x

Politics

Retrial Set to Begin for Dean Skelos and His Son

June 19, 2018

NEW YORK (AP) — Ex-New York Senate leader Dean Skelos and his son returned to a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday for the start of their retrial on corruption charges.

U.S. District Judge Kimba M. Wood told prospective jurors that Skelos and his son, Adam, were facing public corruption charges and she was seeking jurors who could be fair fact finders who would base their conclusions only on evidence they see and hear in court.

The panel of jurors was selected by 6 p.m. and Opening statements were likely to begin on Wednesday.

The trial is likely to last a month. Potential jurors filled out questionnaires last week and lawyers had analyzed them before the formal start of jury selection Tuesday.

At least one woman was stricken from the pool of potential jurors after indicating on a questionnaire that she “doesn’t support Republicans.”

Skelos and his son were convicted in 2015 of extortion, conspiracy and bribery. Dean Skelos, a 70-year-old Republican, was sentenced to five years in prison. His son got 6½ years. But neither had to serve time.

The convictions and the sentences were overturned by a Manhattan federal appeals panel that cited a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling narrowing the definition of public corruption. The high court decision had reversed the bribery conviction of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican.

The evidence in the Skelos retrial was expected to mirror what jurors saw at the first trial, when prosecutors said the once-powerful politician badgered companies that needed his political sway to funnel more than $300,000 to his son through consulting work, a no-show job and a payment of $20,000.

The father and son have both pleaded not guilty.

They are counting on a different result than what occurred at the retrial of former Democratic New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

He too had his conviction and a 12-year prison sentence reversed by the appeals court, which cited the Supreme Court McDonnell ruling. In May, a jury convicted him again at a retrial. Silver is awaiting sentencing.

RELATED

MONTREAL- In his interview on the CTV television network, following his meeting with his Canadian counterpart, Justin Trudeau, where the strengthening of bilateral relations was emphasized and the agreement for the delivery of seven state-of-the-art firefighting aircraft was signed, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis focused on the significant improvement in the economic climate and the increasing attraction of investments to Greece Just before the European elections in June, the Prime Minister emphasized, “For the first time, we will give the opportunity to our diaspora, those who have the right to vote in Greece, to utilize the postal vote to participate in the European elections.

Top Stories

Columnists

A pregnant woman was driving in the HOV lane near Dallas.

General News

NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.

Video

A Palestinian Baby in Gaza is Born an Orphan in an Urgent Cesarean Section after an Israeli Strike

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Sabreen Jouda came into the world seconds after her mother left it.

PHOENIX — An Arizona grand jury has indicted former Donald Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and lawyer Rudy Giuliani along with 16 others in an election interference case.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Police peacefully arrested student protesters at the University of Southern California on Wednesday, hours after police at a Texas university violently detained dozens in the latest clashes between law enforcement and those protesting the Israel-Hamas war on campuses nationwide.

ATHENS, Greece — A far-right Greek lawmaker has been charged with criminal assault for allegedly punching a colleague on the sidelines of a parliamentary debate Wednesday.

Enter your email address to subscribe

Provide your email address to subscribe. For e.g. [email protected]

You may unsubscribe at any time using the link in our newsletter.