Judge rejects 'too drunk' defense
Michael Zeigler
Staff writer
(February 2, 2008) — Although Cyon Badger admitted shooting an innocent bystander during a dispute on Monroe Avenue last summer, he claimed he was too drunk to know what he was doing.
But a judge Friday rejected that defense, finding Badger guilty of intentionally killing Adam Emling and attempting to kill bouncer Frank Hall.
Ruling after a nonjury trial Badger requested, Monroe County Court Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr. convicted Badger of second-degree murder in Emling's death and attempted second-degree murder for trying to kill Hall.
Badger, 41, will be sentenced Feb. 20. He faces a prison term of 15 years to life to 25 years to life for murder and another 25 years for attempted murder.
Emling's family declined to speak after the verdict. Assistant District Attorney Joanne M. Winslow said they have been devastated by their son's slaying.
"I don't know if this brings closure (to Emling's family)," she said. "I don't know if they can ever have closure. They lost a totally innocent 24-year-old son."
Emling, a Florida native who came to Rochester nine months before he was killed and was living in Irondequoit, was slain outside Mark's Texas Hots on July 14, 2007.
Badger got into a fight with three young men after leaving Callahan's bar on Monroe Avenue. Hall, a bouncer at Mark's Texas Hots, intervened at one point and Badger left.
Badger went to his apartment across the street, got a 12-gauge shotgun and returned to shoot and wound Hall "for what he did to me," Badger said in a statement to police. Emling had no role in the previous fight but was standing outside.
Badger lowered the gun to shoot Hall and pulled the trigger, but the gun didn't fire and Hall ran back into Mark's, Winslow said. Badger loaded a new shell into the gun, pointed the gun at a woman standing next to Emling, then pointed it at Emling and fired from as close as two feet, she said.
Emling was hit in the abdomen.
Showing posts with label Court. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Court. Show all posts
But Still Made it to Court - Pt. II
Defendant drunk during trial
By CAITLIN HEANEY
Evening Sun Reporter
Article Launched: 01/26/2008 04:05:30 AM EST
A man on trial for allegedly shaking and injuring his infant son was taken from the courtroom in handcuffs Friday after a portable breath test showed he was under the influence of alcohol during his trial.
Kelly Rolan Wantz, 38, whose last known address was 45 N. Queen St. in Littlestown, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.32 - four times Pennsylvania's level for driving under the influence of 0.08 - and was remanded to Adams County prison. President Judge John D. Kuhn also revoked Wantz's bail and berated him for his actions, telling Wantz he did not know what to say about how disappointed he was.
"You have created an inconvenience for the court," Kuhn said.
Wantz's trial started Thursday and resumed Friday but recessed shortly before 11 a.m. when the county sheriff's department took Wantz into custody. The trial is scheduled to resume at 9:30 a.m. Monday.
Wantz is charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and harassment for allegedly shaking one of his month-old twin sons, Jacob Wantz, on Jan. 27, 2005. But District Attorney Shawn Wagner said Friday he did not plan to pursue the simple assault and reckless endangerment charges.
The prosecution had not yet rested its case Friday when Kuhn asked to speak privately with Wantz's attorney, Gettysburg-based Robert Chester, and Wagner, who had paused a few times while questioning witnesses earlier in the day when Wantz began speaking loudly to Chester.
Kuhn then decided to recess the trial for a few minutes, during which time the county's probation department gave Wantz a portable breath test. Kuhn later said it was brought to his attention that Wantz might have been under the influence of alcohol.
There was a concern the portable test's results might not have shown the extent of Wantz's intoxication, Kuhn said.
The jury did not return to the courtroom after the recess, so no jurors were there when Wantz left in handcuffs with sheriff's department officials.
Wagner said the prison would have to decide if Wantz needed to be taken to the hospital.
Chester said Wantz appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and believed, as Wantz's attorney, he needed Wantz sober to thoroughly proceed with the trial. Wantz was not drunk at trial Thursday, Chester said.
Wantz has not taken the stand yet in his own defense. Jacob's foster mother, Dana Talcott, was in the middle of her testimony Friday when the trial halted.
