiring hospitalization is strong evidence that he was in fact discriminated against. This is therefore a very important case and decision.”
Anthony Dolci said, " I never threatened to kill anyone, nor did I violate the limited restraining order, or send threatening emails as reported to 911 and the police department by the defendants."
Aside from the defamation lawsuit, Anthony Dolci and husband Ming Infante are requesting the Manhattan District Attorney's Office to investigate the supporting evidence and prosecute those responsible for filing false police reports.
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