STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Broadswords at daybreak?
Champions with shields and suits of armor?
A Staten Island lawyer with a penchant for bowties and closely-cut beards is apparently channeling his inner "Games of Thrones" by asking a judge to sanction a trial by combat to resolve a civil suit in which he's accused of helping a client fraudulently transfer assets.
"The allegations made by plaintiffs, aided and abetted by their counsel, border upon the criminal," Richard A. Luthmann wrote in a brief recently filed in state Supreme Court, St. George. "As such, the undersigned (Luthmann) respectfully requests that the court permit the undersigned to dispatch plaintiffs and their counsel to the Divine Providence of the Maker for Him to exact His divine judgment once the undersigned has released the souls of the plaintiffs and their counsel from their corporeal bodies, personally and or by way of a champion."
Luthmann said he seeks trial by combat - a fight to the death by the disputants or their stand-ins - in the event the case against him is not dismissed.
Trial by combat, Luthmann contends, was never outlawed in the United States or in New York state.
The attorney requested a lethal showdown to highlight what he perceives as ludicrous allegations against him.
"They want to be absurd about what they're trying to do, then I'll give them back ridiculousness in kind," said Luthmann, an admitted fan of "Game of Thrones," the smash HBO series based on the George R.R. Martin books in which three disputes have been settled in its five seasons through bloody trials by combat.
"If these people want to insist on having it out, then we'll have it out," said Luthmann, who's tilted at a few windmills over the years, as evidenced by his numerous battles with local Democratic Party leaders.
Richard Chusid, the lawyer for the plaintiffs Benjamin Foley, Richard Foley, Ryan McGetrick and Brian Hale, could not immediately be reached for comment.
According to court filings, Luthmann had represented David Parker who was embroiled in a dispute over more than $500,000 he allegedly owed the plaintiffs.
CIVIL COMPLAINT
In their civil complaint against Luthmann, the plaintiffs allege the attorney told Parker to liquidate the accounts in which Parker had placed the cash and to transfer the money "beyond the reach of (his) creditors" in violation of state law.
In addition, they allege Parker wired $50,000 to Luthmann's account on May 7, 2013, five days after they sued Parker in Manhattan state Supreme Court. Luthmann was not named in that suit.
The Foleys and McGetrick were collectively awarded judgments of more than $376,000 in July of that year, said their court filings. Hale sued Parker in December 2013, also in Manhattan state Supreme Court, and obtained a default judgment of $151,000, said the plaintiffs' complaint.
Luthmann maintains he didn't represent Parker in those actions.
The plaintiffs could not collect the judgments due to Parker's alleged insolvency and sued Luthmann in March 2014, court documents show.
The plaintiffs seek more than $550,000, plus punitive damages, from Luthmann, who's based in Castleton Corners.
Luthmann vehemently denies any wrongdoing.
In his court filings, he said Parker paid him $52,500, a "patently reasonable" fee for his legal services from November 2012 through May 2013 to help try to resolve the dispute.
He derided a brief by the plaintiffs' lawyer as "comic book" and said they're barking up the wrong tree.
"Since they cannot enforce their judgment, they look to sue Mr. Parker's lawyer," Luthmann wrote in a brief just over a week ago.
Then he threw down the gauntlet - figuratively.
TRIAL BY COMBAT
Over the course of 10 pages, Luthmann discusses the history of trial by combat from Middle-Age England to the founding of the Thirteen Colonies. (Fun fact: One British bishop in 1276 paid a champion an annual retainer fee, with additional stipends and expenses for each fight. Luthmann doesn't say how much.)
More to the point, an attempt to abolish the practice in the Thirteen Colonies was blocked by Parliament in 1774, nor was it subsequently banned by the Constitution in the United States or by the state of New York, Luthmann contends.
The lawyer realizes his request for mortal combat isn't without personal risk.
"One of the inconveniences of this procedure is, that the party who institutes it must be willing, if required, to stake his life in support of his accusation," he wrote.
Luthmann may be sticking his neck out professionally, as well.
He acknowledged the judge could take a dim view of his request, when a reporter asked him that question.
But he insists there's a bigger Constitutional issue here: Exactly what rights are protected under the Ninth Amendment?
The amendment protects all the rights of the people not mentioned specifically elsewhere in the Constitution. In this case, it's trial by combat, says Luthmann.
"The judge may look askance at it, but I'm prepared to take it to the highest level," Luthmann said. "I'd love to have a court determine whether we have those rights under the Constitution."