The state Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear arguments that the former GE Energy executive convicted of fatally shooting a Dunwoody entrepreneur outside his son’s day care facility deserves a new trial because he was convicted in part by perjured testimony.
That testimony, by the victim's widow Andrea Sneiderman, helped secure a guilty verdict against Hemy Neuman, according to his lawyers. Neuman was sentenced to life without parole nearly three years ago. Sneiderman was later convicted on false statements she made in court and during the investigation that followed her husband's death in November 2010.
DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Adams rejected Neuman's motion for a new trial last March. In his decision, Adams agreed with prosecutors that Sneiderman's testimony was not crucial in securing Neuman's conviction.
“The evidence was more than sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that (Neuman) was guilty of the crimes for which he was convicted, ” Adams wrote.
Sneiderman, treated by prosecutors as a hostile witness, denied any romantic involvement with her former boss, saying instead that Neuman was obsessed with her. Her testimony seriously hampered Neuman’s insanity defense, attorney Scott Key argued.
“The defense was premised on the fact that there was a relationship … that led him to insanity, ” Key said at the DeKalb hearing. “If she lied about it, if she said a relationship didn’t happen, that undermined the central component of the defense.”
Prosecutors said at the time Sneiderman was called as a witness to establish motive, but she ended up helping the state mount its case against her.
The defense argued she was not in love with her boss but rather used him to get out of an unhappy marriage.
Sneiderman was released from prison last June after serving less than one year of her five-year sentence. Her parole expires in August 2017.
SNEIDERMAN CASE TIMELINE
Nov. 18, 2010: Rusty Sneiderman is shot multiple times and killed after taking his son to class at Dunwoody Prep day care.
Jan. 4, 2011: Hemy Neuman, who supervised Rusty Sneiderman's wife at GE Energy, is arrested and charged with murder after investigators discovered he rented a silver minivan the day before the shooting.
Feb. 21, 2012: Opening statements are heard in the trial of Neuman, who pleads not guilty by reason of insanity.
Feb. 24, 2012: The judge bans Andrea Sneiderman from the courtroom for actions that were deemed as intimidating to witnesses.
March 15, 2012: After deliberating nearly eight hours over three days, the jury finds Neuman guilty but mentally ill on the count of murder, and guilty on the count of using a firearm during the commission of a felony. The judge sentences Neuman to life in prison without parole on the murder count, and five years in prison on the firearms charge.
May 18, 2012: Steve Sneiderman, Rusty Sneiderman's brother, files a wrongful death lawsuit against his sister-in-law, alleging she conspired to kill her husband.
June 18, 2012: Andrea Sneiderman files a defamation suit against Steve Sneiderman along with a wrongful death suit against Neuman.
Aug. 2, 2012: A DeKalb County grand jury issues an eight-count indictment charging Andrea Sneiderman with malice murder, attempted murder, racketeering, insurance fraud and two counts each of perjury and false statements. The same morning, she is arrested in Putnam County.
Feb. 18, 2013: Prosecutors reindict Sneiderman, dropping conspiracy charges but implicating her in the death of her husband as a "party to the crime."
May 21, 2013: Sneiderman pleads not guilty to a third indictment, revised after the defense raises questions about the wording of the charges.
July 23, 2013: Prosecutors inform the defense, according to people with direct knowledge of the case, that they will be dropping the three most serious charges against Sneiderman: felony murder, malice murder and aggravated assault. She still would face 13 other charges.
August 20, 2013: Sneiderman, convicted the day before on nine of 13 felony counts, was sentenced to five years in prison with credit for time served, including a year under house arrest.
June 16: Sneiderman is released on parole from Arrendale State Prison.
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