State prosecutors dropped a sexual battery charge against Oren and Alon Alexander’s alleged accomplice.
State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement that her office determined it could not prove the case against Ohad Fisherman because of drone video that could place him on a boat around the time of the alleged rape of a woman on New Year’s Eve in 2016.
Fisherman, a real estate broker who used to work closely with Oren and Tal Alexander, was accused of pinning a woman down as Oren and Alon allegedly took turns raping her at one of the brothers’ apartments in Miami Beach.
“The defendant’s presence at the scene of the crime is an essential element of proof, and this video evidence casts doubt on that proof,” Rundle wrote in the statement. She acknowledged the woman’s courage, adding that victims in these cases “must first suffer the most intimate of all violations, then come forward and face public scrutiny that oftentimes, regrettably, comes with unwarranted attacks regarding their motivations.”
At a press conference the following day at his lawyer’s office in downtown Miami, Fisherman, seated next to a poster image of the alleged victim, her friend and her sisters hours after she was allegedly raped, said he didn’t make a deal with the state attorney’s office.
“The state dropped the charge because they knew I didn’t do this,” he said.
The state is still pursuing charges against Oren and Alon. Oren was charged in three alleged instances of sexual assault, while Alon was charged in the case that involved Fisherman. The Alexanders’ state trial is expected to occur after they are tried in federal court in New York on sex trafficking charges, alongside their older brother, Tal. They’re being held at Brooklyn Detention Center in New York.
Criminal defense attorney Michelle Suskauer, who is not involved in the cases, said the state’s dismissal of Fisherman’s charge is also significant for the state’s case against Oren and Alon.
“If the person who was allegedly holding her down was not there and she was completely wrong, her credibility is directly at issue and it’s fair game,” Suskauer said.
The state dropped its case against Fisherman on Monday, the day his trial was set to begin. (It had been postponed to Tuesday.) Still, the state could call Fisherman as a witness, Suskauer said.
On Tuesday, Fisherman’s attorneys said he now has to repair his reputation.
“How does Ohad wash away the stench of this case from the internet? How does he reestablish himself as a businessman?” said his attorney, Jeffrey Sloman.
Fisherman started his own brokerage last fall, months after the rape allegations against the Alexanders were widely reported. He previously worked for Oren and Tal’s firm, Official, as well as Douglas Elliman, where the Alexanders built their real estate business.
“Once you have been accused of a crime, even if you are completely vindicated, that stain is on you,” Suskauer said. “It’s really, really difficult to repair a reputation, especially one that involves alleged sexual assault.”
What we’re thinking about: What do you think about Mrs. Shojaee’s cast member debut on “The Real Housewives of Miami”? Is she the first Miami housewife to wear tweed? Send me a note at [email protected].
CLOSING TIME
Residential: Richard Templer, owner of Doubledown Stables, a professional horse racing stable, and his wife Diane Templer shed the home at 190 Northeast Fifth Avenue in Boca Raton to a trust for $18.7 million.
Commercial: The Lauderdale-by-the-Sea hotel at 4640 to 4644 El Mar Drive traded hands for $36.6 million. A company tied to Oleksandr Naumyk sold the property to a company affiliated with Newport Beach, California-based T2. Bank of America provided the buyer with a $27.5 million mortgage.
— Research by Mary Diduch
NEW TO THE MARKET
An oceanfront spec mansion in Manalapan hit the market for $64.5 million with listing agent Ryan Serhant. The nearly 20,000-square-foot, six-bedroom and eight-and-a-half-bathroom mansion at 1460 South Ocean Boulevard sits on a 1.5-acre property. A fund led by Vivian Dimond owns the property.
Elsewhere in Florida
- The city of Miami withheld an archeological report detailing artifacts up to 3,500 years old, found in the excavation of Related Group and Integra Investments’ site of the planned St. Regis Residences, Miami in Brickell, the Miami Herald reports. If this sounds familiar, it’s because at a nearby site owned by Related, archaeologists have found artifacts dating back at least 7,000 years. Related and Integra have not presented their findings to the city’s historic preservation board. The reports are public records meant to be readily accessible.
- Wives of detainees who are being held at Alligator Alcatraz detailed harsh conditions inside the newly opened facility in the Florida Everglades to the Miami Herald.
- The federal government’s nearly $7 billion freeze on education grants includes $31.5 million in grants set aside for Palm Beach County public schools, the Palm Beach Post reports. The freeze will affect more than 200 full-time staff and potentially thousands of students in Palm Beach County.
