By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN CRIMINAL COURT — The unusual trial of two Midtown strippers accused of prostitution grew stranger Wednesday when prosecutors hand delivered a subpoena to the fiancé of one of the accused women and ordered him to leave the courtroom.
Prosecutors said the subpoena would come into play if the defense tried to argue the women were lesbians who would not have propositioned a male to sleep with them for money.
Cassandra Malandri and Falynn Rodriguez, both 27, were busted last year at Midtown's "Big Lou's Hot Lap Dance Club" when they allegedly offered an undercover police officer group sex in exchange for $5,000.
As he sat in the courtroom, a man prosecutors identified as Malandri's fiancé was handed a subpoena to testify a day into the start of the trial.
The fiancé was also told he would have to submit to a background check by the District Attorney's office if he wants to watch a closed hearing Thursday during which the undercover detective is expected to testify.
Defense attorneys for the women argued Wednesday that the subpoena was an underhanded ploy to keep Malandri's partner out of the courtroom during the detective's testimony.
A judge previously ruled that a closed courtroom was necessary, in this trial, to protect the identity of the undercover investigator. Only immediate family members of the defendants would be allowed in court.
Prosecutors, however, said the subpoena was genuinely intended to compel the fiancé to testify if the defense was to argue that the women were lesbians and therefore unlikely to offer sex to the male officers for money.
Malandri, also a purported porn actress, branded herself as a lesbian on her explicit commercial website, prosecutors said.
Earlier, defense attorneys failed to have the case dismissed over a language snafu in a pre-trial court filing that could have seen charges dropped.
The women face up to 90 days in jail if convicted.
