The Nation : Defense Disputes Witness in Girl’s Death

Lawyers for Joel Steinberg, accused of murdering his illegally adopted daughter, opened their defense in New York with an assault on the credibility and character of Steinberg’s chief accuser and former live-in companion. Police Officer Thomas Andry testified he had found a woman who looked just like Hedda Nussbaum drinking a beer and smoking in a stranger’s car while Lisa Steinberg, the 6-year-old girl the couple raised, was unconscious in the family apartment nearby. He said he was convinced it was Nussbaum. In seven days of graphic testimony, Nussbaum testified that she never left the house after Lisa fell unconscious, sometime around 7 p.m. on Nov. 1, 1987. The prosecution maintains Lisa was unconscious because Steinberg, 47, a disbarred lawyer, had struck her before going out to dinner. In later testimony, Andry’s partner, police officer Leroy Grice, also said he was sure the woman he saw in the car on Nov. 1 was Nussbaum. The testimony came as the trial adjourned for the holidays until Jan. 3.