DETROIT (AP) - A Detroit-area man seeking a new trial in the death of his wife persuaded a judge on Tuesday to hear testimony about the strategy of his lawyers during the high-profile case.
Bob Bashara, known as "Master Bob" because of his lifestyle of bondage and domination, wants his murder conviction and life sentence thrown out, claiming his constitutional rights were violated by an ineffective defense.
"The case started bad and ended worse," appellate lawyer Ronald Ambrose told Wayne County Judge Vonda Evans.
Bashara, 57, was convicted of coercing a handyman to strangle Jane Bashara at their Grosse Pointe Park home in 2012.
Ambrose said trial lawyers didn't tell jurors that Jane Bashara didn't care about her husband's lifestyle. Bashara was a former Rotary Club president who hosted men and women at a sex dungeon at a bar called Hard Luck.
"The jury was never given the context of the marital relationship, the physical limitations of each party," Ambrose said.
The judge said she would hear testimony from the trial lawyers as well as other witnesses. A decision about a new trial is weeks away.
One of Bashara's trial attorneys, Michael McCarthy, told the judge that he didn't introduce health information about the couple because it would have been irrelevant and inappropriate.
"I didn't want to drag the good name of Jane Bashara into the mud," McCarthy testified.
McCarthy said he didn't put Bashara on the witness stand during the trial because past inconsistent statements would have harmed his credibility with jurors.
Jane Bashara's mother, Lorraine Engelbrecht, was a courtroom spectator Tuesday.
"I don't think he deserves all this," she said of Bob Bashara's bid for a new trial.
Published: Thu, Sep 17, 2015
