TROY (NY)
Troy Record
By: Robert Cristo, The Record 03/18/2005
TROY - Attorney John Aretakis was not only denied a request that Rensselaer County Surrogate Court Judge Christian Hummel recuse himself from a case, but the judge turned around and slapped Aretakis with a $7,500 fine.
Aretakis is representing Troy resident Christopher Allen in a re-trial. Allen, 20, was found guilty of rape and other charges in 2002 and sentenced to spend the next 30 years behind bars.
In a 57-page decision, Hummel refused Aretakis' request and blasted the attorney for having "reckless" and "intentional disregard" for the truth in alleging that the judge had a personal vendetta against him from past court cases.
"The court finds that Mr. Aretakis' motion in this matter is frivolous as being without merit in law, undertaken primarily to delay or prolong the resolution of litigation and to harass and maliciously injure another and that it asserts material factual statements that are false," wrote Hummel in the decision.
The past cases Aretakis has handled which he believes are grounds for Hummel to recuse himself from the rape trial involve a series of alleged clergy sex abuse cases he brought against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany beginning two years ago.
In those cases, Aretakis alleged the court had removed a document from the court files and was guilty of criminal tampering with evidence. He also accused the court of engaging in mail fraud by allegedly misdirecting or retarding the passage of mail that was meant for him.