Financier doesn't show up for court hearing in NY on charges involving a dispute with his dentist.
By MICHAL LANDO, THE JERUSALEM POST, NEW YORKTalansky media 224.88(photo credit: AP)
Morris Talansky, the Long Island businessman who says he handed Prime Minister Olmert envelopes filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars, failed to appear for a court hearing in New York Tuesday on assault charges involving a dispute with his dentist.
Talansky's lawyer, Anthony Colleluori, told the judge his client was in Israel to attend a grandson's wedding. Talansky was shown on Channel 2 Wednesday night at the wedding.
Talansky, 75, faces third-degree assault charges, a misdemeanor, for allegedly attacking his longtime dentist Leonard Barashick, 84, at a dental lab over a financial dispute last year.
Barashick, who said he treated Talansky and his family for 40 years, claims his old friend slammed him in a "heavy steel chair" and threw him against a wall.
But three people who were present during the dispute deny any physical altercation between Talansky and his former dentist, Colleluori told The Jerusalem Post.
"The fact that the witnesses, who witnessed the entire time they were together, say it didn't happen is a positive fact on behalf of the defense," Colleluori said.
First District Court Judge William O'Brien set time periods for legal discovery and motions. Those motions are due by the next court hearing on July 9. "Because of what is going on abroad, the judge is trying to expedite this," Colleluori said.
O'Brien said if Talansky missed his next court date he will sign a warrant for his arrest.
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