Drama a likely casualty in retrial of Dunwoody day care shooter

• Aug. 19, 2013 — The key witness in Neuman's trial, Andrea Sneiderman, is convicted of perjury. She served 10 months in prison and is on probation until August 2017.

• June 15, 2015 — Georgia's Supreme Court cites a violation of attorney-client privilege in reversing Neuman's conviction.

• Aug. 1, 2016 — Jury selection begins in Neuman's re-trial.

For fans of lurid courtroom drama, the retrial of Hemy Neuman is expected to be a pale imitation of the original. Sort of like remaking “Jaws” without the shark.

Neuman was found guilty but mentally ill in the 2010 murder of his alleged paramour's husband, Rusty Sneiderman, outside a Dunwoody daycare facility. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole, but was granted a new trial last year after the Georgia Supreme Court determined attorney-client privilege was violated.

Jury selection began Monday in DeKalb County Superior Court, with opening statements expected Aug. 8.

Though many of the same issues will be revisited in Neuman’s retrial, a key figure — one who even managed to overshadow the accused — will not be present for Act 2.

Andrea Sneiderman, the victim's widow, was the first witness called in Neuman's 2012 trial and immediately became the focal point of the case, targeted by the prosecution and defense alike. Though she steadfastly denied it, both sides presented evidence that she was romantically involved with Neuman, her former boss at GE Energy.

The state, it turned out, was laying the groundwork for murder charges — later dropped — against Sneiderman. She was eventually convicted of perjury and hindering the apprehension of a killer in 2013 and served 10 months in prison. She remains under parole supervision until August 2017.

For the defense, Andrea Sneiderman was the trigger that drove Neuman to fatally shoot her husband.

“A verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity is a verdict that says Hemy was used. Hemy was manipulated,” defense attorney Doug Peters said in his closing argument at the 2012 trial.

It’s a strategy the defense is likely to employ again, said Bob Rubin, Neuman’s co-counsel at the first trial.

But it won’t be easy without Sneiderman and the theatrics that accompanied her testimony. The mother of two was eventually banned from the courtroom by DeKalb Superior Court Judge Gregory Adams for attempting to manipulate her former best friend, called as a witness against her.

“I think it was a fairly compelling story and it was made more credible by Andrea Sniederman showing the type of person she really was,” Rubin said. “They won’t have that this time, and that will make the defense’s job tougher.”

Court-appointed lawyers now represent Neuman, who has become indigent. The defense faces long odds regardless with a not guilty plea since Neuman has already acknowledged killing Rusty Sneiderman.

Esther Panitch, the attorney for Neuman’s former wife Reli, said the burden of proof actually falls on the defense.

“I’ve seen insane clients. He’s not one of them,” she said.

Panitch said the new trial is “opening wounds that never healed to begin with,” especially for Rusty Sneiderman’s parents and brother, now faced with re-living the events surrounding his murder for a third time. The Sneidermans declined comment.