Fumo, 66, filed court papers last week contending that a hearing and new trial was warranted based on "newly discovered evidence" that jurors had been exposed to information outside court that was prejudicial to him.
In a 23-page memorandum and order, U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter yesterday said Fumo's request for a hearing to question jurors amounted to a "fishing expedition" and that any outside information jurors may have been exposed to was "harmless" and insufficient to prejudice Fumo or justify a new trial.
A jury found the former state senator guilty on March 16 of defrauding the state Senate, Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods and the Independence Seaport Museum, in addition to trying to obstruct a federal investigation and related tax offenses.
Buckwalter did not rule yesterday on whether he agrees with the Probation Office's calculation of a 21-to-27-year prison sentence under advisory sentencing guidelines and a $4.3 million fraud loss.
Fumo's defense team said one juror was privy to information about Fumo's 1980 federal prosecution for hiring ghost workers (subsequently overturned by a federal judge) and the conviction and imprisonment of former Independence Seaport Museum president John S. Carter on charges unrelated to Fumo.
Buckwalter had precluded this information from being introduced as evidence at trial.
Defense attorneys said jurors had also learned from media reports that juror Eric Wuest's comments on Facebook and Twitter during the trial were being questioned.
Buckwalter also found that a hearing was not necessary because Fumo "cannot prove prejudice."
The judge said there was no prejudice to Fumo that warranted a new trial, noting that Wuest's comments were "nothing more than harmless ramblings" and that any inference by the defense that jurors must have listened to other media reports is based on "nothing more than unfounded speculation." *
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