The battery case against Wellington developer Glenn Straub of Palm Beach Polo Holdings has been dropped, Gossip Extra reported.
Straub’s lawyers had argued to authorities that the victim Claire Newman’s gender change would make the victim appear “unstable” before a jury, at a trial slated to occur this month. Straub was accused of grabbing Newman by the throat on the sideline of his night-polo venue, Polo West, in April 2012. Newman, who now lives as a man named Cale, decided in January she did not want to case to continue.
The developer has said he saw a group of young people drinking beer and said at the time he worried they were underage. Newman initially described the incident that ensued as a physical spat, Gossip Extra said.
Straub faced legal troubles in 2010 as well. He was found not guilty yesterday in a criminal trial over allegations he violated federal wetlands laws. He was charged with improperly bulldozing and filling in wetlands. A 12-member jury acquitted him after a three-week trial, as previously reported. [Gossip Extra] –Mark Maurer