Attorneys for former state Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) and his son, Adam, have requested that the court acquit the pair and grant them a new trial, arguing that the evidence presented in court was not strong enough to warrant their conviction.
In what is largely a procedural move, the Skeloses’ attorneys filed a motion on Tuesday for acquittal on all counts “because the evidence submitted at trial was insufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt,” their attorneys wrote in court papers.
The motion is a follow up to a failed acquittal request made by the defense following closing arguments.
Federal prosecutors have until Feb. 12 to respond.
After a four-week trial at Manhattan federal court, the disgraced state senator and his son were convicted in December of bribing firms that had business before the state to pay Adam for jobs he never performed.
The jury deliberated for eight hours before returning a guilty verdict on Dec. 11.
The elder Skelos’ conviction came just weeks after his former Albany counterpart, ex-state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), was also found guilty of corruption charges in the same courthouse.
Along with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Assemb. Silver and Sen. Skelos were part of an exclusive group dubbed, “Three Men In A Room,” that called all the shots in the state Legislature.
Following his conviction, Dean Skelos was immediately stripped of his senate seat.
Both Dean and Adam are scheduled to be sentenced on March 3. They face up to 20 years in prison.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has yet to formally schedule a special election to fill either Silver’s or Skelos’s seat, although initial news reports suggested that he might pick April 19th. In the meantime, both seats remain empty.
