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Prosecutors scolded for delay request in ex-Goldman programmer trial

Cyrus Vance has “screwed this up.”

Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office incurred the wrath of a judge on Wednesday after showing up unprepared to try a case on the docket since 2012.

“You screwed this up, to put it colloquially,” Justice Daniel Convisor told ADA Daniel Holmes. “This is on you. You and your office.”

Convisor is overseeing the prosecution of Sergey Aleynikov, the former Goldman Sachs programmer who inspired Michael Lewis’ 2014 best-seller “Flash Boys.”

It is the second time Aleynikov has been put on trial. He was convicted after a federal trial; the verdict was tossed on appeal, but not until Aleynikov had served a year of an eight-year sentence.

Six months after Aleynikov walked free, Vance’s office, in 2012, charged him for allegedly stealing Goldman’s secret high-frequency trading computer code, saying he took the “secret sauce.”

In court to hash out procedural issues ahead of jury selection, Holmes told Convisor the state needed 19 more days to accommodate witnesses’ schedules.

The DA’s office hit a snag with Misha Malyshev, the “father of high-frequency trading,” who tried to hire Aleynikov from Goldman, according to Kevin Marino, Aleynikov’s lawyer.

Prosecutors asked Malyshev on March 26 if he was available for a July trial — and hadn’t told Marino or the court that they weren’t prepared for the April 1 start date, Marino said.

“Is it true that last week you called a witness for a summer trial?” Convisor asked.

“There’s one witness I called,” Holmes said.

“And you think that’s appropriate?”

“Obviously not,” Holmes answered.

“You’re a person of integrity, but you know what? This is your responsibility,” Convisor told Holmes.

“I don’t think I’ve ever directed the people to go forward when they’re not ready,” Convisor added.

Ultimately, Convisor granted a delay — but just until Monday.

A state court judge ruled in 2013 that Vance could prosecute Aleynikov — and that it wasn’t double jeopardy, because the charges were slightly different.

While the 45-year-old Russian programmer was originally charged with corporate espionage, Vance charged him with unlawful duplication of computer-related materials.

Aleynikov, who quit Goldman for a $1.2 million-a-year job at a startup, faces 1 ¹/₃ to 4 years in prison if convicted.

In court, Marino told the judge that he believed Goldman Sachs was behind the move by Vance to try his client a second time.

In the federal case, FBI agents, who arrested Aleynikov at Newark Airport as he walked off a plane, said they were tipped to the matter by Goldman.

The appeals court said the matter fell short of being an espionage case.