P.M. BRIEFING : Leona Seeks Harvard Prof’s Help

NEW YORK — Hotel queen Leona Helmsley, convicted of 33 counts of federal tax evasion, has turned to Harvard law Prof. Alan Dershowitz for help in an appeal of her four-year prison sentence, it was reported today.

Dershowitz, a legal scholar with a reputation for winning tough appeals, said, “I was asked to look over documents for my opinion” of the Helmsley case, the New York Daily News reported.

“I’ve concluded that a great injustice was done,” said Dershowitz, whose victories include winning a new trial for socialite Claus von Bulow on charges he tried to kill his wife.

There are “excellent issues on appeal,” Dershowitz said. But he refused to say whether he will represent Helmsley.

She was convicted on charges that she evaded $1.2 million in federal taxes by billing personal expenses to businesses she owned with her husband, Harry.