Albany County DA spends three hours giving a deposition in a lib - NEWS10 ABC: Albany, New York News, Weather, Sports

Albany County DA spends three hours giving a deposition in a libel lawsuit against him

ALBANY, N.Y.---Albany County District attorney David Soares is in the middle of a lawsuit against him, with the democratic primary for his seat just three weeks away.

Friday, Soares spent three hours giving sworn testimony in a libel lawsuit against him, brought by the owners of an Orlando pharmacy who he is also actually prosecuting.

David Soares spent three hours inside a conference room in Albany, answering to claims from an Orlando pharmacy that he made comments damaging to its reputation.

Soares says a deposition is just routine, but Soares' opponent for the democratic primary calls the whole ordeal a giant distraction for the district attorney's office and for the citizens of Albany County.

The dispute dates back to 2007, when federal agents and Soares' office raided an Orlando pharmacy for for illegal steroids, alleged to have been distributed to professional athletes.

"There were 22 defendants and 17 have pled guilty," says Soares. "There is still an ongoing case that I will not talk about."

While the criminal case is still ongoing, there is also a civil lawsuit against Soares himself, brought by the owners of the pharmacy. They were in Albany today as the district attorney gave three hours of sworn testimony, addressing alleged claims that he made damaging comments regarding the pharmacy owners.

"Anyone has a right to sue, I get sued all the time by people who have cases before the court and people who have been prosecuted and convicted," says Soares.

"This isn't just a common everyday lawsuit by some disgruntled defendant," refutes Lee Kindlon. "This is a case, as I understand it, that has made it past every legal hurdle to get towards trial."

Kindlon is running against Soares during the primary on September 13th and says the libel lawsuit is a very serious matter that he worries could cost taxpayers a lot of money.

"The timing of this case is unfortunate, but it's also unfortunate for the people of Albany County that we are distracted time and time again from what the mission should be," says Kindlon. "Because this city has the second highest rate of crime in NYS."

"The next couple of weeks should be interesting, we'll see what else is being thrown at the wall," says Soares. "We have an aggressive campaign, a tough and smart approach to safety and we're moving forward."

If the libel lawsuit goes to trial, that would happen sometime this winter in Florida.