Filing their motion Thursday, attorneys have said the federal government's theory behind a superseding indictment of their client is "fatally flawed," according to a report in the Times-Union, and have asked a federal judge to dismiss the charges.
In a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Albany, attorneys for Bruno also said the government's superseding indictment was filed after a statute of limitations expired and should be dismissed on technical grounds, the Times-Union reports. The attorneys also attacked what they characterized as a shifting government theory in which the Brunswick Republican is now charged with a crime, bribery, that prosecutors had "previously disavowed." The U.S. Attorney's office has been given a month to respond to the motion.
Bruno, 83, was convicted in 2009 on two counts of honest services fraud, which came a year after he resigned his Senate position in the midst of an FBI investigation of his private business dealings. That conviction was vacated in 2011 by a federal appeals court following a U.S. Supreme Court rulng on the definition of honest services fraud.
The current motion by Bruno seeks to dismiss renewed Justice Department filings.
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