Following years of legal wrangling, Rabbi Osher Eisemann, the founder of Lakewood’s School for Children with Hidden Intelligence (SCHI) has been granted a new trial after prosecutors’ appeal was denied on Friday morning. Rabbi Eisemann had been convicted on money laundering and official misconduct after prosecutors convinced a jury that a SCHI QuickBooks entry showed him illegally writing down a loan given to him by the school. However, prosecutors failed to interview the bookkeeper who made that entry and failed to disclose her identity to the defense team – a violation of the Brady Act. After Rabbi Eisemann’s conviction, the defense team managed to ascertain who the bookkeeper was, who then provided sworn testimony that the QuickBooks entry had nothing to do with a loan, but was rather a way to balance the books, which were not being kept in tip-top shape. Based on this explosive new evidence, Judge Joseph Paone threw out Rabbi Eisemann’s convictions and ordered a new trial. The prosecution appealed, arguing that they were not required to turn over the identity of the bookkeeper to the defense team. An appeals court on Friday morning unanimously disagreed with the prosecution and accused the prosecutors of violating the Brady Act. The appeals court’s ruling means that Rabbi Eisemann is now a free man, while prosecutors have to decide whether to charge him again – this time against the compelling evidence of the bookkeeper who made the entry they solely relied on to convict him. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The post FREE AT LAST: SCHI Founder Rabbi Eisemann Granted New Trial After Prosecutors’ Appeal Denied appeared first on The Yeshiva World.