Syracuse, NY - A teenager who identified former Syracuse police Officer Fredrick Baunee as a drug dealer to Camillus police can testify about that identification when Baunee stands trial, County Judge Anthony Aloi ruled this afternoon. Aloi reserved decision for the time being on the prosecution’s request to use at trial spontaneous comments Baunee made to police after his arrest...
Syracuse, NY - A teenager who identified former Syracuse police Officer Fredrick Baunee as a drug dealer to Camillus police can testify about that identification when Baunee stands trial, County Judge Anthony Aloi ruled this afternoon.
Aloi reserved decision for the time being on the prosecution’s request to use at trial spontaneous comments Baunee made to police after his arrest in which he offered to give up other drug dealers for a deal to get his case dismissed.
Baunee, 49, was named May 5 in a 46-count indictment accusing him of running a drug ring from his home in which Camillus teenagers were used as drug buyers and sellers, vandals and for sexual activities.
Aloi said he would issue a decision on the admissibility of the statements next week. He also said he would set a trial date at that time.
Camillus police Detective James Nightingale testified before Aloi Wednesday afternoon that he included Baunee’s photograph in a photo array he showed to a 15-year-old Camillus youth Sept. 16 after the youth admitted his involvement with drug activities with Baunee.
Nightingale said the youth admitted he bought marijuana from Baunee every day for a week last summer before Baunee recruited him to sell marijuana to his friends.
The detective said he showed the six-picture photo array to the youth just to make sure the man the teenager was talking about was the same Baunee who used to be a city police officer. Nightingale said the youth immediately identified Baunee’s photo.
Defense lawyer Paul Carey questioned the validity of the identification, noting four of the men in the six pictures had facial hair while Baunee did not. But Aloi concluded the photos were a fair mix of similarly looking men to Baunee.
Nightingale testified he actually put together the photo array a month earlier after an incident at a local pizza shop in which a man who identified himself as Baunee intervened on behalf of a youth who had been caught at the premises with marijuana.
The detective said he was looking into the incident as a possible matter of criminal impersonation after about a month of hearing Baunee’s name come up in other town drug investigations involving local juveniles.
As for the statement issue, Nightingale and Camillus police Sgt. Joe Farella testified Baunee made spontaneous comments to them from the back seat of their patrol car as they drove him – in custody – from Camillus town court to the Justice Center jail after his arraignment on drug charges Sept. 30.
Nightingale said that as they walked to the patrol car from the arraignment, Baunee said he wanted to talk to someone in the District Attorney’s office about a deal. As they drove Baunee to jail, Baunee raised the issue again from the back seat of the patrol car, the detective said.
Nightingale said Baunee said he was guilty only of providing cigarettes to youths, that who knew what youth might have planted drugs in his home and that he wanted to trade information about other drug dealers to authorities in exchange for getting his charges dropped and his county back taxes paid.
The detective said he didn’t initiate the conversation and only asked if Baunee had anyone in particular he wanted to talk to in the prosecutor’s office.
That conversation was recorded – both in audio and on video – from equipment in the police car. The tape was played for Aloi in court this afternoon after which the judge clearly indicated he was leaning toward ruling there was nothing wrong with the prosecution using the information at trial.
But the judge then reserved decision after Carey asked for some time to review the tape again and file some legal papers.