NEW YORK CITY – Former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, under conviction for corruption, claims that testimony about the mesothelioma foundation of Madison County asbestos lawyer John Simmons prejudiced his jury.

He moved for a new trial on Jan. 21, arguing among other points that District Judge Valerie Caproni should have excluded evidence about the Simmons Foundation.

"That evidence was irrelevant and compromised the fairness of the trial,” wrote his lawyers, Joel Cohen and Steven Molo of New York.

Gregg Kirkland, former chief executive of the Simmons firm, testified on Nov. 10.

His testimony showed that cancer researcher Richard Taub of Columbia University referred patients to the firm while the foundation gave money for Taub’s research.

Jurors had previously heard Taub testify that he referred patients to Silver while Silver awarded state research grants to Taub.

Jurors found Silver and Taub engaged in quid pro quo, and they convicted Silver of fraud, extortion and money laundering.

In the motion for new trial, Silver's lawyers objected to “irrelevant and prejudicial evidence suggesting that Dr. Taub exchanged patient referrals for donations with the Simmons Foundation.”

"That evidence improperly invited the jury to infer that Dr. Taub must have had the same sort of arrangement with Mr. Silver," they wrote.

They wrote that the foundation donated $3,150,000 to Taub’s research center.

"Following that donation, Dr. Taub referred mesothelioma patients to the Simmons law firm associated with that foundation," they wrote.

"The government introduced evidence showing that Simmons internally tracked the number of referrals it received from physicians to whom it had made donations.

“That evidence suggested that Dr. Taub and the Simmons Foundation had an arrangement to exchange referrals for donations.

"And the government’s obvious purpose in introducing the evidence was to create the impression that Dr. Taub must have had a similar quid pro quo arrangement with Mr. Silver as well.

“That line of questioning invited the jury to convict based on a false comparison. The Simmons Foundation is a private entity, and the money it gave Dr. Taub was a donation, not a grant.

"The funding that Dr. Taub received from the state, by contrast, was a grant subject to entirely different standards and processes.

“The Simmons evidence invited the jury to disregard that testimony and find that Dr. Taub must have been exchanging referrals for grants with Mr. Silver because he was exchanging referrals for donations with Simmons.”

Cohen and Molo separately argued that the government denied Silver a fair trial by introducing his annual statements of financial disclosure.

They wrote that he voluntarily revised them to clarify that his practice included fees from Weitz and Luxenberg, a New York asbestos firm.

“Mr. Silver’s disclosure forms were thus complete and correct. But even if the government disagreed, that would not justify making that collateral dispute a key issue in the case," they wrote.

"According to press reports, one juror actually changed her mind and agreed to convict Mr. Silver based on the disclosure forms.”

They also objected to evidence about campaign contributions Silver received from a company he favored in real estate transactions.

"Campaign contributions are a divisive and controversial topic. For that reason, courts have recognized that they are inherently prejudicial," they wrote.

"The campaign contribution evidence invited the jury to conclude that New York politics is awash with money, and that Mr. Silver, along with other New York State legislators, was beholden to outside money generally and real estate developers specifically.”

On the same date, aiming even higher, Silver asked Caproni to acquit him.

"No rational trier of fact could have found Mr. Silver guilty of the charges against him,” Cohen and Molo wrote.

"No witness testified to any sort of agreement with Mr. Silver to receive a benefit in exchange for an official act," they wrote.

“Nor did any witness testify that Mr. Silver used his political office to deprive them of such a benefit.

“The evidence showed that Dr. Taub sent Mr. Silver referrals for legitimate reasons, not least of which was that Weitz and Luxenberg was a top asbestos firm.”

They wrote that Taub testified that he hoped Silver would convince Weitz and Luxenberg, not the state, to fund mesothelioma research.

A footnote tied the acquittal motion to the new trial motion.

"Mr. Silver requests that, upon granting the instant motion, the court also conditionally grant his motion for a new trial pursuant to Rule 33 in the event that the judgment of acquittal is later vacated or reversed," they wrote.

Robert Kry and Justin Shur of New York City also worked on the motions.

Caproni has set Silver’s sentencing in April.

ST. LOUIS — Christoper A. Pickett has been chosen as the first chief diversity officer for St. Louis-based law firm Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale.

The firm announced that Pickett will lead their collective efforts to encourage and create a "dynamic and diverse workspace."

“Greensfelder’s CDO essentially serves as the “voice” of the firm for diversity matters, both internally and externally,” said Pickett.

As the CDO, Pickett will strengthen the firm's preexisting Diversity and Inclusion Committee and provide an additional point of contact for prospective talent and existing clients - a spectrum of possibilities with the sole goal of achieving diversity, he said.

“Having an individual who is charged with being attentive to matters of diversity is important on a variety of fronts including developing management strategies that embrace matters of diversity, cultivating an inclusive work place environment that invites input from multiple and varied perspectives, retaining and promoting diverse attorneys, hiring decisions, maintaining a pipeline to qualified candidates and strengthening client relationships,” said Pickett.

