CourtsCrilly found not guilty in bad blood feud with neighbor
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- Written by Josh Williams
GENESEO — Anthony Crilly was found not guilty by a jury on charges of trespassing and criminal mischief when it was alleged that he trespassed on a neighbor's property and broke a surveillance camera with a pole.
The saga of bad blood between two Woodbine Park neighbors hit epic levels last fall when Crilly called police to complain about a video camera that was installed at his neighbors house, Donna Welch. According to testimony during the trial, Crilly thought that the camera was pointing into his bedroom and complained to police. The police showed up and spoke to the two sparring neighbors, but left without filing charges. The police were quickly called back to the street when Welch complained about Crilly's destruction of property and trespassing.
According to trial testimony, after the police left the initial call Welch was sitting inside her home when she heard a loud bang. She went to check on her back porch and found nothing out of the normal. She then went down into her basement, where the surveillance cameras were feeding to a live monitor. Welch then stated under oath that she saw, through the live monitor, Crilly walking back and forth on her property with a long pole back. The live monitor was not recording. She did have a camera recording still images but those were inconclusive.
"The evidence that you heard simply does not establish any of the elements of these offenses," said David Pilato, Crilly's defense attorney, during closing arguments. "It's pretty clear this is a case like the Hatsfields and McCoys. It's a shame that we are here, but it happened."
After allegedly watching Crilly on her property Welch grabbed her dogs, went outside, saw that the new camera, just installed that day, was gone, and called the police. The damaged camera was later found on the ground. Crilly was then arrested and charged with trespass and criminal mischief. Despite the not guilty verdict, Crilly still has pending charges regarding the matter.
"A crime doesn't have to be captured on a camera in order to have a conviction." said Scott Woodruff, Assistant District Attorney. "if property [the camera] is laying useless on the ground, the loss of it's usefulness qualifies as damage."
Geneseo village Justice Thomas Bushnell, the presiding judge, read the jury verdict outloud to the court room, where a handful of friends and neighbors sat in support of Welch.
"We are very pleased with the verdict." said Pilato, outside of court alongside his client, after the proceedings. .
Angry sex offender arrested in Geneseo, flips out in court
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GENESEO — A convicted sex offender was arrested in Geneseo after allegedly going ballistic on an employee at Byrne Dairy and then flipping out while being arraigned at the Geneseo Village court.
Richard Pollock, 37, was in Geneseo working as a roofer, when the allegedly already intoxicated felon went to purchase more booze at Byrne Dairy. A Byrne employee says that when Pollock was turned away, he then went into a rage. He continued his rage when police showed up, and eventually had a spit bag placed over his head by authorities.
Pollock was charged with DWI, harassment, consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle, non-transparent windows, no front license plate, and criminal contempt.
Pollock continued his outbursts in court where he yelled numerous profanities and directed threats directed at the Village Justice, and disrupted the court proceedings.
Village Justice Thomas Bushnell remanded Pollock to the Livingston County jail and set bail at $2,500 cash/ $5,000 bond.
Geneseo Man Faces Felony After Police Find Handgun in Rental Car
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- Written by Bryan Jackson
GENESEO – Sheriff John M. York advises the arrest of Erich N. Avedisian, 48, of Geneseo. The investigation was initiated after a local rental car agency reported to police that a handgun was located in a returned vehicle.
Through the investigation, police found Avedisian's wife returned the car not realizing her husband had a handgun in the vehicle. Police then learned Avedisian did not have a pistol permit and was not allowed to own the gun due to a prior conviction anyway.
Avedisian was charged today with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a class-D felony. Avedisian was arraigned before Justice Bushnell in the Village of Geneseo. He was released and will appear back in court at a later date.
Officer Piedmonte and Officer Szczesniak of Geneseo Police Department and Investigator Thomas Dougherty of the Sheriff's Office handled the investigation.
Wampler takes a plea deal, rape charges dismissed
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- Written by Josh Williams
LIVINGSTON COUNTY — Convicted drug dealer David Wampler, 40, agreed to a plea deal that will send him to state prison for nine years after all rape charges have been dropped.
Wampler, who was originally charged with 21 counts, pled guilty to eight drug charges in a deal that spares him a potential sentence of 30 years.
Wampler's lawyer, Kevin Van Allen from Cannon and Van Allen, had his original 21 counts separated into two different trials--one to handle the drug charges and another to handle the rape charges. Earlier in March, Wampler was found guilty by a jury of selling drugs to minors. He was tried in abstentia after jumping bail and fleeing to Texas.
