Suspected slave keepers still in jail, fire legal team

The bail battle of a Muttontown couple accused of enslavement took another turn Wednesday when the husband and wife fired their legal defense team. Negotiations stalled on the $3.5 million house-arrest

News 12 Staff

Jun 6, 2007, 11:33 PM

Updated 6,302 days ago

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The bail battle of a Muttontown couple accused of enslavement took another turn Wednesday when the husband and wife fired their legal defense team.
Negotiations stalled on the $3.5 million house-arrest bail package for Varsha and Mahender Sabhnani. A federal judge expressed dissatisfaction with security conditions at the couple's million-dollar Muttontown home. Prosecutors repeated their stance against bail, calling the couple a flight risk due to their ties overseas.
The Sabhnanis abruptly fired their legal team in court and brought in new lawyers to represent them. Almost immediately, Varsha Sabhnani's new attorney began urging the judge to grant bail by the end of the day. The judge later told the attorney, "If you keep this up, I'm going to throw you out."
Prosecutors objected to the hiring of the new attorney because they say he previously represented one of the grand jury witnesses in the case.
Another hearing is scheduled for Monday, which is the next date the Sabhnanis could be released on bail.
Related Information: Judge rejects bail package for accused slave keepers Ruling paves way for bail in slavery case Feds: Slave offered bribe to leave country