Tensions in the Brooke Astor case nearly boiled over into courtroom fisticuffs yesterday, as the trial date of her accused swindler son, Anthony Marshall, was again delayed – this time until March 23.
“Get your hand off me! Don’t touch me!” lead prosecutor Joel Seidemann shouted, red-faced, as he wagged his finger at Marshall lawyer John Cuti.
“You don’t like a joke?” snapped Cuti, who had grabbed Seidemann by a shoulder as they were leaving the courtroom.
They quickly shook hands, although not before they’d accused each other of everything from pandering to the press to verbosity and hypocrisy.
Marshall, 84, is accused of lining his pockets with tens of millions of dollars from his Alzheimer’s-stricken philanthropist mother’s fortune.