The accused shake-down stalker of Yankees GM Brian Cashman was back in court today — to switch lawyers.
The family of Louise Meanwell, 35 –who also goes by Louise Neathway — is replacing her longtime defense lawyers with a retired judge from Westchester, a move which is delaying her next Manhattan Criminal Court appearance by two weeks, until March 7.
That new date will now be the earliest Meanwell would learn whether she has been indicted for allegedly extorting $6,000 from the married Brian Cashman — and trying to shake him down for thousands more — by threatening to go public with their affair.
“We have been notified by Ms. Meanwell’s family that they have decided to change counsel,” defense lawyer Alan Abramson said of himself and Stephen McCarthey.
The two lawyers have repped her during a history of harassment and trespassing allegations from New York and New Jersey.
The new lawyer is Rory Bellantoni, a White Plains-based state Supreme Court Judge who retired in 2009. Bellantoni did not appear in court today because he is trying a case elsewhere, Abramson told Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Melissa Jackson.
Meanwell, appeared in court in tight jeans and a bulky gray sweater. She remains held in lieu of $200,000 bail.