Ex-LIer suspected in fatal shove makes Appellate Division bid for bail 

Lauren Pazienza, the former Port Jefferson woman accused of shoving and causing the death of an 87-year-old Manhattan voice coach, is trying again to have her $500,000 bail reinstated so she can get out of jail on Rikers Island pending her trial on manslaughter and assault charges.

In papers filed Friday with the Appellate Division in Manhattan, attorneys for Pazienza, 26, argued that a lower court judge abused her discretion last month when she essentially revoked the defendant’s bail after finding that Pazienza posed a risk of flight.

Defense attorneys Barry Kamins and John M. Leventhal argued that Manhattan State Supreme Court Judge Felicia Mennin "did not identify a single fact” to support her denial of bail for Pazienza.

The attorneys argued the judge instead relied on the prosecution’s summary of the grand jury testimony of her fiance about Pazienza’s conduct after the incident. Among the defendant’s actions highlighted to Mennin was the fact that Pazienza traveled to visit relatives on Long Island, took down her wedding website and didn’t use her cellphone, court papers stated.

It was during a May court hearing in which Pazienza was arraigned on the indictment that Mennin ordered her sent to jail to await trial.

Pazienza faces first-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault charges stemming from the March incident, in which she allegedly shoved Barbara Gustern, a voice teacher for a number of well-known singers such as Blondie lead vocalist Debbie Harry, causing the woman to fall and strike her head. 

Before she lost consciousness, Gustern told EMS workers that her assailant cursed at her before shoving her in a way she had never experienced before. Gustern died of her injuries five days later.

The defense attorneys argue in their appellate filing that Pazienza, who was living in Astoria, spent time visiting relatives on Long Island and was busy trying to secure a defense attorney, an indication she was not intending to flee. That same argument was already considered by a different judge who granted bail at her arraignment on the original criminal complaint, the papers stated.

A spokesman for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office didn’t return a request for comment. The case is expected to be argued in court next Thursday.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.