As an officer at Greensfelder, Pickett knows firsthand how important diversity is to a collaborative and successful law firm. Since joining Greensfelder in 2012, he has been active as the chairman of the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and was named a Leadership Council on Legal Diversity fellow in 2013, taking part in a national leadership program for attorneys from diverse backgrounds.

The firm's efforts to promote diversity have been honored twice by the Washington University Black Law Student Association (BLSA), and was named by Law 360 among the “100 Best Law Firms for Female Attorneys” in 2015, according to a firm press release.

“In 2011, the firm played a leading role in orchestrating the first-ever St. Louis Legal Diversity Summit, which brought Professor David B. Wilkins of Harvard Law School to St. Louis to discuss the need to cultivate greater diversity in the legal profession,” Picket added.

Greensfelder originally formed its Diversity and Inclusion Committee in 2004 to take on a major role in influencing and implementing diversity policies and programs. According to Pickett, the committee has worked for the past 12 years to coordinate diversity-related events, develop methods to measure the effectiveness of the diversity initiatives, monitor the recruitment of diverse talent, and much more.

In order to further promote diversity, Greensfelder offers mentor programs, funding for minority attendance at leadership programs and conferences, and training for all employees on matters of diversity.

“In 2007, Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C. gave its diversity commitment greater structure by hiring a director of professional development and inclusion. Today, the chief diversity officer (CDO) fulfills that role by working with firm management and practice group leaders to ensure that matters of diversity are considered in all firm decisions,” said Pickett.

“Ultimately, this collaboration helps formulate effective initiatives designed to promote and increase diversity and inclusiveness at Greensfelder.”

BENTON – Citizens who filed suit accusing St. Clair County treasurer Charles Suarez of rigging bids at auctions of delinquent taxes did not abuse the court for political purposes, U.S. District Judge Staci Yandle ruled on Jan. 28.

She denied a motion to sanction them, finding no evidence that they intended to harass Suarez as he ran for reelection in 2014.

Suarez’s motion would have closed the case, including claims against tax buyers and the county itself, by branding it as a publicity stunt.

Suarez argued that lawyers who filed the suit merely mimicked allegations of suits they filed in Madison County.

“The court is not persuaded by defendants’ recitations of the political party affiliations of candidates and counsel,” Yandle wrote.

“Further, the fact that plaintiffs support their claims with events in a neighboring county is insufficient to create an inference that plaintiffs’ complaint was intended to harass defendant Suarez.”

Yandle also rejected his argument that plaintiffs sued him years after a statute of limitation had run out.

She wrote that the appropriate inquiry was whether the complaint contained enough facts to raise a reasonable inference that the limitation period was tolled.

“The court finds that it does,” she wrote.

Yandle cited an allegation in the complaint that tax buyers directed contributions to the Democrat Party instead of Suarez.

She cited allegations that he seated co-defendants at the front of the auction room and allowed other bids on less lucrative properties to cover up the conspiracy.

“The complaint further alleges that defendants’ conspiracy was inherently self concealing, so that plaintiffs could not have discovered through reasonable diligence that they had been injured until 2014,” she wrote.

County treasurers in Illinois must conduct reverse auctions where buyers of delinquent taxes compete to charge property owners the lowest interest rate.

In Madison County, from 2005 to 2009, treasurer Fred Bathon favored bidders who charged the legal limit of 18 percent.

Tax buyers in turn contributed to Democrat campaigns.

Bathon and three tax buyers pleaded guilty of criminal antitrust violations in 2013, and went to federal prison.

By then, property owners who paid 18 percent had filed three suits against the county, Bathon, and tax buyers in Madison County circuit court.

In 2014, Madison County treasurer Kurt Prenzler said at a press conference that he found similar bidding patterns in St. Clair County auctions.

Aaron Weishaar of St. Louis and Don Weber of Alton, who filed the suits against Madison County, then sued St. Clair County, Suarez, and tax buyers.

Lead plaintiffs John and Adrienne Bloyer later dropped out of the case, and Weishaar substituted Kevin Dvorak and Kathleen Dvorak.

In the Madison County actions, proceeding as a single case, visiting judge William Becker of Clinton County certified a class action last year.

Fifth District appellate judges denied review of the decision, but Illinois Supreme Court Justices ordered them to review it.

MOUNT VERNON – Jurors in the court of former St. Clair County judge Michael Cook watched video of an interrogation that he shouldn’t have let them watch, Fifth District appellate judges ruled on Jan. 25.

Three judges granted a new trial to Rachael Howard, now serving 17 years for aggravated criminal sexual assault.

They found that the video carried prejudicial comments of Belleville detectives Matthew Eiskant and Beth Ferry.

“Having viewed the interrogation video in its entirety, we find that the defendant’s responses could be easily understood without the jury hearing several additional minutes of inflammatory statements,” Justice Melissa Chapman wrote.

Justices Thomas Welch and Bruce Stewart concurred.

They reached a decision without determining whether Cook committed a separate error in excluding a physician’s testimony about blood alcohol.

