New York Post
by Mitchel Maddux
May 3, 2012

A judge today gave jurors a pep talk, pleading with them to hash out their differences in the trial of ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr.

Following complaints that one mule-like panelist was holding up deliberations, Brooklyn federal Judge Frederic Block told jurors “to be open minded,” in hopes all 12 can agree whether the disgraced lawmaker and son Pedro Gautier Espada looted hundreds of thousands of dollars from the federally-supported Soundview Healthcare Network.

Late yesterday, several jurors sent Block a note, telling him one of their own had “refused” to deliberate.

New York Post
by Mitchel Maddux, Frank Rosario and Dan Mangan
May 2, 2012

This hard-head could hang Pedro’s jury.

Ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr.’s federal embezzlement trial screeched to a halt today after the jury revealed that one of its 12 members has “refused” to deliberate from the very beginning.

“We have a sticky wicket here,” quipped Brooklyn federal court Judge Frederic Block, after being told ­ for the second day in a row ­ that the jury had a mule-like member.

“One juror is allegedly not engaging in deliberations.”

Block received a note signed by several jurors, who said: “After five or 10 minutes from day one of deliberations, one of the jurors refused to be open to deliberations and announced that the juror’s mind was made up.”

Riverdale Press
by Adam Wisnieski
May 2, 2012

A bright red apple sat on the defense table in front of former State Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. as his attorney Susan Necheles stood before the jury next to a blown-up photo of the fruit.

“There’s something rotten about this case,” Ms. Necheles said.

During her summation last week, Ms. Necheles wrote things like “threats in the middle of the trial” and “threats in this courthouse” in black marker on top of the apple. She argued that during the U.S. Attorney’s exhaustive case against the former state Senator the government threatened witnesses into testifying.

After the end of summations on April 27, a seven-man, five-woman jury headed into deliberations on Monday to decide if the cast against Mr. Espada was, as Ms. Necheles argued, a bruised apple or a giant pile of sushi paid for with taxpayer money.

New York Times
by Mosi Secret
May 2, 2012

A federal jury considering whether former State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. is guilty of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a nonprofit health care network to support his lavish lifestyle is showing signs of discord after three days of deliberations without a verdict.

After jurors expressed their disagreement in notes to the judge, Mr. Espada used the break to hold an impromptu news conference on Wednesday outside the courthouse. He said the trial was a politically motivated attack on his family and the people who received care at the nonprofit clinic, Soundview Health Care Center in the Bronx.

After one note from the jury on Tuesday, the judge,Frederic Block, who is hearing the case in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, told the courtroom, “There seems to be some turbulence or screaming and stuff like that in the jury room.”

Network founder Pedro Espada Jr. is facing corruption accusations
New York Daily News
by John Marzulli, Daniel Beekman and Larry McShane
May 2, 2012

The Soundview HealthCare Network, which authorities say was looted of $500,000 by founder Pedro Espada Jr., is on the verge of financially flatlining.

With its doctors, nurses and other employees already missing their last two paychecks and medical supplies in short supply, the clinic stopped treating patients this week.

“Now I have to take my daughter to the emergency room,” said a frustrated Hilda Rodriguez, 32, after bringing her 8-year-old daughter to the Bronx clinic Tuesday with an ear infection.

Is his real crime the large amounts of cash he allegedly swiped from the Soundview Health Clinic?

Or is his crime that he exposed other Democrats -- Christine Quinn, Andrew Cuomo, Vito Lopez and countless others -- showing that he is really not so different from them?

Quinn got caught up in the Slushgate scandal, but seems to be escaping further scrutiny from a lazy press and by having a high-priced well connected lawyer paid for her by Mike Bloomberg. She's not waiting for a jury decision. Why not?

Look at Brooklyn power broker Vito Lopez's issues. His troubles are not all that much different from the Espada allegations. Lopez (who is really Italian, not Latino) is one of the most corrupt politicians in NYC, but he's not on trial. Why not?

WNYC.org
by Bob Hennelly
April 30, 2012

The jury in the federal corruption trial of former New York State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada and his son began deliberations on Monday.

Over the six week trial prosecutors alleged that the father-son team bilked hundreds of thousands of dollars out of their non-profit Bronx Soundview Health Care Clinic to finance a lavish lifestyle.

Espada remained upbeat when he spoke to reporters after the case had been sent to the jury.

“It's in God's hands. It is in the hands of the jury, the very people we put our faith in and so I feel good when God's work is at work, and people are deciding the issue. We feel confident. We feel good," he said.

New York Post
by Mitchel Maddux
April 28, 2012

Pedro Espada Jr.’s son threw his dad right under the bus yesterday ­ with his lawyer telling a jury it was his father who ran the family’s scandal-scarred Bronx health care clinic.

“It was always his father’s company,” defense attorney Russell Gioiella said during his closing arguments in Brooklyn federal court. “There really is no evidence to connect Pedro [Gautier] Espada to anything.”

The two Espadas are charged with jointly stealing more than half a million dollars from the government-financed Bronx health facility and spending it on lavish dinners and other personal expenses.

Lawyer defends his desire to live 'the good life'
New York Daily News
by John Marzulli
April 26, 2012

The lawyer for ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. pulled out the “So what?” defense to charges his client embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from his nonprofit health care center so he could live the good life.

Susan Necheles came out punching after a six-hour summation by the federal prosecutor who had laced into Espada for charging meals, home improvements and even a 95-cent cookie to the Soundview clinic he founded in the Bronx.

“So what if a kid who grew up homeless and in the projects, worked hard all his life and supported his family, so what if he wanted to live the good life?” Necheles said in her closing argument in Brooklyn Federal Court.

New York Times
by Mosi Secret
April 25, 2012

A lawyer for former State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. placed a giant poster of a red apple in front of a federal jury on Wednesday and said that the prosecution’s case claiming that her client embezzled money from a nonprofit health center was “rotten to the core.”

The lawyer, Susan R. Necheles, used her closing arguments, which capped a six-week embezzlement trial in United States District Court in Brooklyn, to accuse the government of threatening witnesses who supported Mr. Espada to get them to change their testimony and of allowing other witnesses to testify falsely. She wrote those claims on the poster in black marker.

“You take that shiny apple out of the plastic bag and it’s mushy and full of bruises,” Ms. Necheles said. “The bruises on that apple were a sign to you.”