Follow Up: Judge Rules a ‘Mistrial’ in Conspiracy Case

Yaffi Spodek reports from court:

After the summations, the defendant’s lawyer, Michael Sheinberg,requested a motion for a mistrial on the grounds that the opposing counsel made improper comments about the murder, noting that close to a dozen of his objections had been sustained. “We’re past the point where the court could repair an impaired judgment by simple instruction,” he said. “The damage has already been done.” After a short recess, the judge, Guy Mangano, ruled a mistrial on the grounds that the assistant district attorney brought in outside evidence, spoke too much about the murder, made inflammatory statements, and vouched for the testimony of the confidential informant. “You got greedy and you went too far,” Mangano told the ADA, Melissa Carvajal. “The cumulative effect was prejudiced.” Carvajal was livid over the judge’s decision, saying she was just responding to Sheinberg’s summation. Even Sheinberg was surprised by the judge’s decision. “It’s rare that there is a mistrial and I didn’t expect the judge to grant it,” he told the Ink. Mangano thanked the jurors, telling them that their service was no longer needed. The two lawyers agreed to reconvene on Friday, May 7. “If they really want to go after my client again, we may have to start from the beginning and have another trial,” Sheinberg said. “They can decide whether or not to go forward.”