Power on Trial: Carman begins cross-examining Singh

Carman at cross-examination

Linda Mangano’s attorney came in hot when he began cross-examining Harendra Singh, the prosecution’s key witness in the case against Mangano, her husband, former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, and former Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto.

“Hi, I’m John Carman,” he told Singh, leaning into the microphone, while holding onto the lectern with both hands. “I represent your former friend, Linda.”

Spectators responded with a sprinkle of oohs and some laughter.

From there, Carman — at a rapid-fire pace far different from that of Kevin Keating, Edward Mangano’s attorney, who questioned Singh for four-plus days — dug right in.

He pushed Singh on a wiretapped conversation — which the courtroom heard Thursday — between the former restaurateur and a retired Nassau County police detective who was his friend.

Singh pushed back, saying he could not remember some portions of that conversation.

“Didn’t they give you a handy transcript to hold in your hand?” Carman asked.

“Yes,” Singh replied.

But when asked a question about whether he used a certain word in the conversation with the former detective, Singh replied, “I don’t exactly recall.”

“Are you having memory issues?” Carman asked.

To which the prosecution objected.

To which the judge sustained.

“Sometimes I remember things,” Singh would go on, “sometimes I don’t.”

“It is normal human nature,” he said.

Everyone wants out

At one point in his cross-examination, Carman looked toward Singh, “I am going to ask you, did you ever consider killing yourself?” He was referring to Singh’s time in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

“No,” Singh answered.

“I have a faith,” Singh continued. “I believe in God.”

He said that while he was in the detention center, “I knew that God was going to help me get out of there.”

“It is not a club,” Singh said, “Everybody wants to get out of there.”

Love and marriage

The courtroom took on the air of a soap opera with some testimony about Singh’s relationship with his wife — and Linda Mangano’s relationship with her husband.

“That’s a lie!” Singh responded when Carman asked whether he had complained to Linda Mangano about his wife, Ruby, “ruining your life.”

“No,” Singh responded seconds later when Carman asked whether he had — jokingly — suggested to Linda Mangano that they kill Edward Mangano and run away.

“She did say, in front of Ed,” Singh testified about the joke.

“She will tell me, wink, wink, you and me should kill Ed and we will run away.”

The jury — and every spectator in the courtroom after the lunch break — appeared to be wide awake during the testimony.

Location, location

Carman introduced as exhibits several photographs of Singh’s Laurel Hollow home.

Carman, at one point, asked: “Is that the local bowling alley?”

To which the prosecution objected, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine M. Mirabile saying, “He’s being sarcastic.”

It was unclear whether the judge — who sustained the objection — heard her.

But Singh, a few moments later, would testify: “That’s the basement of my house.”

And later, when Carman pressed Singh about the value of his home, noting that it was on Long Island’s North Shore, Singh sought to defer.

“It is on Laurel Lane,” Singh said, “close to Syosset . . . ”

“Is it in the poor section of Laurel Hollow?” Carman pressed.

“If you want to describe it that way,” Singh responded.

Later, he would note that the house is in foreclosure.

Snow foolin’

“I lied,” U.S. District Court Judge Joan M. Azrack told jurors as they filed into the courtroom, “I said it wasn’t going to snow anymore.”

But it did on Monday morning.

A lot.

So much so that those entering the Alfonse M. D’Amato U.S. Courthouse had to make their way past two men shoveling — even as snow continued to fall.

Still, defendants and prosecutors, defense lawyers and Singh were in the courtroom and ready to go — as Azrack, as she always does, stood and welcomed jurors into the courtroom.

“Thank you for your herculean efforts to get here,” she told the panel. “When you leave, the roads will be clear — but I’m not going to promise.”

She didn’t have to.

By day’s end, the roadways — in a view from the 9th floor of the courthouse — looked to be all clear.

Photograph and memories

“They should print this picture,” Singh wrote in a text — with photo attached — to Joseph Conway, his lawyer, on Aug. 10, 2015, “he is my best friend and never have done to break any laws.”

The exhibit was one of the last introduced into evidence by Kevin Keating, the defense lawyer for Mangano to illustrate that Singh and Mangano really were friends — once.

“This is Ed and I in 1992,” Singh wrote.

But the photograph, even projected onto the large courtroom screen, seemed muddy. And so small that it took some effort to discern who was who.

Generally speaking

Keating, repeatedly, asked Singh about the specifics of the government’s indictment against him — to which, Singh, repeatedly, would answer with general statements.

“There were general charges,” Singh testified at one point.

“I was charged with many and different items,” he said at another.

Ultimately, Singh was given a copy of the indictment to refresh his memory — at 10:18 a.m., according to my wristwatch. Singh read through the paperwork, very carefully, and signaled that he was ready for further cross-examination by 10:23 a.m.

Even then, however, the wrangle of words between Keating and Singh continued.

Keating asked about allegations that Singh didn’t pay $7 million in payroll taxes. “It served your purpose to do it this way, so you did it this way,” Keating said.

“It helped my business,” Singh replied. “Yes.”

Keating, who would go on to wrap up his cross-examination before a court break, pressed Singh on the use of fraudulent documents.

“I can’t say absolutely legitimate, may have been some not true,” Singh replied. “If you want me to say everything was fraud, I can’t say that.”

Desperate time

Singh acknowledged trying to get a loan, using fraudulent paperwork, while he was out on bail after his first arrest. He said the documents were created at the kitchen table in his Laurel Hollow home.

“It was wrong of me to do that,” testified Singh, who was remanded after authorities determined that he had violated terms of his release.

“It was an act of desperation,” Singh said.

“When you are desperate you think of yourself?” Keating asked.

“Everybody does,” Singh replied. “Everybody does.”

Letter opener

Keating pressed Singh on when and why he decided to cooperate with officials, at one point asking Singh about the letter Singh hopes prosecutors will write to the judge who will determine Singh’s sentence as a result of his guilty pleas on bribery and other charges.

Singh testified Monday that he potentially faces multiple years in prison — Keating put it at decades. As a cooperating witness, he could be eligible for a 5k1.1 letter, in which prosecutors would explain to a judge that the witness cooperated in some important or substantial manner.

The substance of the letter depends on the cooperating witness’ testimony — and is not tied to a jury’s verdict in a case.

“You understand there are benefits to a 5k1.1 letter?” Keating asked.

“I hope so,” Singh replied, as some spectators laughed.