New Trial Granted For Former White Plains Mayor Adam Bradley
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Former White Plains Mayor Adam Bradley, who stepped down after what he called an unjust domestic violence conviction, won a new trial Wednesday from an appeals court.
The Appeals Division in Brooklyn said Bradley – once an up-and-coming Democratic star – was "deprived of a fair trial" and deserves a new one.
Bradley, 51, was convicted in 2010, and sentenced to three years' probation the following year, of assaulting his wife by slamming a door on her fingers. He was also convicted of harassment.
His estranged wife, Fumiko Bradley, was the main witness against him, claiming that he had slammed the door and had also thrown hot tea at her.
At trial, Fumiko Bradley also testified that her husband had once placed a caged Madagascar hissing cockroach against her face to frighten her after a fight.
Following his conviction, he was ordered to remain permanently out of contact with his wife, with whom he has two young daughters. As of the appellate ruling, they were in divorce proceedings.
The appeals court ruled that Bradley should have been allowed to call witnesses who might have cast doubt on his wife's testimony. Those witnesses were expected to testify that Fumiko Bradley had stated in the past that the door had been shut on her hand accidentally.
The trial judge said that testimony would have been "too remote or speculative."
But the appeal judges said it would have been "relevant to the issue of the wife's credibility."
Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the Westchester County District Attorney's Office, said prosecutors are deciding whether to appeal.
After Bradley's conviction, he repeatedly called the decision unfair and resisted calls for his resignation. But he left office in February 2011, saying, "I can no longer allow the circumstances of my personal life to be a distraction" from the city's needs.
He insisted he was not acknowledging guilt but needed time to focus on "exonerating my name and reputation."
"It is my hope that at the end of this judicial process, the truth will come out," the former mayor said.
Bradley was in just his second month as mayor when he was arrested. The former state assemblyman had been considered a politician on the rise.
It was not clear what effect the appeals decision will have on Bradley's current court case, in which he has been accused of violating a court order by telephoning his wife. Bradley said the calls were accidental "pocket dials."
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