Meryl Streep's nephew, Charles Harrison Streep, has hired Rudy Giuliani 's personal attorney and long-time 'fixer' to re...
Meryl Streep's nephew, Charles Harrison Streep, has hired Rudy Giuliani's personal attorney and long-time 'fixer' to represent him in a civil suit brought against him by the 'victim' of an alleged road rage assault, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Randy M. Mastro was affirmed as 31-year-old Streep's lawyer late Friday, in the suit brought by 18-year-old student, David Peralta.
The legal heavyweight is a formidable opponent who routinely ranks among the nation's top litigators, was recently named Trial Lawyer of the Year by Chambers USA and recognised among the '100 Most Influential Lawyers in America,' by the National Law Journal.
Streep is being sued by the teen over a road rage incident in the Hamptons on August 24, where Streep can be seen on video tape picking up Peralta and slamming him to the ground, resulting in a life-threatening brain injury.
Peralta's medical bills have topped $130,000 and the teen is now unable to work, can't attend college and his lawyer said he is 'probably not going to have much of a career' as a result of his injuries.
And while Peralta's lawyer Edmond Chakmakian told DailyMail.com that he is unfazed, Mastro's appointment shows Streep's determination to bring the full force of his considerable privilege to bear in defending himself against Peralta's claim.
Meryl Streep's nephew, Charles Harrison Streep, has hired Rudy Giuliani's personal attorney and long-time 'fixer' to represent him in a civil suit brought against him by the 'victim' of an alleged road rage assault, DailyMail.com can reveal
Randy M. Mastro was affirmed as 31-year-old Streep's lawyer late Friday, in the suit brought by 18-year-old student, David Peralta. The legal heavyweight is a formidable opponent who routinely ranks among the nation's top litigators, was recently named Trial Lawyer of the Year by Chambers USA and recognised among the '100 Most Influential Lawyers in America,' by the National Law Journal
Peralta's (left and right) medical bills have topped $130,000 and the teen is now unable to work, can't attend college and his lawyer said he is 'probably not going to have much of a career' as a result of his injuries
Mastro served as Giuliani's Chief of Staff and New York City's Deputy Mayor for Operations for five years, earning himself a reputation as the former Mayor's 'fixer, aggressor and peacemaker.'
He was responsible for overseeing all of the City's operating budget and served as Giuliani's chief liaison with elected officials.
He left in 1998 to rejoin the New York office of Los Angeles firm Gibson Dunne and Crutcher where he is now a partner and Co-Chair of the Firm's Litigation Practice Group and he maintains close ties with his former boss.
The altercation between Streep and Peralta took place in East Hampton on August 24 after Streep failed to observe a stop sign causing a near collision between Peralta's red Mustang and Streep's Audi convertible on the Hamptons town Main Street.
The two men exchanged words but, Peralta told DailyMail.com, he thought that was that, until he realized that Streep had swung back around, in an illegal U-turn, and followed Peralta into the Chase Parking lot where events escalated with alarming speed.
The incident was caught from two different angles by Chase Bank security cameras.
DailyMail.com was first to report the shocking footage which we exclusively obtained last month.
In it, Streep, 31, can be seen lifting 18-year-old David Peralta's limp body and thrusting him to the ground in an act that, Peralta alleges, resulted in the teenager suffering a life-threatening brain injury.
Surveillance camera footage from the incident showed Charles Harrison Streep (right) get out of his car (out of shot) and confront David Peralta-Mera (left) on August 24 in The Hamptons
The pair were seen pushing and shoving at first, with Peralta claiming that Streep was racially abusive towards him. But at one point in the confrontation, the surveillance footage shows Streep picking up Peralta and slamming him into the ground
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com following the incident Peralta claimed that the older man hurled racist abuse at him as he threatened to throw him to the ground and dismissed him as 'just Spanish.'
Peralta's parents are both from Ecuador though he was born in America where he has lived all his life.
Now, in court documents seen by DailyMail.com, Mastro maintains that Peralta caused his own head injury stating, 'These clips show, among other things, Plaintiff [Peralta] holding Streep over his head and then slamming him to the ground, with Plaintiff causing his own head injury in the process.'
Streep is the son of Meryl's brother Dana Streep and his wife Mary
In fact, the video shows Peralta drop down low and bring Streep down with a judo-style shoulder throw. But Streep, who outweighs Peralta by 50lbs, quickly regains control of the situation and places Peralta in a choke hold until the younger man loses consciousness.
He drags Peralta from the ground while the younger man hangs limp and unconscious and his feet scrape the tarmac.
Streep then hoists Peralta's body upwards before throwing him back down with some force.
Three eyewitnesses have come forward to give their accounts in sworn affidavits seen by DailyMail.com.
In one the witness recalled, 'Mr Streep…picked up Mr Peralta in the air, forcefully smashing Mr Peralta to the ground. Mr Peralta landed on his head.'
At that point, the witness states, they 'exclaimed aloud, 'Oh my God, what are you doing?'
They state that Streep 'briefly looked towards us, but almost as if he barely noticed us there and did not care.'
He was, the witness recalled, 'full of rage…loud and angry and in fact, kept screaming at Mr Peralta even while he remained on the ground'.
When Peralta regained consciousness, he was bruised and bloodied on the ground and Streep was already returning to his own vehicle.
Some of what happened is lost to Peralta due to the severity of his injuries which saw him unconscious and with a brain bleed
Pictured the scene of the incident. An attorney for the 18-year-old is calling for Streep to face hate crime charges over the attack
Peralta declined medical help on the scene but within an hour had developed a potentially fatal brain bleed that saw him airlifted to a nearby hospital where he received life-saving emergency surgery.
He now faces an uncertain recovery and medical bills in excess of $130,000.
Streep was arrested three days later and charged with felony counts of second-degree assault and second-degree strangulation before being released on a bail of $5,000.
He has pleaded not guilty on both counts. Mastro has asked for the civil suit to be delayed until after the criminal case is settled – a request that Chakmakian contests.
He has also asked for his client's case to be moved from New York's Supreme Court in Manhattan to Suffolk County court citing the inconvenience of travel for witnesses based in East Hampton.
But one close to the case told DailyMail.com that Streep may simply hope for a more sympathetic audience in the Hamptons where Mastro is an influential figure who, among other things, served alongside Alec Baldwin as co-chair of the Hamptons International Film Festival.
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