Former LI woman accused of fatally shoving voice teacher asks appeals court for bail 

The former Port Jefferson woman accused of killing a beloved Manhattan voice coach by shoving her on a sidewalk earlier this year was not a flight risk, even faced with a minimum of 15 years in prison if convicted of manslaughter, her attorney argued in court Thursday.

Defense attorney Arthur Aidala told a four-judge panel of the Appellate Division in Manhattan that a lower court judge's revoking Lauren Pazienza's $500,000 bail on the grounds she was a risk to flee was an abuse of discretion.

"She is not running away," Aidala told the court as he recounted events following the widely publicized March 10 incident in which Pazienza allegedly shoved Barbara Gustern, 87, causing the elderly woman to fall to ground and strike her head. Gustern survived for five days before she died from her injuries.

"This is a media case, " argued Aidala, "If this was not a media case she wouldn't be charged so high, there would be bail."

It took 12 days for Pazienza, who has worked as an event planner and was living with her fiance in Astoria, to finally turn herself with the assistance of Aidala.

Assistant District Attorney Justin McNabney said in court that Pazienza had admitted she shoved Gustern because she believed Gustern may have said something to her. The context of that alleged admission wasn't clear.

After Pazienza was arraigned on a criminal complaint in March, a judge set bail of $500,000, an amount raised and posted by her parents and other relatives.

But in May after Pazienza was indicted on first-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault charges, Manhattan State Supreme Court Justice Felicia Mennin essentially revoked the bail, finding Pazienza not only was flight risk but there were no conditions that would guarantee her return to court, given the seriousness of the charges.

McNabney argued that Mennin's legal reasoning in the case was proper and consistent with the new bail laws. But Aidala said Pazienza's continual return to court before her arraignment on the indictment was a clear indication she wasn't a flight risk.

Aidala said that Pazienza wasn't trying to flee when she returned to Long Island to be with her family but rather spent the time trying to find a defense attorney.

After Pazienza returned to Long Island, her family called a sitting judge to recommend an attorney and that jurist told the family to call Aidala's firm in Brooklyn, noted Aidala.

A decision on the bail issue could come as early as Friday.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.