By NANCY HILER
The couple alleged that they were wrongfully evicted from a rental apartment located in a two-family home on Decatur Avenue owing to racial bias in November 2002 by then-landlord Ditmars. The 16-year veteran Nassau County police officer denied any wrongdoing.
The Dukes asked for $375,000 before the six-person jury, after court papers set the amount at $1 million originally. The 14-day trial before the Honorable Roy S. Mahon ended on Oct. 3 in State Supreme Court in Mineola.
"The plaintiffs put the neighborhood on trial unfairly," Ditmars' attorney Bruce E. Barnes commented. He said, "Ditmars never made the supposed comment about a still unspecified neighbor" expressing discomfort with the couple using the home's backyard pool. The house is set back on the block, he explained. "His backyard begins where most end," the Garden City attorney said. "As we tried to show the jury, it is visually impenetrable" from other neighbors, so the complaint would have made no sense had it been made.
Barnes said his client did not have misgivings over renting to an African-American couple in the predominantly white community, but instead "changed his mind because he could not verify their employment and sufficient income."
Frederick K. Brewington, the Dukes' attorney, said the defendant's justifying his change of mind on his needing proof of employment and income was "his latest excuse." Before this, the attorney remarked, Ditmars said the reason for reneging on the rental agreement was that his sister was going to move in the apartment. The Hempstead attorney said his client worked at the time as a computer technician for a financial firm, where is still employed today.
Major discussion in court centered on whether or not the Dukes legally had "possession" of the premises. Brewington claimed in court that the defendant's accepting and cashing a $1,700 deposit check, that Ditmars' wife giving the couple apartment keys, and that their moving belongings into the house "were actions consistent with possession." On the other side, Barnes said there was no possession because no lease was ever signed, and most of the items were placed in the garage, not in the actual apartment, ahead of the agreed upon move-in day. He also said that Ditmars returned the Dukes' payment, and "as the jury believed, no keys were ever given."
The couple's attorney says he will continue to pursue every legal recourse. "This is definitely not the end of this," Brewington said. "It's not anywhere near over."
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