Ex-NY Senate leader asks court to block retrial

NEW YORK – The former Republican leader of the New York Senate has asked an appeals court to stop prosecutors from filing new charges once his fraud conviction is overturned.

Joseph Bruno's lawyers made the request Thursday with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan. The 81-year-old Bruno was sentenced in May to two years in prison for his conviction on two federal fraud counts. He has remained free pending appeal.

A recent Supreme Court decision led prosecutors to tell Bruno's lawyers they will concede that the conviction should be reversed because instructions on the law given to jurors were in error.

Prosecutors want the appeals court to return the case to the lower court, where prosecutors can seek a superseding indictment and a new trial. Bruno's lawyers say the court should block a retrial.