"The amount of time Mr. Wampler spends in jail now depends on his actions while incarcerated," said Van Allen. "If he is a model prisoner and work-release eligible, he could serve half of this sentence."
In addition to the sentence, Wampler will spend two years on parole, pay a crime victims fee, have his DNA registered in a data bank and have $17,500 from his bail revoked to cover his extradition costs.
The rape trial was set to start next week, according to Victor Rowcliffe from the District Attorney's office. The plea deal spares the victims of coming to court and testifying about their experience.
"The driving force behind the plea deal is not having the victim relive the horror by testifying in a trial," said Rowcliffe.
"He was a threat to the community while he was living in Lakeville. Now that he has been removed from the community, we have done our job and protected the community the best we can." said Rowcliffe.
Acquittal in Bizarre Trial of Sex, Drugs and a Hostage Situation
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LIVINGSTON COUNTY — Sex, drugs, and a hostage situation were all pieces of a bizarre Livonia High School Reunion last summer. The ensuing legal drama came to a conclusion this week after the County Court trial of James Woodruff, 40, who was accused of forcible touching, breaking and entering, and numerous other offenses.
Woodruff was found not guilty on all 8 charges by Judge Dennis Cohen after a whacky two-day trial in which details emerged that make the season finale of Melrose Place seem G-rated.
The trouble started for Woodruff, who lives in Springwater, when a scheduled reunion on Conesus Lake spun out of control after he became incredibly intoxicated and extremely annoying to other members of the party and was asked to leave.
"My client is guilty of being a drunken a**hole [sic]. He’s NOT guilty of these charges," said defense attorney Greg McCaffrey in his opening statements.
According to court testimony Woodruff’s evening began when he was picked up by his then galpal who would end the evening as one of his two accusers. The party host and eventual second accuser was a woman friend of the first victim, who had flown in from California to host the evening’s festivities.
Accuser number 2, the hostess, testified that she became seriously annoyed with Woodruff after the Parrot Bay Rum he was swilling from the bottle started to kick in and he began making aggressive sexual comments towards other females at the party.
Woodruff at first refused to leave but after some coaxing left the party with a buddy, David Crego – who is currently in a relationship with Accuser number 2 and wanted on an arrest warrant. The two left the party and somehow made their way to a drug house in Rochester.
Upon his return, in the wee hours of the morning, Woodruff walked into the home and went upstairs to the bedroom where the women slept together. But as the two days’ sometimes contradictory testimony came out in court, it became clear that exactly how that came about, and what happened from the start of the party to the finish, was anything but clear.
Outside of court after the not guilty verdict, a relieved Woodruff claimed he was in a blackout for much of that time. "I came out of the blackout in the city sitting in a truck. Crego was in a drug house, and I had no idea how I got there.”
According to Assistant District Attorney Lindsay Quintilone, Woodruff somehow got a ride from someone inside the drug house back to the cottage where the party had been, leaving Crego there where he was being held hostage for money owed on consumed drugs.
When he arrived back at the cottage, Woodruff went upstairs to the room where the two friends were sleeping, in one bed, and climbed in. He allegedly began “hooking up” with Accuser number 2 while his galpal, Accuser number 1, was passed out next to them.
When Accuser number 1, awoke, Accuser number 2 promptly darted outside looking for Crego, who was apparently being held at the drug house in need of $1,000 for the drugs he’d consumed.
After Accuser number 2 left the room, Woodruff then tried to hook-up with his original date, Accuser number 1, but she was pretty irate at the whole situation. The two left and she dropped him off at his Springwater home, hoping that would be the end of it.
After Accuser number 2, the host of the party, drove to the city to spring Crego from the drug house, she then returned to the cottage. After thinking over the events she decided that she had been violated, and called the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office to file a report.
The Livingston County District Attorney's office then charged Woodruff with 8 counts including sex abuse in the first, and sex abuse in the third on both victims, as well as criminal trespass.
The two alleged victims contradicted each other on direct examination and cross examination during the trial. In addition, another witness who used the nearby upstairs bathroom during all of the alleged assaults said she heard or saw nothing that appeared forcible.
Judge Dennis Cohen immediately returned a "not guilty" verdict on all counts after both lawyers concluded their closing arguments.
Woodruff, after being asked outside court what he thought the moral of the story was, said "Watch what you do and who your friends are.” He took a parting shot at the County legal authorities. "I think its ridiculous that the District Attorney's office trumped up these charges against me."
UPDATE: 04/2712, The orginal version incorrectly reported Mr. Crego's first name, The correct name is David Crego.
