Andrea Sneiderman’s murder trial is all but certain to remain in DeKalb County and, if a motion filed Friday is approved by the presiding judge, her alleged paramour, Joseph Dell, won’t have to testify.
Sneiderman’s defense team had signaled after her arrest that they would seek a change of venue but did not request the trial be moved in advance of Friday’s noon deadline.
Instead they filed a motion seeking to persuade DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Gregory Adams to issue an order “prohibiting any reference by the state to Joseph Dell, unless and until the state demonstrates to this court’s satisfaction, outside the presence of the jury, that said evidence … is relevant to the issues in this case.”
Prosecutors added Dell to their witness list last month, setting off a contentious back-and-forth between attorneys in both the criminal trial and the wrongful death suit filed against Sneiderman by her brother-in-law. DeKalb Chief Assistant District Attorney Don Geary told Adams there is evidence that suggests Sneiderman had her husband, Rusty, shot to death so she could be with Dell.
But, as Friday’s motion points out, that accusation signals a sharp departure from the indictment brought against Sneiderman, who is charged with conspiring with her former boss, Hemy Neuman, to have her husband killed. Neuman was convicted in March of fatally shooting Rusty Sneiderman outside a Dunwoody daycare facility and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
“No evidence exists to support an inference of any romantic relationship between defendant and Joseph Dell prior to the death of Rusty Sneiderman,” the motion states, adding “there is nothing in the discovery to substantiate such a claim. If so, the state also needs to withdraw the existing indictment.”
Criminal defense attorney Steve Sadow said Sneiderman’s attorneys filed the motion in part to expose the state’s evolving conclusions about the Dunwoody widow’s alleged role in her husband’s death.
“The inconsistent theories are a potentially fatal flaw,” Sadow told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In a separate motion filed Friday, Sneiderman’s defense team asked Judge Adams to dismiss all but one count of the indictment — specially the counts alleging murder and perjury.
“Essentially they’re challenging the way the motion was drafted,” Sadow said. “The defendant is entitled to an absolute perfect indictment.”
The indictment should “descend to particulars,” Sneiderman’s lawyers argue, “and state the species of acts charged with such clearness and certainty as to apprise the accused of the particular act which is the substance of the offense.”
It’s unclear why Sneiderman’s defense team, which is prohibited from commenting due to a gag order imposed by Adams, decided against pursuing a venue change.
In August, Sneiderman attorney J. Tom Morgan said, “It would be difficult … to get 12 jurors in the metro area that would be able to sit without considering all the things they’ve heard beforehand. You’ve got to be living in a cave to know nothing about this case.”
Atlanta lawyer Ken Hodges said he was surprised the defense didn’t petition the court to move the trial, adding he thinks they would have been successful.
“There’s no way that J. Tom Morgan and that defense team made that decision without mock trying it, without getting a lot of data and without having Andrea Sneiderman okay it,” said Hodges, formerly district attorney in Doughtery County. “I presume they contracted with a juror consulting company, they brought in people that would be eligible to sit on the jury, in other words, DeKalb County citizens, and they probably did it in a court room.”
Sneiderman’s lawyers could still request a change if, for instance, they claimed they were unable to find impartial jurors, though such a move is rare.
No trial date has been set for Sneiderman, who maintains her innocence.
Meanwhile, Sneiderman is no longer seeking to have brother-in-law Steve Sneiderman removed as executor of her late husband’s will. That case was dismissed Thursday at the widow’s request.
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