On April 14, 2016, after less than one hour of jury deliberations, Anthony Pivoda was found not guilty of sexually abusing a 3 year-old. The events occurred in 2012.
Pivoda's assigned counsel was Holly Trexler.
If we have the basics straight, and we'll try to be gentle, DNA was found in the victims mouth and other areas. DNA was also found on a towel. The defense appears to have been that the owner of the DNA gratified himself and used the towel to clean-up. Then, of course, the victim grabbed the towel and DNA found its way onto the child. Makes sense, right? The jury bought it.
Now, we do not want to vilify the jury. They sometimes follow the law and even if they think someone is guilty, if the case isn't proven beyond.....(you've all seen Law & Order) they acquit.
When the victim, however, is three years old, we would expect the case to be in the hands of an experienced prosecutor. We don't mean oversight by an experienced prosecutor, we mean that the lead prosecutor have some experiences not only in the criminal trenches but in the sex abuse trenches.
The lead prosecutor in this matter had...well, how about a test? How many years of experience did the lead prosecutor have in State v Pivoda?
a) 5 years;
b) 3 years;
c) Less than 2 years;
d) One year;
e) Less than four months.
That's not to say that the outcome would have been different if an experienced prosecutor was at the helm. Who knows, maybe Pivoda was not guilty. Twelve people thought so. Some cases are hard and guilt is tough to prove. However, shouldn't the District Attorney explain why an ADA admitted in 2016 was the lead prosecutor in a child rape case?
There may be a perfectly rationale explanation.
We'll wait.
PS We have refrained from identifying the ADA. If a mistake was made, the head of the office should take responsibility. Please respect our decision if you comment.
In other news Troy, New York received the finding of the City Council's Independent Audit. To the surprise of all, it looks like the City of Troy spends more than it receives in revenue. The answer...wait for it....wait for it...cut spending and/or raise taxes. Money well spent. Wish we had thought of that.
54 comments:
There is nobody there, including Abelove competent enough to prosecute a case!
The jury system certainly is not fool proof but it's the best system we have. The acquittals of both Loporto and McDougnah with the testimony of all who had their votes stolen and the lack of a competent prosecutor certainly backs your point.
Typical Republican waste of time and money. If they didn't think of it, it never happened, so they gave out more taxpayer money.
7:00 It is really pathetic that you are trying desparately trying to keep alive the story of the Mirch orchestrated "voter fraud" case. The war is over meat head.
This has always been a Troy blog. Troy is financially at the brink of bankruptcy and state take over. This is the results of voting democrat. But now this blog has moved on to county issues. Hippocrates. Also I see the firemen are awake on 6th ave and are already out with the union -repaired release using public safety and people dying to support the outrageous overtime expenses. That light at the end of the tunnel that the firemen see is your ambulance leaving the city.
Registered blank here, and I'm OK with the audit. At least we have real "independent" numbers to work with instead of just the generic "the City is broke".
Would like to see a chart that shows how an "x" deficit correlates to a "y" tax increase. If a $3,900,000 deficit means a 19% increase, does a $1,950,000 deficit mean a 9.5% increase? If so, where does that $1.95 mil come from? And since 9.5% is still too damn high, what's the plan, Stan?
If you thought it was bad during the For Sale sign on City Hall days, my gut feeling is you ain't seen nuthin' yet.
First point- not true. Second point - not true. This blog has criticized the fiscal mismanagement of the last administration. You just don't want to hear about Harry's. You think this problem started four years ago? It crashed under Lou and he must shoulder a lot of the blame. There were issues under Harry that were just deferred for a few years.
Well at least your on board with cutting back in the fire department. That gravey train has to end. Look forward to them posting about everything that's going to happen now that they and the ambulance have been exaposed.
10.24, you have a legitimate argument, but you missed one key point. The purpose of a decent fund balance is to ease the burden of difficult times. Clearly, the local aftermath of the 08-09 financial crisis qualifies. If you want to argue Harry overdid it, that's fair.
