Former Wharton student and convicted drug trafficker Alexander Moscovits is going back to federal court today. After spending seven years in federal prison on charges of drug trafficking, Moscovits won the right to a retrial, after the original trial judge decided that his initial lawyers misrepresented him. He has been under house arrest in Miami since last winter. Moscovits will be representing himself at his retrial. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison and fined $50,000 at his original trial in 1988. Although jury selection for the trial began Wednesday, opening statements will be read by the prosecution and defense in court today. Moscovits said two University alumni will testify for the prosecution. Moscovits said he was pleased with the jury selection. "I think they picked a very homogenous jury," Moscovits said in an interview yesterday. Judge Clarence C. Newcomer will be presiding over the case. Newcomer took over for Louis Pollack, a University Law professor and federal judge, who recused himself from the case earlier this month. Moscovits had been asking for Pollack's recusal because he said that Pollack's relationship with the University caused a conflict of interest. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Hayes will argue the case for the government. Hayes could not be reached for comment. In the past Moscovits has been represented by William Kunstler and Robert Simone, who has since been convicted on federal racketeering charges. Moscovits's retrial was scheduled to begin in May, but was delayed so the prosecution and defense could prepare their cases. The trial will begin at 9 a.m. in U.S. District Court in Center City.
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