Preliminary court date is now fixed for January 13th.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: The petition filed by Devyani Khobragade’s lawyer earlier this week to postpone her upcoming indictment date to February 12 has been denied by a federal judge.
The verdict came down yesterday from Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, who said that she will not give Khobragade an extra month before appearing in court because it ultimately won’t help her at all in the long run.
Netburn said that “good cause [for postponement] has not been demonstrated” by Khobragade because “the defendant has requested only that the preliminary date be adjourned for 30 days for good cause shown [and] a modification of the hearing date will not itself alter the time period for the filing of an indictment or information, the defendant’s concerns regarding the pressures of an impending indictment on plea negotiations will not grant her the relief she seeks.”
Netburn said that another reason she was reluctant to grant the delay is because she wants the trial to go through as quickly as possible, invoking the Speedy Trial Act of 1974, which protects public interest by shortening the length of criminal trials so fewer tax dollars have to go towards financing them.
Khobragade’s attorney, Mark Arshack, filed the request for postponement on Monday, saying that an extra 30 days would allow for better communication between both the Indian and US sides to try and work out a plea arrangement and resolve the situation peacefully. The move was immediately slammed by Preet Bharara, District Attorney for the Southern District of New York, who said that he was optimistic a plea deal could be reached before January 13 itself and disapproved of pushing the court date back by an entire month.
Now, Khobragade will face indictment on Monday, unless the Department of State comes down with a separate verdict before then, which is highly unlikely at this point.
Khobragade is facing charges of visa fraud and making false statements regarding the payment of a housemaid she brought from India, Sangeeta Richard. If the case goes to trial and a plea deal is not agreed upon, Khobragade could be found guilty and face up to 10 years behind bars.
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