Syracuse, NY - Stanley Castor seemed to be doing his best to make defense lawyer Laurin Haddad’s morning miserable. Facing between seven and 15 years in prison if convicted of burglarizing the DeWitt home of an elderly woman in April, Castor was balking at a deal calling for an eight-year prison term. First he wanted to know why a...
Laurin HaddadFacing between seven and 15 years in prison if convicted of burglarizing the DeWitt home of an elderly woman in April, Castor was balking at a deal calling for an eight-year prison term.
First he wanted to know why a conviction he had as a juvenile offender counted against him. County Judge Tony Aloi explained Castor may have been a juvenile, but he was prosecuted as an adult for the first-degree robbery case and did not receive youthful offender treatment at sentencing.
Next, Castor wanted to know what made a residential burglary a “violent” felony. Aloi explained that’s how the crime is classified by law, that it does not necessarily entail committing violence during a crime.
Castor then questioned what proof there was he intended to commit a crime in support of the burglary charge, as opposed to a mere trespass. The judge responded by questioning whether Castor had entered a complete stranger’s home with the intent to bake cookies.
Haddad then managed to intervene to note she didn’t really want Castor answering any further questions about being in the house. And she pointed out she had spent two hours visiting Castor in jail the previous evening explaining all the legal issues.
That’s when Castor told the judge he wanted to raise an issue about “effective” assistance of counsel. Haddad politely interrupted to inform her client she thought he meant “ineffective” assistance of counsel.
That prompted some chuckles. It also led Aloi to put an end to the “intellectual” discussion and adjourn the case to motion arguments next month with Assistant DA Mike Kasmarek threatening to re-indict the case and add in another burglary for which Castor could face consecutive time.
19-year-old murder case delayed further by defense lawyer's car crash
Local defense lawyer Mike Vavonese has over the years made numerous court appearances on behalf of colleague Emil Rossi.
Emil RossiVavonese was supposed to have been in court this past week for the murder trial of Johnny Rogers. He’s the Syracuse man charged with murdering his estranged wife 19 years ago.
County Judge Joe Fahey recently rejected Vavonese’s contention the lengthy delay in bringing charges against Rogers impaired his ability to get a fair trial. But then the case had to be adjourned indefinitely for Vavonese.
That’s what brought Rossi to court for Vavonese a couple of weeks ago. Vavonese had been in a traffic accident earlier this month and was still in the hospital at that time recuperating from numerous rib fractures, a broken collar bone and a fractured pelvis. He’s now recovering at home.
Fahey will wait a couple more weeks to see where things stand in terms of rescheduling Rogers’ trial.
Deputy continues winning ways with Olympic gold, silver and bronze
Onondaga County Sheriff’s Deputy Nancy Putman has been competing in events at the New York State Police Olympics for 24 years.
And winning medals every year.
So it was not unusual in the least for Putman to return from the most recent competition with new medals: Gold, silver and bronze.
Putman won gold in the bowling team event. She won silver in the three-day bowling competition including doubles, singles and all events. She won bronze with a teammate from Homeland Security in horseshoes.
Putman said she used to compete regularly in the shot put. But the police Olympics eliminated that event from the competition so she picked up horseshoes instead.
Putman had calendar duties in County Judge Bill Walsh’s court last Monday where the judge commended her for her Olympic prowess. But he also was curious to know how far Putman might be able to shot put a certain newspaper reporter if the court asked.