This is old news by now, but there was closure to the Fortunato murder-for-hire trial a couple of weeks back. One defendant – Carmine Polito – was acquitted in a jury trial on the 14th of December. The following day, Mario Fortunato (of the bakery family) was convicted by the trial judge. Turns out Fortunato had waived his right to trial by jury, and put his fate in the judge’s hands. With the jury verdict in favor of his co-defendant, it would appear that Fortunato (or more accurately his attorney), chose poorly. Is that in itself grounds for a new trial on the basis of incompetent counsel?