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A mistrial? What a waste
Well, that was a waste of everyone’s money, time and energy.
After months of pre-trial work and five days of testimony, Judge Andrew Ceresia declared a mistrial in the attempted murder trial of Ariel Myers, who stands accused of shooting Bob Guynup once in the head in front of his Griswald Heights apartment on Sept. 19, 2009.
Tuesday, defense attorney Greg Cholakis told the judge that he represented at least two of the DA’s witnesses in unrelated manners and as such there was no way he could properly defend Myers. Ceresia, who was none too happy, had no choice but to declare a mistrial.
Cholakis was quick to blame the office of District Attorney Rich McNally for not providing him with the witness list and other obligatory information in a timely manner, a criticism most defense attorneys have had of DA’s at one time or another.
And McNally, who said the witness list was turned over just prior to jury selection, was just as quick to blame Cholakis for not telling anyone about the conflict saying Cholakis’s actions were either “stupid or sabotage.”
If you remember, the two were in a hotly contested race for DA in 2007 with McNally edging out Cholakis by just 225 votes, 19,586 to 19,361. Funny, how throughout the campaign they were more than cordial and in this space we even said they were being too nice to each other. Looks like those sentiments have changed.
We’re not lawyers so we’re not sure who’s at fault (if it matters, from what we've read and heard, Cholakis was getting the upper hand before it came to a screeching halt) but the whole thing is just a waste.
Cholakis works for the Public Defender’s Office so we paid his salary. We obviously paid Assistant District Attorney Keith Muse and we paid the judge, the guards, the stenographer and more than a few witnesses. That’s not to mention the hundreds if not thousands of hours spent by the police during their investigation.
And, since there will be another trial probably in September we are paying to keep Meyers in the Rensselaer County jail.
A small price compared to the Guynup family, who have yet to have any justice, and the Meyers family, because Ariel is still innocent and will spend another four months in jail waiting to see if a jury thinks differently.
Jim Franco
Jfranco@troyrecord.com
After months of pre-trial work and five days of testimony, Judge Andrew Ceresia declared a mistrial in the attempted murder trial of Ariel Myers, who stands accused of shooting Bob Guynup once in the head in front of his Griswald Heights apartment on Sept. 19, 2009.
Tuesday, defense attorney Greg Cholakis told the judge that he represented at least two of the DA’s witnesses in unrelated manners and as such there was no way he could properly defend Myers. Ceresia, who was none too happy, had no choice but to declare a mistrial.
Cholakis was quick to blame the office of District Attorney Rich McNally for not providing him with the witness list and other obligatory information in a timely manner, a criticism most defense attorneys have had of DA’s at one time or another.
And McNally, who said the witness list was turned over just prior to jury selection, was just as quick to blame Cholakis for not telling anyone about the conflict saying Cholakis’s actions were either “stupid or sabotage.”
If you remember, the two were in a hotly contested race for DA in 2007 with McNally edging out Cholakis by just 225 votes, 19,586 to 19,361. Funny, how throughout the campaign they were more than cordial and in this space we even said they were being too nice to each other. Looks like those sentiments have changed.
We’re not lawyers so we’re not sure who’s at fault (if it matters, from what we've read and heard, Cholakis was getting the upper hand before it came to a screeching halt) but the whole thing is just a waste.
Cholakis works for the Public Defender’s Office so we paid his salary. We obviously paid Assistant District Attorney Keith Muse and we paid the judge, the guards, the stenographer and more than a few witnesses. That’s not to mention the hundreds if not thousands of hours spent by the police during their investigation.
And, since there will be another trial probably in September we are paying to keep Meyers in the Rensselaer County jail.
A small price compared to the Guynup family, who have yet to have any justice, and the Meyers family, because Ariel is still innocent and will spend another four months in jail waiting to see if a jury thinks differently.
Jim Franco
Jfranco@troyrecord.com
posted by Talespin at
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
20 Comments:
Cholakis got the witness list a over a week ago and he makes the motion now? Sounds fishy and deliberate. Someone should look into the ethics of this. As you point out Jim, this has cost the taxpayers some SERIOUS MOOLAH!
Waste of tax payers money,Cholakis knew he should pay dearly for putting Bob's wife through this again!
I love the cluelessness on these blogs.....as soon as Cholakis saw the witness list he disclosed his conflict to the court. At best, the DAs office is sloppy and $tupid for not putting 2 + 2 together (a simple check of the witnesses' police record would have shown the conflict). And at worst, the DA was keeping it's witness list from Cholakis and used it when Cholakis & his client were well on their way to acquital. As for Cholakis' legal skills, McNally nor any of his underlings couldn't shine Cholakis' shoes......give me a break!
And by the way, did I mention Judge Andy Ceresia is clueless too? Between McNally & Ceresia, Rensselaer County is paying for 2 ineffective and unskilled legal minds.....great! Remember, murders now go free in RenssCo!
