Turkish banker accused of helping Iran launder money seeks mistrial
NEW YORK - Lawyers for a Turkish banker on trial in New York on charges that he helped Iran evade US sanctions asked a judge on Wednesday to declare a mistrial, saying testimony by a former Turkish police investigator should not have been allowed in court.
The lawyers for Mehmet Hakan Atilla, an executive at Turkey's majority state-owned Halkbank, said the jury had been "tainted" after hearing Huseyin Korkmaz testify in Manhattan federal court this week that he feared he would be tortured if he returned to Turkey, where he led an investigation involving Turkish officials, Atilla and others.
"Associating the defendant with the specter of mindless and cruel political violence at the hands of his government-based alleged co-conspirators is almost guaranteed to inflame the jury against the defendant," the lawyers said.
