In-Law of Famed Lawyer Dershowitz Dies in New York Crash

A U.S. Postal Service truck driver accidentally struck and killed a retired state Supreme Court special referee who was the sister-in-law of prominent lawyer Alan Dershowitz, police said Sunday.

Marilyn Dershowitz, 68, died after being hit by the truck while on her bicycle a few blocks from Madison Square Garden, in Manhattan.

The truck driver drove off, apparently unaware that a cyclist had been struck. The driver later was identified. No criminality was suspected.

Dershowitz’s husband, Nathan Dershowitz, said they were riding their bikes together Saturday but he was about a block ahead of her when she was struck.

“When she didn’t catch up, I went back and saw the police around,” he said, adding that she was wearing a helmet. “I got back to the scene. She was bleeding profusely.”

The couple had two children and lived in Tudor City, on the east side of Manhattan, along the East River.

Marilyn Dershowitz retired in December from her longtime position with the state courts, her husband said. A highly esteemed judge and referee, she had overseen a number of dramatic divorce trials, including the proceedings of Dr. Nicholas Bartha, who blew up his family’s town house in 2006 so his former wife wouldn’t benefit from its sale and later died from his wounds.

“She handled literally thousands of cases,” said her husband, a high-profile defense attorney.

He is the brother of attorney Alan Dershowitz, who represented Mike Tyson and helped win O.J. Simpson’s acquittal on murder charges.