Galgano v. County of Putnam, New York

Background

This order addressed discovery disputes identified in Docket Entries 519, 521, 523, 531, and 532. The court heard arguments on April 9, 2021.

Rulings

IRS Form 4506

Putnam County's motion was granted to the extent that Galgano must, within five business days, provide signed Internal Revenue Service Form 4506 forms and the required identification documents. The documents must be sufficient to release copies of the pertinent tax records.

Communications with investigators

The Individual County Defendants' motion to compel was granted to the extent that Galgano must search for and produce communications with investigators—including reports, text messages, emails, and attachments—concerning his representation of Lani Zaimi. This ruling applies to communications that were previously obtained by law enforcement or the Putnam District Attorney during the underlying criminal investigation and are now in Galgano's possession, custody, or control under Docket Entry 119 or otherwise.

The court agreed that these communications were initially protected by the work-product privilege, which generally protects materials prepared for litigation. But the privilege is qualified rather than absolute. The court found that the defendants had a substantial need for the materials and could not obtain them by other means because Galgano controlled them. The defendants needed the materials to reconstruct the files available during the investigation and prosecution and to restore the factual context for the decisions challenged by Galgano.

The court did not decide that every additional responsive communication was discoverable. If Galgano had communications that defendants had not previously obtained and that he wanted to withhold under the privilege, he had to identify them in a privilege log complying with Local Civil Rule 26.2.

Tax, bank, and financial records

Within five business days, Galgano had to formally limit his economic-damages claims to lost personal income associated with his law firm and Greenlight Title Agency. Based on that limitation, the Individual County Defendants' motion to compel tax, bank, and financial records for entities other than the law firm and Greenlight Title Agency, and for Galgano personally, was denied without prejudice.

Amer Hattar and the Galinn Fund

Based on the damages limitation described above, the Individual County Defendants' request to compel records relating to Amer Hattar or the Galinn Fund was denied.

Business relationship with Lani Zaimi

The Individual County Defendants sought documents showing payments or money received by Galgano or his businesses from Lani Zaimi or a business operated by Zaimi. Their motion to compel was granted for documents previously obtained by law enforcement or the Putnam District Attorney during the underlying criminal investigation and now in Galgano's possession, custody, or control. The motion was otherwise denied.

Saltwater Coral Distributer documents

At the April 9 hearing, Galgano agreed to produce responsive documents. The order does not describe any additional ruling on this request.

Disposition

The Clerk was respectfully requested to close Docket Entries 519, 521, 522, and 523. The order also stated that defendants could renew their request for additional financial documentation if warranted after reviewing the documents produced. The order was issued by Paul E. Davison, United States Magistrate Judge.