Investor Steven Green swore that his dentist was just his dentist. Records might prove the two had a relationship outside the dentist's office.
By CHRISTOPHER GOFFARD
Published August 5, 2003
TAMPA - In May, New York real estate investor Steven Green was scheduled to give a three-day deposition as part of a multimillion-dollar libel suit he filed against the St. Petersburg Times.
Green never showed, but he offered a note bearing the signature of dentist Myles L. Sokolof of Pleasantville, N.Y.
The note said Green was recovering from emergency dental surgery because a missing tooth filling had resulted in "possible life threatening consequences."
At a July 7 hearing before a Pinellas-Pasco circuit judge, Green denied under oath that he had anything but a doctor-patient relationship with Sokolof.
But records obtained by the Times cast doubt on that assertion. And Judge Thomas E. Penick Jr. has ordered Green to appear Thursday to testify about the relationship. Green filed suit against the Times in December, seeking more than $25-million in damages. He claimed the newspaper and two of its reporters had damaged his ability to do business in the Tampa Bay area by publishing false and defamatory statements.
The articles focused on the Amberwood Apartments in northern Hillsborough, then owned by Green's Amberwood Realty.
The county padlocked the 212-unit complex last year after finding more than 500 code violations. The county has levied $1.3-million in fines, which have gone unpaid.
After Green missed his May deposition, he appeared before Judge Penick to offer his explanation. The judge expressed frustration that Green's dental note was not notarized, as he had requested.
"One, I don't have it, and two, the credibility of the witness is shaky," the judge said of Green.
Times attorney Tom Reynolds asked Green whether he had "any business or social relationship" with Dr. Sokolof, or any other relationship with him beyond the dentist chair.
"He's no business relation to me," Green replied.
Two documents appear to contradict that characterization.
The first, obtained through Hillsborough public records, is a July 1999 deed in which "Myles Sokoloff" conveys a Temple Terrace apartment complex to one of Green's companies, Cedar Pointe Realty Corp. In a phone interview, Sokolof declined to discuss the dentist's note. He said he had no memory of signing a deed conveying the apartments to Green.
Another document, obtained when Times lawyers subpoenaed Green's banking records, is an undated report that Green submitted to a bank for a loan to buy the Temple Terrace apartments. The report cites "Myles Sokolf" as the owner of the apartments.
Last week, Green missed a scheduled appearance at a three-day deposition in the civil case.
Green's lawyer, Richard Gaines, told Times attorneys that Green's schedule did not permit him to sit for a three-day deposition, and that Green was concerned his testimony would lead to more news stories about him.
Green's lawyer offered to settle the case. When negotiations between the two sides reached an impasse, Green's lawyer last Friday asked Judge Penick to dismiss the libel suit.
The judge has not done so, pending the hearing Thursday at which Green must answer questions about his relationship with the dentist. Green may face sanctions at the hearing.
