Syracuse, NY — The murder retrial for Robert Neulander has been pushed back for a fourth time -- the new date is Feb. 28, 2022.
That’s 9 1/2 years after Neulader’s wife, Leslie, was found dead inside their Shalimar Way mansion in DeWitt.
The latest setback came due to scheduling conflicts and was mutually agreed upon by both sides, Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard.
Neulander, 69, who remains free on $1 million bail, was supposed to return to court Oct. 18 for his new trial. Instead, the judge and lawyers will huddle again via telephone on that day to continue discussions before the new February trial date.
Neulander, a longtime obstetrician/gynecologist, has maintained that his wife slipped and fell in the shower in September 2012. However, a jury in 2015 found Neulander guilty of killing her, though that verdict was later tossed in 2018 based on juror misconduct.
Like the first mega-trial, which attracted national attention from NBC’s Dateline and CBS’s 48 Hours, Neulander’s retrial will end up being a battle of the experts.
Neulander has a revamped defense team since the first trial, headed by New York City wife-and-husband duo Alexandra Shapiro (his appellate lawyer) and Jonathan Bach (his new trial lawyer). Expect a new lineup of defense experts who will try to refute the prosecution’s theory that Leslie Neulander’s death was not a tragic accident.
Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick lost a key expert last year when brain neuropathologist Dr. Jan Leestma died, setting off a race to find a new expert to testify about key aspects of Leslie Neulander’s brain injury.
For more than a year, the judge and lawyers have been conferencing remotely due to the Covid-19 pandemic, discussing the case outside the presence of courtroom spectators. The recent delay in Neulander’s trial was confirmed by the judge’s chambers after a phone conference Friday.
Even if the new trial actually begins on Feb. 28, 2022, there’s likely to be another delay as Neulander’s lawyers challenge whether a fair jury can be picked in Syracuse. (A state appellate court has previously ruled that Neulander’s lawyers have to try to pick a fair jury before arguing that it can’t be done.)
After Neulander’s first trial in 2015, he was sentenced by Miller -- the same trial judge -- to 20 years to life in prison. However, an appellate court ruled in 2018 that a juror’s cell phone communications during trial left room for bias and ordered a new trial. Neulander was released on $1 million bail after that ruling. The state’s highest court agreed with that decision in 2019, setting the stage for the retrial.
He again faces a second-degree murder charge that carries a possible sentence of up to 25 years to life in prison.
Neulander’s trial was delayed by the pandemic in 2020 and later by Leestma’s death. The Oct. 18 trial date appeared set in stone until Friday’s phone conference.
That’s when the DA’s office and defense team agreed on the new Feb. 28, 2022 date, Fitzpatrick said.
Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or 315-470-6070.
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Robert Neulander’s murder retrial bumped again. New date is nearly a decade after wife’s death - syracuse.com
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