BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - A judge has set aside the January murder conviction of a former Buffalo bar manager accused of fatally injuring a customer by shoving him down a flight of stairs.
Tuesday’s ruling came after lawyers for Jeffrey Basil argued that one of the jurors concealed information about herself during jury selection, including that she’d been arrested for stealing in 1997 and had served in the military. The juror says the alleged theft was never prosecuted.
Basil’s attorney says the juror’s time in the Air Force Reserve was important because the victim, William Sager, was an Air National Guardsman.
Basil is accused of pushing Sager down stairs at Molly’s Pub last May, causing his death in late July.
Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita says the case will be re-tried.
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