Columnist Jeff German: Beaten but not defeated

Friday, July 25, 2003 | 11:22 a.m.

You may not believe this, but once in a while our justice system really works.

In the case of Michael Pellegrino, justice was slow in coming, but nevertheless welcomed this week.

You first heard about Pellegrino's three-year fight for justice in this space in May. The 75-year-old retired Army veteran discussed his difficulties in getting the system to address his assault allegations against local attorney Robert Scott Rasmussen.

The diminutive Pellegrino contended Rasmussen, who is 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, attacked him in a pedestrian crossing on Sahara Avenue in July 2000, causing him permanent knee damage and turning his once-quiet life upside down.

A Jeep Grand Cherokee, driven by Rasmussen's wife, was blocking Pellegrino's path in the crosswalk, and Pellegrino, who stands 5-foot-5, started yelling obscenities as he walked around it. Before he knew it, Rasmussen had jumped out of the passenger side and was in his face pounding away until he knocked Pellegrino down. Rasmussen jumped back inside the Jeep, and the SUV sped away while Pellegrino was sprawled on the pavement in pain.

Amazingly, the district attorney declined to prosecute Rasmussen on felony battery charges, even though there were plenty of witnesses who saw the beating. Even more shocking, the city attorney ended up reducing a misdemeanor battery case against Rasmussen to jaywalking.

Finding no justice on the criminal side of District Court, Pellegrino filed a civil suit against the lawyer, but again ran into roadblocks. He spent the last two years just trying to get a trial date. Continuance after continuance, mostly from Rasmussen, delayed Pellegrino's quest.

Last week Pellegrino and his attorney, Robert Groesbeck, finally got their trial, and lo and behold on Tuesday an eight-member jury returned a verdict in Pellegrino's favor.

After less than an hour of deliberations, the jurors ordered Rasmussen to pay Pellegrino $334,662 in general damages for his injuries, an award Rasmussen's lawyers contend was not supported by the evidence. The panel members, however, will consider whether to pile on punitive damages at a Sept. 29 hearing.

"I'm tickled pink," Pellegrino said. "It's a big burden off my back."

Pellegrino, who has been walking with a limp the past three years, would like to put the incident behind him and enjoy the rest of his senior years. But before he can do that, he'll have to decide whether to undergo knee-replacement surgery, which isn't an easy thing for a 75-year-old man.

At times during his fight, Pellegrino was beaten back so often by the justice system that he considered throwing in the towel. But his family and his lawyers wouldn't let him.

Even during the trial Rasmussen and his attorneys did their best to make Pellegrino out to be the bad guy. They contended Pellegrino was threatening Rasmussen's wife with physical harm that afternoon in the crosswalk and that Rasmussen was merely coming to her aid.

In the end, however, the eight jurors believed Pellegrino and rewarded him for his perseverance.

They also left others still fighting to be treated fairly by the system with a ray of hope that, if they just hang in there, they might actually find justice.