A federal judge has refused to disturb a jury verdict that found staffers for the state Attorney General’s Office were liable for denying a fair trial to a dentist accused of Medicaid fraud, but she ruled the plaintiff would have to accept a reduction in damages to about $4.7 million from approximately $7.7 million or risk another trial.
After Brooklyn dentist Leonard Morse was acquitted of submitting $1 million in overcharges, he filed a civil rights action in the Eastern District against former special assistant attorney general John Fusto and former senior special investigator Jose Castillo. A jury decided Fusto and Castillo fabricated billing summaries to obtain an indictment (NYLJ, Feb. 15).
