Defense requests to question Talansky in 2 rounds; 1st to last 5 days, 2nd needed as evidence withheld.
By JPOST.COM STAFFOlmert phone home 224 88(photo credit: AP)
The cross-examination of US financier Morris Talansky by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's lawyers will probably only be completed in two rounds of questioning, the first of which will last five days, according to a report submitted Thursday by Olmert's defense team to the Jerusalem District Court. The report was based on the assumption that each session would begin at 9:00 a.m. and last seven hours.
The prime minister's lawyers explained their request to conduct two rounds of cross-examination, stating that only on Wednesday had the State Attorney's Office delivered nine folders of material pertaining to Talansky's early testimony.
The material they had received was partial, they said, claiming that they were set to receive additional material.
They said that on Monday, they were informed by the assistant Jerusalem district attorney, Uri Karov, that they were to receive "a lot of additional material from the investigation that directly pertains to Talansky, including extensive testaments gleaned from his business associates in the United States - including from some who were involved in various disputes with him - and Mr. Talansky's bank statements from relevant years."
Apart from the material from the US, the prime minister's defense team said they were also told that additional evidence would not be made available to them "for the sake of the investigation."
"Under these circumstances," they wrote in their report, "there will be no escaping ordering Talansky to continue his cross-examination at a later date to be set by the esteemed court in coordination with the two sides after the current stage of his cross-examination is concluded."