At Howard’s trial, in September 2012, neither Howard nor jurors realized that a heroin addict presided over the proceedings.

His condition made headlines in May 2013, when federal agents arrested Cook on charges of possessing heroin and using it while possessing firearms.

He and U.S attorney Stephen Wigginton negotiated a sentence of 18 months, but senior judge Joe McDade of Peoria rejected the agreement.

McDade imposed two years, finding Cook harmed public faith in the judiciary.

As of Jan. 28, the online inmate locator of the prison bureau placed Cook at residential reentry in St. Louis, with a release date of Feb. 20.

He’ll go free sooner than Howard.

State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly could ask the Fifth District for rehearing, or he could petition the Illinois Supreme Court to review the decision.

Even if Kelly accepts the decision, the mandate won’t issue until Feb. 29.

At that point Howard would return and Kelly would face a choice.

Kelly could prepare for a trial about events from 2010, before a judge who must not show the prejudicial parts of the video and who might not exclude the physician.

He could also dismiss the charge, in the spirit of a Fifth District decision that cast more doubt on Howard’s sentence than on her guilt.

According to the case record, at a barbecue in Belleville, Howard set off an attack on a woman that the Fifth District identified as A. E.

In a dispute over a cigarette, Howard punched A. E. in the face.

Howard’s friend Joshua Harris struck A. E.’s friend Richard Hofmeister and knocked him to the ground.

Howard’s friends Artarius Whales and Delcheva Harris hit A. E., kicked her, and dragged her down an alley.

Hofmeister tried to help A. E., but Joshua Harris and Howard chased him off.

He ran to homes of two neighbors, found no help, and ran to the police station.

According to Chapman, Delcheva Harris and Whales sexually assaulted A. E.

“The defendant was present throughout the assault,” she wrote.

She wrote that Howard told police she punched and kicked A. E. many times, maybe once while Delcheva Harris and Whales sexually assaulted her.

After the assault, she took Whales, Harris and Harris to her mother’s home.

At 4:30 a.m., detective Matthew Eiskant woke the mother.

She gave him permission to go upstairs and talk to her daughter.

Eiskant found all four, asleep, Howard in bed and the others on the floor.

Eiskant brought Hofmeister to the house, and he identified the three men.

Eiskant and detective Beth Ferry interviewed Howard, who admitted punching A. E. in the face and denied any further involvement.

In a second interview, Eiskant and Ferry told her there was surveillance video of the attack and the men had told them what happened.

“They repeatedly emphasized the brutal nature of the attack, telling her that it was a horror movie in the city of Belleville, that A. E. was left in the alley to die like an animal, and that the defendant was lucky that A. E. Survived,” Chapman wrote.

She wrote that Ferry told Howard she was as responsible as the men.

Kelly charged Howard with aggravated criminal sexual assault, and grand jurors indicted her.

In 2012, defense counsel moved to exclude from video of the interview the comments and opinions of Eiskant and Ferry.

Kelly agreed to redact the part about dying like an animal, and portions where Eiskant and Frey referred to Howard and the men as animals.

Prior to trial, Howard’s attorney asked Cook to exclude almost all of the final six minutes.

Cook ruled that jurors would see almost all of the final six minutes.

They watched Eiskant tell Howard that A. E. was admitted to a hospital with fractures throughout her face and body.

They watched Ferry tell her, “You are lucky she is alive,” and repeat it.

On the stand, Eiskant told jurors he never had any information that A. E.’s injuries might be life threatening.

Howard’s attorney told jurors that A. E. couldn’t recall events due to intoxication, but Hofmeister testified that she didn’t appear intoxicated.

Howard’s attorney then sought to call her treating physician for testimony that the hospital admitted her with alcohol concentration of 0.272.

Cook excluded the testimony.

Jurors returned a guilty verdict.

Howard moved for a new trial, and Cook denied it.

In 2013, he sentenced her to 17 years in prison.

She moved for reconsideration, and he denied it.

Howard filed notice of appeal, and appellate defender Amanda Horner filed a brief for her in 2014.

Appellate prosecutor Kelly Stacey replied last April, and Fifth District judges heard arguments in July.

The judges found no probative value in the statements of the detectives.

“The officers repeatedly emphasized and exaggerated both the brutal nature of the assault and the extent of the victim’s injuries,” Chapman wrote.

“They told the defendant that each of the three men raped A. E. repeatedly, while the evidence showed that two of the three men raped her once.

“They told the defendant that A. E. had fractures throughout her body and that she could die from her injuries, neither of which was true.

“In addition, detective Ferry told the defendant three times that she was just as responsible for the brutal assault as her codefendants.

“This, of course, was the ultimate question jurors were called upon to decide.”

She wrote that Cook instructed jurors not to consider the statements as substantive evidence, but the instruction didn’t cure the prejudice.

“As the defendant correctly contends, police officers are viewed as authority figures,” Chapman wrote.

“As such, their statements are often given substantial weight by jurors.

“In addition, the repetition of many of the statements served to emphasize the statements and enhance their prejudicial impact.”