Corruption trial of state Sen. Smith to begin Jan. 5

A federal judge has ruled that the corruption trial of state Sen. Malcolm Smith will begin as scheduled Jan. 5. The pretrial hearing, in a White Plains federal courtroom, centered around the pregnancy

News 12 Staff

Nov 21, 2014, 3:44 AM

Updated 3,676 days ago

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A federal judge has ruled that the corruption trial of state Sen. Malcolm Smith will begin as scheduled Jan. 5.
The pretrial hearing, in a White Plains federal courtroom, centered around the pregnancy of defense lawyer Deborah Misir, who is the lead attorney for former Queens GOP Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone.
He is charged with accepting a bribe from Smith, a Democrat, to get the senator the GOP nomination for New York mayor.
Their trial date had been set for Jan. 5, but Misir wanted it delayed until the fall because her doctors considered her pregnancy at age 42 high-risk.
Prosecutors objected, as did Smith's lawyer.
A mistrial for Smith and Tabone was declared last June after prosecutors failed to hand over evidence in the case. However, co-defendant and former New York City Councilman Daniel Halloran went ahead with a trial and was convicted.
The judge and prosecutors said Leo Ahern, who was helping Misir with Tabone's defense, could take over. Tabone told the judge he will look for another lawyer to take his case to trial.