Implying, or at least leading one to infer, that Harry was equally as irresponsible as Lou is silly. Granted, Lou had some tough breaks, but when you ignore pension payments and hand out lifetime medical benefits surreptitiously you do not get a little gold star on your collar.
Not implying that at all. Maybe I should have said Lou shoulders much of the blame or most.
Good Stop DWI seminar at Burg High today. Are they doing a Stop Domestic Violence one next week? They shouldn't be 'held down' and only address one prom night precautionary measure. Let's cover the full spectrum of possibilities. Can't be too careful with these things.
No comments on Joel's decision making? Have his supporters just given up.
We need the state to take over Troy finances. Once they do then out the window goes all contracts. Clear the slate and start over.
"Hippocrates"???? Big fan of his oath....
.......Hull Cogan
@3:46 pm: He has supporters?
His support will just keep quiet until the next election cycle. That's when they will hope people forgot how incompetent Joel is, and stab 10 million re-election signs into the ground. Then, every political affiliated drone, and every dumb idiot that is told what to think will vote him back into office. #mediatellsyouwhattothink
I will cut 5.15 some slack and assume he was autocorrected or got lost proofreading with the limitations of the mobile version. However, he raises some legitimate points. Regardless of the merits of this case, it looks bad when an inexperienced prosecutor loses such a case. Combine that with the pissing match with the AG (with an assist to the TU with some slanted reporting) and Joel has clearly not impressed.
2.41, thanks for clarifying. I hope I don't come off as piling on Lou, he was dealt a tough hand throughout his term, and he got relatively little help from his own team. On the other hand,since I know Pat reads the Polloi, I imagine he read that last sentence and screamed "Lou got a bad hand??? ARE YOU F***ING KIDDING ME?"
4.22, correct me if I am wrong,but I don't believe contracts are automatically abrogated if there's a state takeover. There is no doubt we are in serious trouble, but if you think a state takeover is a panacea, I think you are overly optimistic.
Phana, Joel is the life raft for Troy's democrats. They abandoned Lou (he tried) and now see Pat as even weaker and more clueless. Lou's pick of Peter Ryan for deputy mayor has only been trumped by Monica. Remember this date 5/13/16.
Indeed, that way, in one we year we can celebrate the first anniversary of 5/13/16
URBAN DICTIONARY: Hippocrates- Side handles growin on my ho's hips fo me to hang on to
He has NO SHOT of being re elected, none, zero, zilch!!!
9.13, if so, Joel has provided them with a better than average raft. Regardless of the merits of the criticism, it has not been a good week for the DA. Obviously, the shooting will play out over time and Joel could come out looking good. But as of today he's already one lap down(a little NASCAR lingo).
It's way premature to dump on Pat or Monica, although I have some problems with the way Pat has publically appeared to handle some of our problems. However, nothing a good pit stop and some good adjustments can't handle. Remember, two years into his Presidency, Bill Clinton was Jimmy Carter squared who ushered in the first Rep House in 40 years. Two years later he was gold.
Reagan was down and out two years in as well. Pat needs to do two things. He needs to communicate better and he needs to get a handle on the finances and play it straight. Lay out the options, no matter how unpopular.
In many ways, politically, Madden is in a win-win situation. The one person we can't blame for the financial mess is Madden. He can either make it better or worse. Making it better, even if its baby steps, will be easy. Cut what you can, preserve services as best you can and raise taxes if need be. If the council balks, so be it.
You cannot cut your way to fiscal health. You can start there, but even if you cut "to the bone" in a year or two costs will eventually go up and we'll have another deficit. One of Harry's faults was an obsession with announcing "no tax hikes this year." I'd rather have a modest take hike every year or two, say 1.5% or 2% than face a 6, 7 or 8 percent hike in one year.
Maybe I'll just move.
Wow. 8:00 spoken like a true demacrat. You obviously have a state job.
