Andrea Sneiderman's bid to clear her name was rejected Tuesday by the same judge who sentenced the Dunwoody widow to prison for hindering the apprehension of her husband's killer.
“The evidence was more than sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that (Sneiderman) was guilty of the crimes for which she was convicted,” DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Adams wrote in his ruling.
Sneiderman was indicted in part for her testimony in the trial of alleged paramour Hemy Neuman, who's serving a life sentence for fatally shooting Rusty Sneiderman in the parking lot of his son's nursery. Despite significant evidence, Sneiderman maintained she was never romantically involved with her former supervisor at GE Energy.
Her attorney Brian Steel, contended his client's testimony, true or not, was not material to Neuman's conviction.
“Contrary to (Sneiderman’s) argument, the state is not required to tender the entirety of the previous trial transcript or record to adequately determine whether defendant’s false statements were material,” Adams ruled.
Steel had attacked the prosecution's "hypocrisy" in a failed attempt to introduce a brief related to Neuman's appeal, recently heard by the state Supreme Court. In it, the state acknowledged that Sneiderman's "alleged perjured testimony was not essential to the verdict rendered in Mr. Neuman's trial."
“The prosecution is arguing on one hand that Ms. Sneiderman’s testimony at the Neuman trial did not affect … the verdict, and on the other hand the prosecutor is saying in Ms. Sneiderman’s trial her testimony, allegedly false, was critical material,” Steel argued at the hearing earlier this month.
But Adams countered in his ruling that Neuman’s defense team also failed to prove Sneiderman’s perjury under oath was “essential” to the guilty verdict.
Steel told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he plans to appeal.
Sneiderman was released from prison last June and is on parole through August 2017. Because the mother of two was sentenced under the First Offender Act, her nine felony convictions will be erased, assuming she does not commit another crime.
About the Author
