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RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (1010 WINS) -- A judge has recused himself from considering two legal motions involving charges against a man who spent 17 years in prison for his parents' murder before his conviction was overturned.
Judge James Hudson was presiding over a grand jury considering evidence in the 1988 slaying of Martin Tankleff's parents, Seymour and Arlene Tankleff. He recused himself after defense attorneys argued he had a conflict of interest.
Prosecutors with the state attorney general's office, which took over the case from the Suffolk district attorney in January, have been presenting evidence to a grand jury in the slayings. Though Tankleff's conviction was overturned in December, he remains indicted.
Tankleff's lawyers asked Hudson to recuse himself after he disclosed that he worked in the Suffolk County district attorney's office during Tankleff's original prosecution. Hudson was not directly involved in the case.
"Given the notoriety of the case, it's almost impossible to believe he didn't have some exposure to the case, and as a supervisor in that office, that he may have some allegiance to that office," Tankleff's defense attorney, Barry Pollack of Washington, D.C., told Newsday.
Hudson said he did not believe he had a conflict of interest, but acknowledged that the case "was undoubtedly discussed in my presence while I was an assistant district attorney."
Prosecutor Benjamin Rosenberg did not oppose the request.
The two motions Hudson will recuse himself from were filed by the defense last week and seek more information regarding the grand jury — including whether it was improperly considering evidence against Tankleff.
Martin Tankleff was found guilty of the murders in 1990 when he was still a teenager. His parents were bludgeoned and stabbed in their waterfront home in Belle Terre, on Long Island. Police said he confessed to the crime after a detective falsely told him his father had awakened from a coma and implicated him. Tankleff quickly recanted and refused to sign a written statement police had prepared.
An appellate court overturned the conviction in December, saying a lower court judge did not properly consider new evidence that Seymour Tankleff's business partner and three other men may have been behind the killings.
It was not clear Friday who would be assigned to decide the pending motions. Hudson will remain as the presiding judge over the grand jury.
(Photo by Mona Rivera)
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