His trial was scheduled to start on Sept. 9 but has been pushed back to Sept. 16. It is expected to last four weeks and will include three dozen prosecution witnesses.
If convicted, Santos faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Feds want campaign lies submitted as evidence
The prosecution asked to submit his campaign lies as evidence, saying he "deliberately leveraged them to perpetuate the criminal schemes."
The lies include:
Graduating from Baruch College and New York University
Prosecutors also petitioned the judge to allow statements from Santos' former campaign manager, Nancy Marks, who pleaded guilty last year to falsifying campaign finance reports. They also asked the judge to block Santos from claiming at trial he's the victim of vindictive prosecution, and that he's already been punished enough. The judge said she'll decide those issues as they come up at trial.
Prosecutors also claimed Santos' lawyers may be withholding evidence. The defense turned over roughly 400 pages of documents, compared to prosecutors' 1.3 million pages.
Defense asks for partially anonymous jury
Meanwhile, Santos' defense team asked for a partially anonymous jury, citing the "extensive and largely negative media coverage," and adding, "jurors could face harassment or intimidation." The judge agreed.
Next month, 348 prospective jurors -- whittled down from 850 -- will report for the selection of 12, along with six alternates. The defense wanted each and every one to fill out a 137-item jury questionnaire. The judge dismissed the questionnaire, calling it offensive, and said she favors one-on-one questioning.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0