Opening Statements To Start In Mangano Retrial
MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Opening statements are set to start Tuesday in the retrial of former Nassau County executive Ed Mangano and his wife, Linda.
Mr. Mangano is accused of taking bribes from restaurateur Harendra Singh in exchange for county contracts. Mrs. Mangano is accused of lying to the FBI about Singh giving her a no-show job.
Defense lawyers said any gifts the Manganos received were based solely on their longtime friendship with Singh and were not bribes.
Their first trial ended in a mistrial last May. A jury failed to reach a verdict after nine days of deliberations.
"We are innocent people here and we are going to maintain that however long our system of justice takes. That's what we are relegated to," Mr. Mangano said at the time.
"It is what it is, we'll just go through it," Mrs. Mangano added.