Murderers have ben going free for the past Ten years in Rens. County between conflicts in the TPD and the incompetence in the DAs office.
Mr. Cholakis should be disbarred for this reckless behavior. He admits to receiving the witness list “prior” to jury selection. He obviously read the list to assure there were no surprises on the list and thus,
clearly read the names of those who created this conflict. Mr. Cholakis should have notified the Court immediately after he read the list. At that point, the Judge would have dismissed the potential jurors and re-scheduled the trial.
This reckless conduct by Mr. Cholakis was an effort to “use” the system and this case to provide him with high profile exposure so he may begin his attack on the DA in preparation for a rematch in the 2011 election. I suggest the Judge refer this matter to the “committee of professional conduct” at the New York State Bar and allow that committee to opine on this matter. The Judge has the authority to refer this matter and this will be the only way to prevent this kind of reckless behavior from continuing through the next election.
To the Judge - refer this matter to the committee- this will deter others from similar behavior in your court room. Set the bar high, we taxpayers deserve this!
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Censure Cholakis immediately! This is no time to waste taxpayer $!!
Some of these comments are personal and unrelated to the article, The Record should remove the inappropriate comments.
Just read this blog for the first time. It's sad to see the hatred and misinformation printed here. A man lies injured in his home, which is the greatest tragedy of all. From my readings of the newspaper accounts of the trial, the DA did not have a case and was very possibly prosecuting an innocent man - we may never know. No physical evidence, and shaky witnesses at best. It would appear that rather wanting to lose a very public trial, they chose to pull more witnesses that may have been represented by the past by the Public Defenders office. This office is a public service to protect ALL of us and ensure due process of law.
It's a shame people are so cruel here and can't work to improve the process, rather than the hate and vitriol.
Joe Ahearn for DA... How ignorant you are thinking my post was written by Mr. Cholakis! He probably doesn't even waste his time reading this garbage. You want to know who wrote it, post your phone number here and I'd be happy to call and let you know. I am a citizen of Rensselaer County and many times within my professional career, I have worked with many DA's and Public Defenders as an expert. I have worked with both offices and know how each is run. So yes, I think Mr. Cholakis is one of the best and it is a F^&^ing JOKE you think my posting was his!
It's sad to think that Troy P.D. can hand this or any other prosecutors office their typical incompetent, incomplete investigation and the political monkey business is all that is seen or discussed. Where were the police when this poor man was repeatedly calling for help? Who is doing the investigation into that atrocity? Certainly not Troy P.D. they are much to busy at awards banquets patting themselves on their pitiful backs or building memorials. And the editors of the TROY RECORD are telling the world Troy P.D. is the best police department in the area. WAKE UP every case they prepare is and will be a loser.
Wow - this is really crazy to me. It's about innocent or guilt. Both their jobs are to represent and do the best that they can with what they have. I don’t think that if you are a professional that you should be carrying on the way you have Mr. Ahearn…. Do you know how that just made you look? I have so much love for Judge Cholakis and respect for her. It isn’t about either one of them. It’s about 2 people one who almost lost his life and one who is accused of almost taking it. I do believe that justice will be served and if he is truly guilty he will pay and if not the person that committed this crime will come to surface or later on suffer for what he’s done. So I think out of respect for both families, this should be about them not about the legal system that we all know isn’t right and has never been.
To: Greg Cholakis, Rich McNally, Judge Ceresia, Keith Muse: From: Joe Ahearn: I did not post anything to this site this morning. Greg has been a friend of mine since the early 90's and I would never post criticism of him, the DA, the Judge or anyone else to a blog. I don't even read this non-sense...The only reason I found out about these posts is because I received several calls and texts while in court this morning. Everyone needs to grow up and post messages in their own name with their contact information. Let's have some accountability. The simple fact is that I have no direct knowledge of the underlying facts that caused the mistrial and, as a result, I have no idea who is at fault. I have done a few trials with Greg and he has always been very effective and well-prepared. To the person who posted the criticism; just try to act like an adult and post your true name or, at the very least, don't assume my identity or imply that you represent me...thanks, Joe Ahearn (272-6600) (jahearn24@yahoo.com)
Hey Mr. Franco - I thought the Troy Record didn't allow personal attacks on the comments section? You all need to do a better job of "policing" because the former Troy cop who wrote all the hate and vitriol above has NO clue what he is talking about and is just resorting to personal attacks.
Thank you,
Concerned Citizen and Troy Record reader
People,
Stay on the topic and stop the personal attacks, please.
Concerned Citizen and Troy Record reader is on the money. I don't want to have to approve every comment before it gets posted and I don't want to start banning IP addresses but I will if the personal attacks continue and/or people keep posting under different names.
Jim Franco
jfranco@troyrecord.com
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A strongly enforced CURFEW would have avoided all of this.
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