Syracuse, NY - Former Syracuse police Officer Fredrick J. Baunee was briefly in Onondaga County Court today after his lawyer and the prosecutor had a brief conference at the bench with the judge. After court, defense lawyer Paul Carey said he is hoping to meet with the prosecution to see if there is any possibility of working out a...
Fredrick BauneeSyracuse, NY - Former Syracuse police Officer Fredrick J. Baunee was briefly in Onondaga County Court today after his lawyer and the prosecutor had a brief conference at the bench with the judge.
After court, defense lawyer Paul Carey said he is hoping to meet with the prosecution to see if there is any possibility of working out a plea deal acceptable to both sides.
At this point, however, the prosecution is looking for a state prison sentence and to have Baunee plead guilty to sex charges so he will be obligated to register as a convicted sex offender, Carey said.
Baunee, 49, of Camillus, was named May 5 in a 46-count indictment accusing him of operating a drug ring from his home, using Camillus teenagers as customers and sellers, vandals and for sexual activities.
A lot of the charges need “intensive scrutiny” before there can be any action in the case, Carey said.
He also said he has already filed his motion papers that include an attack on the sufficiency of a search warrant that allowed Camillus police to search Baunee’s home Sept. 24. If the search warrant is found to have been defective, the prosecution cannot use as evidence against Baunee the psilocybin mushrooms and marijuana recovered, the defense lawyer said.
The search warrant, however, only relates to two of the 46 counts in the indictment. It does not relate to any of the marijuana sale charges or sex abuse allegations that are based on the statements of various youths, Carey admitted.
Assistant District Attorney Cindi Newtown would only say the prosecution has not offered any specific plea deal in Baunee’s case.
Aloi adjourned the case to June 11 for a further discussion with the lawyers. If no deal is worked out then, Aloi left the case on for June 30 for argument of pre-trial motions.