Oswego, NY -- An appellate court has upheld the decision of Oswego County Court Judge Walter Hafner that dismissed all felony charges against the town of Oswego couple accused of starving their toddler twins. Katherine Graham, 26, and Richard Graham, 29, now will face only misdemeanor charges of assault, endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment. They will...
Oswego, NY -- An appellate court has upheld the decision of Oswego County Court Judge Walter Hafner that dismissed all felony charges against the town of Oswego couple accused of starving their toddler twins.
Katherine Graham, 26, and Richard Graham, 29, now will face only misdemeanor charges of assault, endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment. They will be in Oswego County Court at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Hafner dismissed the felonies against the Grahams after a hearing in April. The Oswego County District Attorney’s office appealed Hafner’s decision.
But in a ruling dated Oct. 1, justices in the Supreme Court Appellate Division Fourth Judicial Department ruled in favor of Katherine and Richard Graham and dismissed the felony charges.
In the hearing before Hafner, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bell used a previous case involving parents who starved and beat their child as a basis to prove the case against the Grahams. Courtney Radick, lawyer for Katherine Graham, and Tim Kirwan, lawyer for Richard Graham, told Hafner the case cited by Bell didn’t fit the Graham case.
The Grahams originally were charged with two felony counts each of assault and reckless endangerment and two misdemeanor counts each of assault, endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment.
The Grahams, of 208 Furniss Station Road, town of Oswego, were accused of failing to supply adequate food to their twins, who were 14 months old when the parents were arrested last summer.