The man who filmed Eric Garner’s chokehold death says Staten Island’s top prosecutor at the time did his best to smear him, according to a new Brooklyn federal lawsuit.
Ramsey Orta alleges Daniel Donovan sabotaged a fair case on Orta’s gun and drug charges because the politically ambitious prosecutor had everything to gain from discrediting him.
Donovan was the Staten Island District Attorney when a grand jury refused to indict NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo for Eric Garner’s July 2014 death. Donovan is now a U.S. congressman while Orta, 26, is now upstate serving a four-year sentence.
The Thursday suit said while Orta’s case was pending that Donovan let it slip — falsely — to the press that Orta was previously convicted of rape. A story at the time from one tainted tabloid cited unnamed law enforcement sources saying Orta had a rape arrest.
Later, in July 2015, the Daily News reported that, according to information provided by the Staten Island District Attorney’s office, Orta previously pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor of endangering the welfare of a child based on a 2010 charge that Orta, then 18, had sex with a 12-year-old girl.
Another lawyer for Orta told the News at the time releasing that information was “possibly prosecutorial abuse.”
Donovan also claimed in the media that Orta was trying to get bailed out using anonymous internet donors with money possibly coming from questionable places, according to the suit.
The lawsuit is one of several cases Orta’s now pressing, including challenges to his other arrests resulting in dropped charges.
Orta pleaded guilty, but his lawyer, Andrew Plasse, said the law allowed for Orta allege a violation on his right to a fair trial.
A spokeswoman said Donovan would not comment on pending litigation.
