He moved mountains for O.J. Simpson and Claus von Bulow — but when his own sister-in-law was mowed down in a fatal accident, noted attorney Alan Dershowitz couldn’t move the Manhattan DA, a prosecutor told a jury today.
“They were upset that the defendant had not been charged with a reckless manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide,” assistant district attorney William Beesch testified today on day three of a dramatic hit-and-run trial.
Dershowitz and his family angrily urged prosecutors to throw the book at postal driver Ian Clement, who’s on trial for a single charge of leaving the scene of the July, 2011 accident in which lawyer Marilyn Dershowitz, 68, was crushed under the rear wheel of a seven-ton mail truck while bicycling with her husband in Chelsea.
The famous OJ lawyer spoke “acrimoniously” to prosecutors about the case, as did Marilyn’s grieving husband, Nathan, who is also a lawyer, and the couple’s son, Beesch conceded in testimony today.
Clement has steadfastly denied realizing that he’d struck the woman, and his defense lawyers have suggested repeatedly that the DA’s office only brought the case under pressure from the Dershowitz’s.
But Beesch testified that his office in fact did not do the Dershowitz’s bidding — much to the family’s initial chagrin.
“In my opinion, there was insufficient evidence to bring those [homicide] charges against him,” explained Beesch, the trial’s final prosecution witness.
“Did Alan Dershowitz call you?” defense lawyer John Arlia grilled Beesch, who answered “Yes, he did.”
“How many times?” the lawyer pressed, to which Beesch answered “Numerous times.” Asked whether the calls were “acrimonious,” Beesch answered, “That’s correct.”
Earlier today, Nathan Dershowitz — who has attended each day of the three day trial — remained somberly in the courtroom as a coroner described his wife’s mortal injuries, including a skull fracture so gruesome, jurors were barred by the judge from seeing the injury’s documenting photos.
“At the base of the skull, where the brain sits, there was a devastating injury,” Dr. Jonathan Hayes testified.
The defense case begins tomorrow.