Former Columbia Dr. Robert Hadden wants sex abuse trial moved out of Manhattan

The New York Daily News - 8/3/2021

A former Columbia University gynecologist accused of sexually abusing dozens of patients claims he can’t get a fair trial in New York City because Manhattan DA candidates slammed him as a serial predator on the campaign trail.

Robert Hadden, 62, is charged federally with sexually abusing patients, some of whom were minors, between 1993 and 2012. He had previously dodged serious punishment thanks to a lenient plea deal in 2016 with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, who required him to relinquish his medical license but serve no jail time.

DA candidates seeking to succeed Vance frequently cited the Hadden case, saying they would handle sex crimes investigations with more respect for victims. Now, Hadden says all the controversy prevents him from getting a fair trial in Manhattan Federal Court.

“The hotly-contested Manhattan DA’s race, over the last year, also repeatedly focused on the DANY Prosecution of Mr. Hadden. The candidates linked Mr. Hadden with Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein as prime examples of the outgoing DA’s mishandling of sex crimes,” defense attorney Deirdre Von Dornum wrote in a new filing asking a judge to toss the charges or move the case to a different jurisdiction.

Von Dornum argued the DA’s race tainted the pool of potential jurors on Hadden’s trial.

“Alvin Bragg, now the presumptive Manhattan DA... concluded his campaign by mailing out thousands of flyers to Manhattan voters — the Southern District jury pool — denouncing the leniency showed to Mr. Hadden and assuming his guilt,” the motion reads.

Hadden’s lawyers also claim the charges should be tossed because some of the conduct overlaps with what he pleaded guilty to in 2016. They argue his agreement in that case, “expressly provided protection from future prosecutions for the charges in the (District Attorney of New York) indictment as well as for all ‘similar crimes’ then known to the DANY.”

Prosecutors in the Southern District did not immediately respond to the filing.