John Kase, former judge, prosecutor and defense lawyer with masterful courtroom touch, dies at 81

John Kase, a prominent prosecutor, judge and criminal defense lawyer whose many clients included a serial killer’s brother, alleged Russian mobsters, and a Roslyn school superintendent who stole millions from the district, died April 18 at home in Westbury. He was 81.

His death was caused by complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the neurodegenerative disease known as ALS, said a daughter, Elizabeth Kase. 

Kase was a veteran prosecutor with federal and state experience when he joined the defense bar in 1978. He developed a reputation for masterful trial work.

“He was one of the good ones,” said Garden City defense lawyer  Stephen Scaring. “If there was a shot at winning the case, he typically would win.”

James Druker, Kase’s partner at Kase & Druker, the Garden City firm the two founded after leaving public service, said that Kase deployed natural affability as a courtroom tactic, one that was particularly potent in jury trials. “He established a rapport … He pulled off some miracles by not talking down to jurors, relating to them.”

Kase's commitment to zealous advocacy led him, at times, to impart spin in the press. The case of an adult video store that opened 1½ blocks from a Valley Stream elementary school was about “the freedom of the marketplace,” he told a reporter. A chiropractor who pleaded guilty to submitting false insurance claims — and was caught on tape coaching an undercover officer how best to pose as an accident victim — was “pleased to get this matter behind him,” but more importantly, “It should be noted that at no time was criticism rendered as to the quality of care he has given his patients.”

In 1996, Kase represented Barry Shulman, accused of helping his brother, serial killer Robert Shulman, dispose of some of the bodies of his five victims. Prosecutors and the father of one of the victims had pushed for Barry Shulman to serve 16 years for unlawfully disposing of a body and hindering prosecution. Kase described his client as the victim of a domineering brother who’d already been punished by the loss of a job he cherished at the Postal Service. Under a plea agreement, Barry Shulman was sentenced to two years in jail

Another prominent case was that of Roslyn schools chief Frank Tassone, sentenced in 2006 to 4 to 12 years in prison for his part in an $11 million embezzlement of the district. Tassone was released in 2010, eight months early for good behavior. Kase argued that his client bore civil, not criminal responsibility, and was entitled to job perks under a generous district contract.

Kase’s career in public service began after law school when he worked as a prosecutor in the Bronx district attorney’s office. He worked on federal strike forces targeting organized crime in New Jersey and New York before then-Nassau District Attorney Denis Dillon hired him in 1975 to lead the office’s rackets bureau. He later led the narcotics bureau.

Kase served as a Nassau County Court judge from 2005 to 2012. Before state law forced him to retire at age 70, he served a year as a  supervising judge. As a judge,  he ran the trial of Leonardo Valdez-Cruz, who tortured and killed girlfriend Jo'Anna Bird in a case that highlighted the shortcomings of Nassau police investigations of domestic violence. Valdez-Cruz was sentenced in 2010 to spend the rest of his life in prison.

John Laurence Kase was born May 22, 1942, in the Bronx and raised in Yonkers. His parents, Harold and Sara Lee (Persky) Kase, were social workers. He graduated from New York University in 1964 and from St. John’s University School of Law in 1967.

In addition to Elizabeth Kase, of Port Washington, he is survived by another daughter, Marjorie Kase, of Oakland, California. A marriage to Arlene (Bard) Kase ended in divorce. She lives in Port Washington. Elizabeth Kase, the former Baxter Estates village justice, is married to former Nassau County and state lawmaker Craig Johnson.

A Great Neck resident for much of his life, Kase served as president of Temple Emanuel there. He also served as secretary and Judiciary Committee chairman of the Nassau County Bar Association. A funeral was held at the temple April 21, and a private burial will be held at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Westchester.