Spota and McPartland want judge to toss out their convictions, order a new trial

Former Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota and a chief aide are asking a federal judge to throw out their conspiracy and obstruction convictions and to order a new trial, arguing that the key witness against them lied on the witness stand, court papers say.

Spota and Christopher McPartland, a former Spota top aide, asked U.S. District Court Judge Joan Azrack in court papers filed Thursday night to hold an evidentiary hearing to allow them to back up their claims of what they said was perjured testimony by former Suffolk Police Lt. James Hickey.

Spota and McPartland, the head of Spota’s anti-corruption unit,  were convicted in December in federal court in Central Islip of engaging in the coverup of the beating of a prisoner by the then-district attorney’s longtime protégé, Suffolk Police Chief James Burke.

Burke himself had previously been sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for his role in the assault on the prisoner, Christopher Loeb.

The main thrust of the motion by Spota and McPartland involves Hickey’s testimony about several meetings which Hickey supposedly attended. The meetings with both Burke and MacPartland and Spota, or with Burke and MacPartland alone, supposedly involved the fabrication of cover-up stories concerning the beating of  Loeb, court papers say.

Details of what defense attorneys called Hickey’s “sensational allegations” of what was said at the meetings were not mentioned in notes taken by investigators interviewing Hickey, the motion says.

Those remarks include Hickey’s claims that  “the defendants had openly discussed with James Burke, in Hickey’s presence, ‘beating the hell’" out of Loeb, and that their goal was to “keep Jimmy out of jail.”

The motion also questions the accuracy of other aspects involving Hickey’s testimony, including his account of having hallucinations and the extent of his medical treatment.      

The sentencing of Spota and McPartland, following their conviction on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and acting as accessories to the deprivation of civil rights,  is scheduled for June 25.

The evidentiary hearing would be the first step in getting Spota and McPartland a new trial if the judge agrees with legal arguments made by McPartland’s attorney, Larry Krantz, and by Spota’s attorney,  Alan Vinegrad.

While the two defense attorneys did not outline what type of evidentiary hearing they  are seeking, such procedures typically include people testifying about their knowledge of credibility of the testimony of the key witness or witnesses.

A spokesman for Eastern District federal prosecutors, John Marzulli, declined to comment on the motions on Friday.

By Robert E. Kessler

Robert.Kessler@newsday.com

Bob Kessler covers federal law, including law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, DEA, IRS and ATF, as well as the federal courts.