We all thought that Robert De Niro's testimony in court would prove to be the most dramatic moment in the art theft trial of a gallery director accused of pocketing $77,000 from the sale of De Niro's father's paintings. But it turns out that all the really nutty, overly-dramatic stuff was actually going on behind-the-scenes between deliberating jurors who name-dropped Hillary Clinton, cursed at each other, and brought 20 million Afghan refugees into the mix.
It sounds like the four days of deliberations in the trial of gallery director Leigh Morse, who De Niro claimed stole two of his father's paintings, sold them, and pocketed the profits for herself, were wrought with tension and anger. Juror Stanley Cohen told the Post that he wanted to convict Morse of grand larceny, but he was pressured out of his vote by four "emotional" female jurors, led by Maureen White, who was the most "agitated." He claims that White was in a mad rush to escape the courthouse, so much so that she "bragged about knowing Hillary Clinton [and] kept saying that 20 million people are in trouble in Afghanistan because she was here." White is a voluntary adviser on refugee affairs for the State Department, and wife of Wall Street financier Steven Rattner.
White admits she lost her temper with Cohen, did complain that she needed to get back to the refugees, and called Cohen a "child" at one point, but she says that she and the other jurors agreed that Cohen is a "crackpot." "He kept saying Morse is a thief, that she's a crook, that she's living the high life. He'd say, 'She's indicted. She must be guilty.' And he wouldn't pay attention to actual facts. He's a very, very sad human being," White told the Post. Jury foreman Robert Lubeck agreed with her assessment (or just has a big ole crush on White): "I don't think that her behavior was anything outlandish. She's a very elegant woman. To make her out to be anything but that is wrong, and inaccurate."
In the end, Morse was acquitted of the grand larceny charge, but convicted of helping her boss Lawrence Salander (who is serving six years in prison already) defraud other art owners in the $120 million scheme. She'll face up to four years in prison at sentencing. For his part, Cohen is guilt-ridden that he wasn't able to help De Niro get justice: "Tell Mr. De Niro I'm sorry. I tried to get a conviction. It was hopeless."