Adams County Children and Youth took custody of Wantz's sons shortly after the alleged shaking in January 2005 and turned the boys over to Talcott and her family, who live in Fairfield. At first the family did not know whether it would even take care of Jacob, she said.
"We weren't sure if he was even going to make it to be able to come to our house," Talcott said.
Dr. Mark Dias, a pediatric neurosurgeon who treated Jacob at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, testified Thursday that Jacob's injuries were caused either by slamming into an object, being shaken or both. Veins connecting the brain to a larger vein can break during such incidents, causing blood to build up in the brain. Scans of Jacob's brain show where blood gathered and that his brain shrank during the week following the alleged shaking, Dias said.
Talcott recalled visiting Jacob at Hershey Medical Center, during which time he used a feeding tube, barely opened his eyes and took medications to control seizures.
"He just basically laid motionless," Talcott said. "There wasn't a lot of response at that point."
Talcott and her husband kept Jacob's cradle next to their bed because of concern that Jacob might stop breathing. Jacob would open his mouth but could not cry like other infants when they first started taking care of him, Talcott said.
"You wouldn't know if he needed something because he couldn't cry," she said. "There was no way to communicate like a normal baby."
Jacob has undergone physical, occupational and speech therapy, but his brother has not had any therapy, Talcott said. Jacob has speech delays and difficulty with beginning and ending sounds of words, she said. People who know him can figure out what he says by the tone of his voice, she said, but it is frustrating for Jacob.
Becki Scott, an Adams County Children and Youth Services employee, testified Thursday that Wantz told her and Littlestown Police that he had been wiping down his twin sons, whom he put in their carseats on a table, on Jan. 27, 2005, when Jacob started to cry. The boy then began to fall asleep so Wantz rocked Jacob's carseat, but Jacob's head flopped forward and he was cold to the touch when, Scott testified Wantz told them.
Littlestown Police Department officer Douglas Hilyard testified Friday that Wantz was the man who dropped off a letter at the department in December 2005. The letter includes an admission allegedly from Wantz that he shook and threw Jacob into a crib in January 2005 and that his wife was not involved in the incident.
By CAITLIN HEANEY
Evening Sun Reporter
Article Launched: 01/26/2008 04:05:30 AM EST
A man on trial for allegedly shaking and injuring his infant son was taken from the courtroom in handcuffs Friday after a portable breath test showed he was under the influence of alcohol during his trial.
Kelly Rolan Wantz, 38, whose last known address was 45 N. Queen St. in Littlestown, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.32 - four times Pennsylvania's level for driving under the influence of 0.08 - and was remanded to Adams County prison. President Judge John D. Kuhn also revoked Wantz's bail and berated him for his actions, telling Wantz he did not know what to say about how disappointed he was.
"You have created an inconvenience for the court," Kuhn said.
Wantz's trial started Thursday and resumed Friday but recessed shortly before 11 a.m. when the county sheriff's department took Wantz into custody. The trial is scheduled to resume at 9:30 a.m. Monday.
Wantz is charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and harassment for allegedly shaking one of his month-old twin sons, Jacob Wantz, on Jan. 27, 2005. But District Attorney Shawn Wagner said Friday he did not plan to pursue the simple assault and reckless endangerment charges.
The prosecution had not yet rested its case Friday when Kuhn asked to speak privately with Wantz's attorney, Gettysburg-based Robert Chester, and Wagner, who had paused a few times while questioning witnesses earlier in the day when Wantz began speaking loudly to Chester.
Kuhn then decided to recess the trial for a few minutes, during which time the county's probation department gave Wantz a portable breath test. Kuhn later said it was brought to his attention that Wantz might have been under the influence of alcohol.
There was a concern the portable test's results might not have shown the extent of Wantz's intoxication, Kuhn said.
The jury did not return to the courtroom after the recess, so no jurors were there when Wantz left in handcuffs with sheriff's department officials.
Wagner said the prison would have to decide if Wantz needed to be taken to the hospital.
Chester said Wantz appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and believed, as Wantz's attorney, he needed Wantz sober to thoroughly proceed with the trial. Wantz was not drunk at trial Thursday, Chester said.
