Talansky in NY court for assault hearing, but lawyer absent

Financier at center of Olmert corruption probe charged with assaulting dentist.

By ALLISON HOFFMAN, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT
Talansky media 224.88 (photo credit: AP)
Talansky media 224.88
(photo credit: AP)
Morris Talansky, the financier at the center of one of the corruption probes against outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, appeared briefly in a Long Island courtroom Monday for a routine hearing in an assault case. Talansky is charged with misdemeanor assault against his longtime dentist, Leonard Barashick, in a Baldwin, New York, dental lab last year. He had missed a June hearing at the Hempstead courthouse for his grandson's wedding in Israel. Barashick has claimed that Talansky slammed a heavy chair at his shins and threw him against the wall during a payment dispute over six dental crowns. Talansky faces up to a year in prison if convicted in the case. Monday's hearing was a regular status conference to discuss routine pretrial matters, according to Nassau District Attorney's Office spokesman Eric Phillips. He declined to comment further. Judge William O'Brien postponed the hearing until November 10 because Talansky's regular lawyer, Anthony Colleluori, was at trial for another client. Colleluori did not immediately respond to a message left by The Jerusalem Post.