White Plains, NY – The wire fraud and bribery trial involving state Senator Malcolm A. Smith and two others has been temporarily thrown into limbo as a federal court judge decides what to do about some 300 evidential recordings that have yet to be translated from Yiddish.
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The NY Times (http://nyti.ms/1kumakB) reports that the recordings largely include taped phone conversations involving Rockland developer-turned-governement witness Moses Stern, who defense lawyers argue, entrapped the defendants along with with federal agents.
U.S. attorneys argued on Thursday morning that the 300 Yiddish tapes, a fraction of the 9,000 submitted as evidence, are “irrelevant” and only have “remote” value in proving their case, but defense lawyers convinced Judge Kenneth M. Karas that since prosecutors failed to turn over the recordings until the trial began they may well contain exculpatory evidence beneficial to the defense.
Judge Karas told lawyers that the late introduction of the tapes might ultimately force an adjournment of the case, or possibly even a mistrial in order to seat a new jury, saying, “The lawyers are working around the clock as it is, and now you’re adding a pretty substantial review of the recordings.”
Ultimately, Karas gave defense lawyers until Friday to show that the tapes contain something of value relevant to their case, at which time he will decide how the case will proceed.
” but defense lawyers convinced Judge Kenneth M. Karas”
Love the judges last name..