Silver back in the good ol’ days. (Photo: Mary Reinholz)
Lower East Side assemblyman Sheldon Silver pled not guilty to federal corruption charges during his arraignment yesterday, proclaiming after the hearing that he expected to be vindicated in court.
His lawyers, meanwhile, claimed he had already been convicted in the press and accused U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of orchestrating a “media firestorm” against their client before a single witness had been called. They filed a motion to dismiss the indictment that was handed down by a grand jury last week, contending the proceedings may have been tainted by pre-trial publicity.
“The U.S. Attorney excoriated the defendant and basically deprived him of his presumption of innocence,” said defense lawyer Steven Molo in his arguments before Judge Valerie Caproni in U.S. District Court. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Cohen contended the allegations against Bharara were “baseless.” She said she would file a response by March 6. Judge Caproni set May 7 for a second hearing in the case.
Silver, 71, the powerful speaker of the New York State assembly for more than 20 years until he was forced to resign after his arrest last month on a criminal complaint, has retained his seat in the chamber. Federal prosecutors in the Southern District have accused him of pocketing nearly $4 million in kickbacks disguised as outside legal work for two Manhattan law firms that began in 2000.
Asked by B+B if he could represent downtown constituents during his ordeal, the longtime pol responded softly but adamantly in the affirmative, saying he was at work for them “in Albany” and kept in touch with people in the 65th assembly district. He said his task force on overcrowding in the schools will hold a meeting next month.
Molo said in court that Bharara had incited a media frenzy by making “inflammatory” comments during a press conference held on January 22, the day Silver was arrested, and continued to do so the next day during a speech at New York Law School and later in a television interview. Molo also noted that the prosecution’s case was leaked to press hours before Silver’s arrest. He called on the judge to poll the jury to determine if they had been influenced by the coverage.
Prominent criminal defense lawyer Gerald Lefcourt, who has represented a slew of famous political clients including yippie leader Abbie Hoffman, former Brooklyn assemblyman Vito Lopez and former Assembly Speaker Melvin Miller, expressed similar views during a telephone conversation with us Monday night. “What is clearly inappropriate by this prosecutor is the way he has converted a simple filing of charges into a celebrity cause,” he said. “He not only filed charges but he went out and made speeches. When you see somebody making speeches about [defendants] in public, then you know there’s more going on.”
Legendary criminal defense lawyer Murray (aka “Don’t Worry Murray”) Richman of the Bronx, who has defended mobsters, fallen pols and hip-hop stars like Jay-Z, told us that in the United States, prosecutors have an edge in controversial cases like Silver’s. “There’s an inordinate degree of power given to the prosecutor,” he said. “He has the right to address the press at any time. It’s not like it is in England where [a prosecutor] can’t go to the press until after the case is completed.”
Richman said there was “no question” that the media coverage of Silver’s case had “poisoned the atmosphere. The speaker,” he predicted, “will have a difficult time getting a fair trial.”
