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Reddy's attorneys want separate trials for father and son

R S Shankar

The father and son, charged with bringing in cheap labor from India by falsifying documents and using some of the illegal immigrants for sex, are asking an Oakland court that they should be tried separately.

Father Lakireddy Bali Reddy, who has been charged on many counts, faces up to 70 years in a prison. He is 62 and is free on a $ 10 million bail. His 30-year-old son, Vijay Kumar Lakireddy, who ran an employment agency to import high-tech programmers who would be usually eligible for a $ 50,000 annual salary, is free on a $ 500,000 bail. The court has ruled no business transactions can be made on their behalf till the trial is ended.

Defense lawyers believe that separate trials mean a speedy resolution of the cases. Besides, it will not be the same judge and the jury who will decide the fate of their clients.

Reddy and his son have pleaded not guilty to all charges against them.

Ted Cassman, the attorney for Reddy, and George Cotsirilos, the lawyer for his son, are hoping a decision will be taken on their petitions within the next few days. They are also exploring the possibility of asking the courts to suppress certain evidence if it is proved that the homes and businesses of Reddy and his son were not searched in accordance with law.

The cases against the two men began materalizing when a 17-year-old girl died of a carbon monoxide leak in one of the 1,000 flats owned by Reddy in Berkeley, a university city At the time of her death in November, a couple, who lived in another flat, grieved her death. They had brought her along with her 15-year-old sister to Berkeley.

A few weeks later, the authorities would show that the couple were not the girl's parents. The man, who had come to America allegedly using an H1-B visa provided by Vijay Kumar Lakireddy, was, in fact, a near illiterate person The woman who pretended to be his wife is his sister. The couple is in the custody of the Immigration and Naturalization Service while the 15-year-old girl is in protective custody.

Emmanuella Albuquerque, a lawyer for Berkley City, told reporters that soon after Reddy was arrested, at least eight women who cleaned his apartments and helped in his restaurants, have disappeared. She believes they were shipped to India so that they would not testify against him or his son.

The court has told the lawyers to file their petitions for a separate trial by the month-end. A trial date is expected to be set in the middle of April.

EARLIER REPORTS:

The Reddy Scandal

The End of an American Dream

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