MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced the indictment of a former doctor who allegedly disguised himself in court and taped false jury instructions to the doors and tables of jury rooms while he was on trial in March.
Marshall Hubsher, 67, of Sands Point was arraigned yesterday before Acting Supreme Court Justice Patricia Harrington on charges of Burglary in the 3rd Degree (a D felony) and 13 counts of Attempted Tampering with a Juror in the 1st Degree (a B misdemeanor). Bail was set at $49,000 cash or bond and the defendant is due back in court on Jan. 18. If convicted of the top count, Hubsher faces up to 2-1/3 to 7 years in prison.
“This defendant allegedly put on a disguise and attempted to tamper with a jury while it was deliberating his fate in another case,” DA Singas said. “The integrity of the jury process is at the heart of our justice system and we will not tolerate anyone trying to tamper with or threaten jurors in Nassau County.”
DA Singas said that on March 21, 2016, while the defendant was on trial, he allegedly entered private jury rooms and placed signs there with falsified jury instructions in an attempt to tamper with a sitting jury deliberating on his trial. The note allegedly directed at the jury purported to be ‘jury instructions’ concerning reasonable doubt.
A review of surveillance footage for the morning showed that the defendant allegedly first came into the courthouse wearing a leather jacket and baseball hat and holding newspapers. He then allegedly left the courthouse – with the newspapers – and returned a short time later dressed in a suit and using a walker.
Assistant District Attorney Melissa Scannell of DA Singas’ Rackets and Enterprise Crime Bureau is prosecuting the case. The defendant is represented by the Legal Aid Society.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.