Forest Hills, NY – Harvard law professor and celebrity defense lawyer Alan Dershowitz is now representing a New York doctor convicted of murdering her husband.
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Dershowitz and his brother, Nathan, are preparing an appeal for Dr. Mazoltuv Borukhova (MAZ’-uhl-tahv bor-uh-KOH’-vuh.
Dershowitz’s clients have included Patricia Hearst, Leona Helmsley, Mike Tyson, Michael Milken and O.J. Simpson.
Borukhova is serving life in prison without parole. Authorities said she hired her cousin to gun down orthodonist Daniel Malakov. He died in a Queens park, in front of their 4-year-old daughter.
The 2007 slaying rocked the close-knit community of Bukharan Jews from the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan. New York is the home of the largest Bukharan population in the United States.
Dershowitz said that they were still sifting through the records of the six-week trial in State Supreme Court in Queens, weighing what to focus on in the appeal. “There is a wealth of errors,” he said.
He said Justice Robert J. Hanophy favored the prosecution – pointing to one contentious episode in which Dr. Borukhova’s defense lawyer, Stephen Scaring, had to prepare his closing statement overnight, while the prosecutor Brad Leventhal had a whole weekend to prepare his.
That was because of a change of plan by Justice Hanophy: Wanting to end the trial before his vacation, he agreed on a schedule in which the defendants, observant Jews, would break their observance of the Sabbath so he could hear summations late into a Friday evening. But he then decided to break for the weekend, giving the prosecution more time to prepare.
Why? What grounds for appeal could there be?
As a lawyer, my guess would be either the “distressed/battered spouse” defense or the insanity defense. Dershowitz is not trying to get her off altogether, unless he is going to argue that some irregularity in the trial (charging mistake by the judge, error in the inclusion or preclusion of key evidence). The best she could get in that instance is a new trial and she would almost certainly be tried again. Otherwise, he’ll just be trying to get her setence reduced from life to say 25 years or even 15 to life.
she’s entitled to appeal. her alternative is a life sentence. anyone in her shoes would do the same.
She should rot in prison.
she better hope he does better for her then did for leona.
Its so sad he was some kind of women beater and she had it with him and took him out FREE HER NOW!
whos got money for this???
She is certainly entitled to an appeal. Hiring Dershowitz has no reflection on the validity of any of her arguments on appeal.
Thank you, #3, for your explanation.
she destroyed three lives.she killed her husband she may have destroyed her daughter mentally, and she is in prison. lets not forget that this affects the grandparents who are raising a little girl when they should be enjoying their lives as grandparents
Number 5, how do you know that? Was he found guilty of something that the rest of us don’t know about?
Dershowitz originally wanted to defend Najibullah Azazi but lost out so he had to settle for “MazalTov”.
If Dershowitz emulates the successful OJ defense, he will claim that the murder was committed by Colombian drug lords.
Its the US justice system to appeal and Dershwotiz will point to some defect in the process, incorrect jury instructions, bad juror selection, whatever, to try to get her some time off. Hope he loses. She deserves what she got. To kill another human, a Jew, an accomplished DOctor, a sweet man, because she was not happy with custody which she lost because of her own actions??? May she rot in jail forever.
She may be a killer, but she’s frum enough to keep her hair covered!
Mi Kamcha Yisroel!
Please don’t use my nickname. I have been using it on this site for quite some time, and it is registered to my email address on other sites as well.
I am flattered that you thought to you use the same name as me, but I kindly request that you devise something else.
Wishing you a gute kvitel,
The original Clarity
You do the crime – you do the time. If indeed she had her husband killed, she deserves to rot in jail. No if’s or butt’s. There is no excuse for taking a life, abuse or not. There should not even be a discussion about this. People who defend these people are made from the same garbage.