Dunwoody day-care shooting trial | Judge bars widow from court

By Christian Boone

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A DeKalb County judge on Friday barred Andrea Sneiderman from the courthouse where her former boss is on trial, accused of killing her husband.

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Vino Wong, vwong@ajc.com Andrea Sneiderman was barred from the courthouse Friday in the trial of her former boss, Hemy Neuman, who is accused of killing her husband, Rusty Sneiderman.

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Superior Court Judge Gregory Adams took the action after prosecutor Don Geary said Sneiderman has been disruptive during the trial and has engaged witnesses even after she was told not to do so. The defense did not object to Geary’s motion to sequester the widow.

Neither Andrea Sneiderman nor the jury was in the courtoom when Adams made his ruling. Sneiderman was at the courthouse at the time, and left shortly afterward.

Adams' ruling was another dramatic turn in the high profile trial, which entered its fourth day on Friday.

On Thursday Andrea Sneiderman embraced Shayna Citron after the witness contradicted Sneiderman’s testimony that she first learned of her husband’s shooting at Atlanta Medical Center.

Andrea Sneiderman’s former boss at GE Energy, Hemy Neuman, has acknowledged through his lawyers that he fatally shot Rusty Sneiderman outside the preschool where the Dunwoody entrepreneur had dropped off his two children. Neuman has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Thus far the victm’s widow, and her relationship with Neuman, has been the primary focus of the trial so far.

According to Geary, an investigator with the district attorney’s office tried to prevent Andrea Sneiderman from hugging Citron but was rebuffed. After the awkward embrace, Sneiderman followed Citron out of the courthouse where, Geary said, she told the witness she was no longer her friend.

Besides contradicting Sneiderman’s testimony that she didn’t find out about her husband's shooting until she arrived at the hospital, Citron testified that she did not believe Andrea Sneiderman’s denials of an affair with Neuman.

A member of Rusty Sneiderman's family told the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the family has been troubled by Andrea Sneiderman's actions since his death.

“As a result of Andrea’s actions yesterday, today’s extraordinary action is yet another example of Andrea’s behavior that has been deeply troubling to our family for some time,” said the victim’s brother, Steve Sneiderman.

“It is comforting to us that there has been a public recognition of this egregious behavior,” he said.

Geary said Andrea Sneiderman was also entering the witness room even after she had been told not to and commenting loudly while court was in session.

She remains under subpoena and is likely to take the stand again as the trial progresses.