Lawyer accused of trying to derail feds goes to court

A Greenwich lawyer accused of trying to hinder a federal child pornography investigation was in court Friday hoping to get the case against him dismissed. Philip Russell, a former lawyer for Christ Church in Greenwich, was indicted for obstruction of justice in February. Russell is accused of destroying a laptop computer that may have contained child pornography files. The laptop belonged to Robert Tate, a choir director at Christ Church, who eventually pleaded guilty to child pornography charges. Prosecutors say Russell obstructed justice by destroying the computer. Russell's lawyers contend there wasn't an investigation underway, and Russell had no reason to believe there would be one. At Friday?s two-hour hearing, Russell?s lawyers asked to have the case thrown out. It is expected to take a couple of weeks for the judge to make his decision.Related information: