According to the Richmond County district attorney’s office, the case has been adjourned in contemplation of dismissal, which means the charges will be dropped in six months if Daniel Gill stays out of trouble.
The incident occurred in June while Giuliani, 78, was at a Staten Island supermarket in support of his son Andrew’s ultimately unsuccessful bid to win the Republican party’s nomination for governor. Giuliani was standing with a group of people when a man walking past reached out, touched Giuliani’s back with an open palm and then said something as he walked away.
Giuliani appeared to barely react in the video, but later said it felt “like somebody shot me” or that he had been hit by a boulder. After slapping Giuliani’s back, police alleged the man said, “What’s up, scumbag?” He was arrested and spent more than 24 hours in jail.
The organization representing Gill has previously said that their client “merely patted” the former mayor of New York City “without malice to simply get his attention.”
“As we have maintained since earlier this year, Daniel Gill, who had no prior contact with the criminal legal system, did not commit any criminal act, and this outcome, which will ultimately dismiss the case in its entirety, reflects that reality,” Gill’s attorney Susan Platis said Wednesday. “Mr. Gill looks forward to putting this incident, one which completely upended his life, behind him.”
It is not an admission of guilt or wrongdoing, nor is it a guilty plea, the source said, adding that Gill was not required or asked to agree to anything as part of the adjournment. In New York state, an adjournment “in contemplation of dismissal” is “not considered favorable to the defendant until the adjournment period has expired and the case has actually been dismissed,” according to the court system.
Giuliani told WABC that he went forward but caught himself after the slap. “Lucky I’m a 78-year-old in pretty good shape, because if I wasn’t I’d have hit the ground and probably cracked my skull,” he said at the time.
