Andrea Sneiderman

Andrea Sneiderman, the widow accused of conspiring to murder her husband, will appear in court in July to answer those charges.

At a Feb. 21 hearing, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Gregory Adams set a date of July 29 to begin jury selection for Sneiderman’s trial, which is expected to last more than a month.

Prosecutors allege Sneiderman and her former boss Hemy Neuman plotted to kill her husband, Rusty Sneiderman.

Neuman later admitted to shooting Rusty Sneiderman in front of a Dunwoody day care center and was convicted of his murder; he is now serving life in prison without parole.

According to prosecutors, Andrea Sneiderman was having an affair with Neuman.

In a new 16-count indictment filed Feb. 19, Sneiderman is charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, hindering the apprehension of a criminal, concealment of material facts, four counts of making false statements and seven counts of perjury.

At a hearing in November 2012, prosecutors added the name Joseph Dell to their witness list. Former DeKalb County Chief Assistant District Attorney Don Geary said at the time that Sneiderman may have convinced Neuman to kill her husband so she and Dell could be together.

“We believe it credible that Mr. Dell left his wife six months pregnant about six and a half months after the murder of Rusty and at that time, openly took up a relationship with the defendant,” Geary said.

Sneiderman defense attorney Thomas Clegg said at the Feb. 21 hearing that his client’s relationship with Dell was nothing more than a strong friendship and accused Geary of trying to assassinate Sneiderman’s character and “smoke out” Neuman to testify against her.

Sneiderman’s bond conditions state that she is not to have contact with any of the people the state plans to call as witnesses. Sneiderman’s defense team filed a motion asking Adams to prevent Dell from being called as a witness and “preclude the state of Georgia from eliciting any evidence concerning any relationship” between Sneiderman and Dell.

“It has absolutely nothing to do with any of the allegations against her,” Clegg said of the relationship between Sneiderman and Dell. “There is nothing that Joseph Dell can testify to and nothing concerning any relationship he has with Mrs. Sneiderman that would have anything to do with this indictment.”

Clegg also stated that prosecutors have yet to contact Dell even though it has been six months since his name was added to the witness list, and DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James confirmed that fact. Clegg asked prosecutors to “put up or shut up.”

“They have put his name on a witness list and have prevented Mrs. Sneiderman from having any contact with him without making any effort to contact him and see what he has to say,” Clegg said.

James said the appropriate time to “put up or shut up” is during the trial and he has no intention of trying the case before the trial or divulging his team’s prosecution strategy.

“I’m sorry that we haven’t satisfied counsel’s curiosity,” James said. “The law gives him the ability to object to relevance at trial.”

Additionally, James said Dell’s name was added to the list after prosecutors learned of several hours of conversations that occurred between Dell and Sneiderman while she was in jail. 

Adams said he would rule on the motion in the next several weeks.