8.00, great post. Nice catch on Reagan, and I agree communication has been an issue for Pat. While my rumor mill said Pat was doing an average to excellent job on our Burgh/Campbell Ave situations, he did not appear to be atop the situation. Perception is just as important as performance in politics.
Very sage fiscal advice. In addition, if you have to cut and raise taxes,do so ASAP early in your term.
He has supporters??
He has as much a chance of getting re elected as Harry does
It's simple math, dumbass. Or we can do it the Republican way-- ignore rising costs, raid water and sewer funds to cover deficits, lie to the voters, and kick the mess down the road to the new administration. That's worked out real well, hasn't it.
9:22 you're such an idiot. Obviously you were on the FD list and didn't get hired. The FD ambulances were put into place because of a need for them. The private ambulance company's can't handle the added work that the city creates. There's a reason why FD ambulances are in the rise in NY State. If you want to control the OT keep vacancies to a minimum and control time off that creates OT
Ok, so if this is the R's fault, explain to me why a D majority on the council since 08, failed to notice anything wrong with our finances? Carmzilla is a db, but at least she's speaking up
8:19
URBAN DICTIONARY:
demacrat --to kick yo ho in between her legs
Pat's really doing a great job. We may have been better off with Ed Manney.
Goodbye beluga
1:55 we have had enough of you firemen. We can't afford you and your toys. Minimum staffing is killing the Troy tax payer. Oh buy the way I was never on a list but I do live in Troy. I bet you don't. So now you and all your overpaid buddy's can start with your post about people stuck on roof tops and all your bullshit. Fear mongering and overpaid that's a bad combination.
9:59 c'mon now be honest. When you hear sirens you grab your little red plastic fire helmet and run around your back yard like a little kid.
Can you put your partisanship aside and give Pat some time? It's not as if he has much to work with given what he inherited. If Pat had an R next to his name you'd be singing his praises.
All this incompetence on the part of Abelove must be shared by the little chief ( Teddy). I hope the AG gets their text messages back and forth. That will show the two of them conspiring to try to wrestle this case away from the AG.
Gary you will never be Sheriff. You stole the tape and are getting arrested.
Arrested for what? What law did he break?
What has happened to the cop on suspension? I forget his name. No news in the papers lately.
A good cop goes down because of that douche Gordon. Nice
Sgt. Colaneri was suspended without pay on May 7th for 30 days, after which they either have to pay him or bring charges. Let's see what the DA does. If they can prove he leaked private info for political gain he should be charged criminally. If the DA acted without enough evidence, we could end up having to pay a salary for a police officer suspended with pay. I am sure though that everyone is confident that the DA made sure there was enough evidence before the suspension........
I don't think they have to show a leak for political gain, do they? What political gain did Colaneri receive?
Can't he be in trouble for simply using his official position for a wrongful purpose. Official misconduct?
I do not see what Gordon did that was legally wrong. I don't actually know what he did but if he just distributed a recording he received, didn't Brendon Lyons do the same thing? If anyone is in trouble it's Colaneri and/or the cop who forwarded the recording.
This will be a big nothing. Like the EPA investigation and voter fraud. Money and time spent and no results. They should investigate all the demolition Reeves and Harry ordered which lacked asbestos abatement procedures. Given the time frame the EPA is looking at, maybe they are.
Joel's our best DA since Trish. Who cares if he doesn't follow the rules. How can they DA know all the rules? He should just keep doing what he does. The County loves him. The people love him. Dare I say it, Governor Abelove?
I tried but couldn't keep a straight face.
@ 8:30, What? harry and Reeves? HG5YN.
Gordon drags everyone he gets involved with down!
The D A. Scandal started, when "Uncle Fester" farted, it all was just retarded, the RCGOP!!!!!
....Hull Cogan
Priceless
7:38 F-ing hilarious
7:38-- are you a Cox?
He said fart! LOL so funny.
Heh heh, he said "Cox"!
......Sandy Ravage
It's nice to see that The Jerky Boys are keeping busy even without a record deal.
.......Bat Manhattan
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