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Bob Bashara Expected To Testify In Effort To Get New Trial

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A Grosse Pointe Park man convicted of arranging his wife's death is expected to take the stand as part of his efforts to get a new trial.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Vonda Evans allowed 57-year-old Bob Bashara to be sworn in Wednesday before pushing his testimony to Thursday.

Evans said she had other cases on Wednesday's docket and that's Bashara's testimony might take several hours.

"Reason for that is," said WWJ Legal Analyst Charlie Langton, "this testimony probably will be the most crucial testimony in the case, as to whether or not Bob Bashara is going to get a new trial."

Jane Bashara was found dead in January, 2012 inside her Mercedes-Benz SUV, which had been abandoned in a Detroit alley.

Prosecutors have said Bob Bashara bullied handyman Joe Gentz into strangling her at their home and then paid him for the job. Gentz is in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder.

Bashara wants his murder conviction and life sentence thrown out, saying his rights were violated by an ineffective defense.

"He believes he had what's called 'ineffective assistance of council' ...Meaning that those bad lawyers did such a bad job, below the standard of care, that there would've been a different result," said Langton. "And that actually is the legal test — a very difficult test."

Bashara's new attorney says he old lawyers were not prepared; that they mounds of evidence that they did not have time to go through.

Nearly 500 pieces of evidence were presented, more than 70 witnesses took the stand, and sometimes salacious testimony about dungeons, whippings and sex parties peppered the 10-week trial.

Prosecutors argued that Bashara wanted his wife out of the way so he could pursue a new life with other women, who referred to him as "Master Bob" as part of an alternative sexual lifestyle known as BDSM. The defense countered that Bashara's affair was just a fling — and that he wouldn't want to kill Jane because she was the breadwinner in the household.

He's set to take the stand at 9 a.m. on Thursday.

TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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