Bob Bashara, the Grosse Pointe Park man found guilty of murdering his wife Jane in 2012, was back in court today for a continuation of an evidentiary hearing in his bid for a new trial.
Bashara was found guilty of first degree murder in December 2014. During the trial, prosecutors claimed Bob Bashara hired a handyman to kill his wife Jane in 2012, so he could pursue an alternative sex lifestyle with his mistress - something his defense team denied.
The handyman who prosecutors say Bashara hired, Joe Gentz, pleaded guilty to killing Bashara's wife in late 2012, saying Bashara paid him to do so.
Bashara had been serving jail time for trying to hire a hitman to kill Gentz, who was already behind bars at the time.
He was sentenced to life in prison in January.
On Tuesday, Bashara's attorney, Ronald Ambrose, addressed Judge Evans and told her the jury was never informed of the arrangement he and Jane had regarding his alternative sexual lifestyles.
Ambrose says they had medical sexual issues. Ambrose told the judge that had the jury known-- it wouldn't have sent the message that he was just out philandering.
Ambrose also told the court that Gentz had problems with women and was violent. Had the right witnesses been called, that picture would've been made clear, according to Ambrose.
Ambrose is also asking for a change of venue, claiming that the jury already had their minds made up when they were seated.
"The playing field in this case was completely slanted. And I don't want to continuously repeat myself," Ambrose said. "Over the case of the trial, the prosecution assassinated his character."
The judge is hearing evidence in their re-trial request. Bashara's previous attorneys are testifying during these hearings.
On Wednesday, Bashara's former defense attorney Lillian Diallo talked about her relationship with her former client throughout his high profile murder case. She said he would try to dictate which way he thought something should go legally.
"Something I do not believe in is slavery. I wasn't a fan of it when it was in effect . I was not going to be made a slave to Robert Bashara. I was going to defend Robert Bashara to the best of my ability," said Diallo. "His version of the facts sometimes were a little different than the reality of the case."
The hearing will resume on October 14.
