Accused Hockey Mom Madam Anna Gristina got some bad news in a Manhattan courtroom this morning — as a judge denied her request to toss the charges for what she’d claimed was insufficient evidence and “egregious prosecutorial conduct.”
But Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan gave Gristina good news as well — by signaling that her October trial will be limited to a single promoting prostitution charge tried over the course of a single week.
“This is a very narrow issue,” the judge warned prosecutors, who said today that they may want to introduce wiretaps and witness testimony showing that Gristina was running a business extending beyond the single, undercover-sting-based count of money for sex currently alleged.
“This is going to be a very short case,” the judge warned. “I’m not going to allow this to just get out of hand,” he said.
Gristina came to Manhattan Supreme Court this morning in high-heeled snake skin sandals, black slacks and a filmy off-white blouse. Her husband Kelvin Gorr, her teenaged son Stephano, 23-year-old daughter Suzie and nine-year-old son Nick were at her side.
Merchan set Oct. 15 as a trial date, but later in the morning said he will try to move that date to Oct. 2 so he could preside over a murder trial the following week.
In denying the defense motion to dismiss or reduce the charge for legal insufficiency of evidence, the judge did not elaborate, except to say in his written decision that the grand jury presentation of Feb. 1 and 2 was “legally and procedurally sufficient.”
Gristina is looking forward to trial, her lawyer, Norm Pattis, told reporters after the proceeding.
“My client is not guilty and I intend to show the jury why,” he said.
“I’d like the state to drop the charges,” Pattis added.
“Is Cy Vance the legendary prosecutor with a heart of gold? Let’s find out,” he quipped.
“She is not guilty, but even if she were convicted she has done her time. She has done four months,” he added. “What’s driving this case? Do we really, really want to deprive a child of his mother?”
“She may have to,” he said when asked if Gristina will testify.
“It was not devastating at all” for Gristina to hear that her co-defendant and accused partner madam, Jaynie Mae Baker, agreed this week to cut a cooperation plea deal with prosecutors, the lawyer said.
Baker has no information detrimental to Gristina’s case, he said.
The accused million-dollar madam’s trial will be on a single count of promoting prostitution, the judge warned today, telling prosecutors that the case would be “limited” to that lone charge.
Lead prosecutor Charles Linehan had told the judge today that he may seek to introduce testimony and wiretap evidence “about other incidents not covered in the instant indictment.”
Pattis countered that he needs as many advance details as possible of any such evidence, so that he can fight its admissibility and prepare to rebut it if necessary. The judge set Aug. 30 as the deadline for prosecutors to inform the judge and the defense of what additional evidence they’ll attempt to introduce at trial.
Gristina, 43, is the only one of five defendants in the five-year escort ring investigation who has steadfastly refused to squeal in the case.
Gristina’s long-time friend and alleged money-launderer, Jonas Gayer, two of her alleged $2,000-an-hour hookers, and now Baker, have all flipped against her, according to multiple sources and court records.
But Gristina — who insists she merely ran a matchmaking service for wealthy men — says she will not cooperate against her high-powered, typically married clients, or anyone else associated with her business.
This despite the efforts of prosecutors with the Manhattan DA’s official corruption unit, who she says have leaned on her repeatedly since pulling her screaming off a Midtown street in February, even as she sat in jail for four months, unable to post a $2 million bail bond.
Baker is pursuing a plea deal that will not result in jail time, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. Gristina, a mother of four, including a 9-year-old son, is risking a maximum of four years prison.
Prosecutors have said Gristina’s ring made millions over the course of 15 years operation, and operated with the help of her wealthy clientele and law-enforcement pals.
These pals were “poised to help her out, to let her know if there is trouble on the front that she needs to be concerned about, particularly back during the Eliot Spitzer investigation,” assistant district attorney Charles Linehan has said, in reference to the former love gov’s 2008 hooker scandal.
No high-placed pals have been identified or arrested over the course of the more than five-year probe.