By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — Prosecutors have dubbed claims by Anthony Marshall's lawyers that a juror was pressured to vote guilty in the trial over his mother's estate "pure fiction" after collecting the sworn statements of all 12 men and women.
Defense attorneys for Marshall have claimed that juror Judi DeMarco had been coerced into reaching her guilty verdict by a fellow juror, Yvonne Fernandez, who they said threatened her and flashed "gang signs" to intimidate her.
"I held out as long as I could, and when I finally felt threatened I had to do what I had to do," DeMarco said, according to a defense motion filed in February.
"I'm not proud of it. I'm not proud of what I did," she added.
Prosecutors said DeMarco has since recanted her story, which could still convince a judge to vacate the convictions of Marshall and Brooke Astor's former estates attorney Francis Morrissey.
Marshall, 85, was sentenced to one to three years in prison on Dec. 21 for allegedly swindling his famous philanthropist mother out of her $200 million estate.
Morrissey received the same sentence for helping Marshall commit the fraud.
"The verdicts in this case were reached fairly and on the basis of the evidence," wrote Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann. "They were not the product of coercion of misconduct by any juror."
In a 37-page memo, Seidemann defended the integrity of the verdict, which was reached after a dramatic five-month trial.
He admitted the jurors fought during the stressful deliberations, but that it did not have a bearing on the verdict or the ultimate ability of the Manhattan residents to perform their civic duty.
"Fernandez not only apologized for shouting but also thanked DeMarco for making arguments that pushed her to be even more sure of her analysis of the evidence," Seidemann wrote. "Then DeMarco and Fernandez kissed and hugged each other."
Both parties are scheduled to return to court on May 21 but it is unclear when Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Kirke Bartley will issue a ruling.