Wantz has not taken the stand yet in his own defense. Jacob's foster mother, Dana Talcott, was in the middle of her testimony Friday when the trial halted.
Adams County Children and Youth took custody of Wantz's sons shortly after the alleged shaking in January 2005 and turned the boys over to Talcott and her family, who live in Fairfield. At first the family did not know whether it would even take care of Jacob, she said.
"We weren't sure if he was even going to make it to be able to come to our house," Talcott said.
Dr. Mark Dias, a pediatric neurosurgeon who treated Jacob at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, testified Thursday that Jacob's injuries were caused either by slamming into an object, being shaken or both. Veins connecting the brain to a larger vein can break during such incidents, causing blood to build up in the brain. Scans of Jacob's brain show where blood gathered and that his brain shrank during the week following the alleged shaking, Dias said.
Talcott recalled visiting Jacob at Hershey Medical Center, during which time he used a feeding tube, barely opened his eyes and took medications to control seizures.
"He just basically laid motionless," Talcott said. "There wasn't a lot of response at that point."
Talcott and her husband kept Jacob's cradle next to their bed because of concern that Jacob might stop breathing. Jacob would open his mouth but could not cry like other infants when they first started taking care of him, Talcott said.
"You wouldn't know if he needed something because he couldn't cry," she said. "There was no way to communicate like a normal baby."
Jacob has undergone physical, occupational and speech therapy, but his brother has not had any therapy, Talcott said. Jacob has speech delays and difficulty with beginning and ending sounds of words, she said. People who know him can figure out what he says by the tone of his voice, she said, but it is frustrating for Jacob.
Becki Scott, an Adams County Children and Youth Services employee, testified Thursday that Wantz told her and Littlestown Police that he had been wiping down his twin sons, whom he put in their carseats on a table, on Jan. 27, 2005, when Jacob started to cry. The boy then began to fall asleep so Wantz rocked Jacob's carseat, but Jacob's head flopped forward and he was cold to the touch when, Scott testified Wantz told them.
Littlestown Police Department officer Douglas Hilyard testified Friday that Wantz was the man who dropped off a letter at the department in December 2005. The letter includes an admission allegedly from Wantz that he shook and threw Jacob into a crib in January 2005 and that his wife was not involved in the incident.
But Still Made it To Court
Charge against ex-boxer dropped when witness shows up drunk
January 25, 2008
PORTLAND, Maine --A felony charge against a former women's boxing champion from South Portland was dropped Friday when the victim showed up in court too drunk to testify.
The prosecutor said she was reluctantly dropping the elevated aggravated assault charge against 57-year-old Margie Dunson, who could have faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Instead, she will not have to do any additional jail time.
"I don't see that I have any other option at this point," District Attorney Stephanie Anderson said.
Dunson, who held the world welterweight title in 1977 and 1978, was accused of stabbing a friend, John Jackson, in the chest during an argument while they were drinking and watching the Super Bowl last year at Dunson's home.
Anderson said Jackson appeared drunk when he arrived at the Cumberland County Courthouse, and a test revealed that his alcohol content was 0.12, which is above the legal limit for driving.
The prosecutor also noted that a witness to the stabbing failed to appear in court
January 25, 2008
PORTLAND, Maine --A felony charge against a former women's boxing champion from South Portland was dropped Friday when the victim showed up in court too drunk to testify.
The prosecutor said she was reluctantly dropping the elevated aggravated assault charge against 57-year-old Margie Dunson, who could have faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Instead, she will not have to do any additional jail time.
"I don't see that I have any other option at this point," District Attorney Stephanie Anderson said.
Dunson, who held the world welterweight title in 1977 and 1978, was accused of stabbing a friend, John Jackson, in the chest during an argument while they were drinking and watching the Super Bowl last year at Dunson's home.
Anderson said Jackson appeared drunk when he arrived at the Cumberland County Courthouse, and a test revealed that his alcohol content was 0.12, which is above the legal limit for driving.
The prosecutor also noted that a witness to the stabbing failed to appear in court
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