By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A judge denied a motion on Thursday to overturn the fraud and grand larceny convictions against Anthony Marshall, elderly son of the late Brooke Astor, despite allegations that a juror felt pressured to deliver a guilty verdict.
After the five-month trial, defense lawyers argued that one juror, Judith DeMarco, admitted she was "pressured into convicting the defendant by what she perceived to be threatening and intimidating conduct" of another juror, Yvonne Fernandez, according to the ruling by Manhattan Supreme Court Judge A. Kirke Bartley.
Marshall and his mother's former attorney Morrissey were convicted on Oct. 8, 2009 of swindling an Alzheimer's-stricken Astor out of her nearly $200 million estate by tricking her into amending her will.
They were each sentenced to one to three years in prison but were allowed to remain free on bail pending their appeals.
Defense lawyers said DeMarco confessed to them that her verdict was the result of the alleged threats, but prosecutors said she recanted her story in court papers filed on April 12.
Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann argued the verdicts were "reached fairly and on the basis of the evidence" adding, "coercion and misconduct by any juror" did not play a role in the outcome of the trial.
"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 on April 12. "Then DeMarco and Fernandez kissed and hugged each other."
