[Banfield:] Welcome back to "Legal View." I'm Ashleigh Banfield. If you've got legal troubles, especially in family court, you may have no better mom than good old Judge Judy. And Judge Judy is coming to her son's rescue. Here's CNN's Pam Brown with the story.
[Judy Sheindlin, Judge Judy:] You think you're smooth. You're a 19- year-old zero.
[Pamela Brown, Cnn Correspondent:] Judy Sheindlin is the tough-talking gavel-pounding judge you don't want to cross.
[Sheindlin:] Listen to me carefully.
[Brown:] Her daytime TV court show "Judge Judy".
[Sheindlin:] You're an idiot!
[Brown:] Now she's weighing in on a legal matter involving her own son, Adam Levy, a New York State district attorney who slapped a $5 million lawsuit against Putnam County Sheriff Donald Smith for defamation.
[Adam Levy, New York State District Attorney & Judge Judy's Son:] To read the newspaper, statements made by Don Smith that I interfered with, used my office and my title as district attorney to influence his investigation, I was outraged.
[Brown:] Smith has accused Levy of interfering with a child rape case involving Levy's former trainer, Alexander Hossu back in March. According to the Putnam County Sheriff, Hossu was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl on two occasions in 2010. Levy says he recused himself from the rape case as soon as he learned Hossu was under investigation. In this 30-page complaint filed by Levy, he alleged that defamatory statements made by Smith against him were published in various online publications, including, "If he could have his own way, Mr. Hossu would never have been brought to justice, that the lawsuit is politically motivated."
[Donald Smith, Sheriff, Putnam County Sheriff's Department:] It's obviously intended to influence the outcome of the upcoming sheriff's election.
[Brown:] In a statement, Judge Judy said, about her son, "His moral compass is dead center." She added, "When someone attacks his character professionally or personally, they best be prepared to back it up. Shut up or pay up."
[Banfield:] And that's Judge Judy for you. Thank you to CNN's Pamela Brown. Back to talk with us about this is criminal defense attorney, Danny Cevallos, and criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, Jeffrey Gold. First, I love the fact that Judge Judy is involved in anything because she's just so non-nonsense. But this is a serious case that involves defamation. The ultimate proof of defamation is the truth. Isn't that the fact? You don't need to go on TV and say all these things, you just need to come one the goods, right, Jeff?
[Jeff Gold, Criminal Defense Attorney & Former Prosecutor:] Right. The fact is he's saying I wouldn't come out and make a big deal about this if it weren't true. The second is politics. What you wouldn't understand as a citizen normally is the intra-department rivalries that go on between sheriffs and D.A.s investigations. You would think that they would all work together but they don't all work together.
[Banfield:] You were a prosecutor. Didn't you get along with your sheriff?
[Gold:] It was always a surprise to young prosecutor how the FBI didn't get along with the ATF, how the local prosecutor's office didn't get along with the local departments. It was rivalry city. And here, on top of this, we have politics. What he's saying is the sheriff now you're coming out with this now because it's election time and you want to get me.
[Banfield:] Danny, I want to get you in on this but not before we get to hear a little bit more from Prosecutor Levy. That's Judge Judy's son. He was actually on "New Day" on CNN this morning. Have a listen.
[Levy:] When I learned about this incident, this case, the investigation, it was March 13. I learned about it, and immediately I did what I was legally, morally and ethically required to do. I recused myself and my office. I couldn't possibly prosecute a case against Alex Hossu, who is a family friend.
[Banfield:] There's the paper trail, right, Danny Cevallos? Shouldn't everything play out of accordingly? And, wow, a $5 million defamation case? Do prosecutors really make that much money?
[Danny Cevallos, Criminal Defense Attorney:] We do, especially in New York. You file for the sun, the moon and the stars. When it comes to defamation, that's the harder part is proving your actual defamation damages. A lot of people say, I've been defamed, can I sue. This answer is you can but you have to prove a tangible economic damage to you, to your reputation, and that takes a lot of money. It's throwing good money after bad. But
[Banfield:] I wondered does he think he's got a career like his mom. If he thinks he's got a career like his mom and any proof of that, then, yeah, maybe $5 million is low.
[Cevallos:] Sure. The other thing to consider is that the sheriff actually made statements that were published. That's the thing about defamation, when it's published, if you have a record of it, it's usually pretty easy to look at that and say was that defamation. The real issue always with these cases, proving your actually damages.
[Banfield:] Yeah. By the way, publishing Jeff, please tell me what publishing is. It isn't about binding it in a book and sending it out. You can publish to one person, can't you?
[Gold:] Yes, you absolutely can. I just want to mention one thing. The D.A. has said he's not going to keep any money if he gets it, that he's going to donate all the money to charity.
[Banfield:] Does he have a good case?
[Gold:] He does have a good case because it looks like the truth is on his side. It looks like he did nothing wrong. He immediately recused himself.
[Banfield:] Good luck to all those future criminal prosecutions that come between that sheriff and that prosecutor. It's going to be tricky to work together after this. Thanks you two. If you could stay with us, we have got a couple of other things to bring your way. Up next, what happens to those millions and millions of teeny, weenie, little shampoo bottles that we leave behind in our hotel room. You'll be surprised about what one person ha been doing in Chicago and this story is fantastic.