Landlord in carbon monoxide case awaits attorney

Brentwood landlord Wilson Milord should find out Monday whether a New Jersey attorney will defend him against charges that he caused the carbon monoxide deaths of three people in a West Babylon home he owned.

After three hours of discussions Wednesday in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, Judge James Hudson agreed to delay jury selection in Milord's trial until June 22 if Jersey City attorney Vincent J. D'Elia agrees to represent Milord.

If D'Elia declines to take Milord's case, jury selection will begin Tuesday - with Milord acting as his own attorney, Hudson said. Milord is not a lawyer.

Milord has pleaded not guilty to criminally negligent homicide in the November 2007 deaths of Tanisha Armstrong, 24, her daughter Talani Johnson, 4, and a neighbor, Ricardo Pearce, 27. They were killed by carbon monoxide from a gas-powered generator installed by Milord, prosecutors said.

Milord's trial had been scheduled to begin June 1 but was delayed when his attorney, Albert Dayan of Kew Gardens, complained he had not been paid, and then resigned Monday.

Wednesday, Hudson said Milord had a "clear pattern" of hiring attorneys and then refusing to pay them, prompting them to quit.

D'Elia, a former Manhattan prosecutor, said Wednesday he needs time to prepare for Milord's trial. "I have almost no familiarity with the facts of the case," he told Hudson.

If D'Elia does not take the case, Milord will be assisted by Bohemia attorney Harry Tilis, who was assigned by Hudson to be Milord's legal adviser. Tilis told Hudson that Milord "cannot represent himself in any kind of effective manner."

Assistant District Attorney Thalia Stavrides countered that Milord has represented himself in previous legal matters.