Michelle Ann Case, whose criminal case goes back to 2011, still owes her former employer, HomeCare & Hospice, in the neighborhood of $14,000 but her restitution has yet to be placed on a payment plan by a judge and such a plan was delayed again in County Court this morning.
The 50-year-old Case has been through two trials, convicted twice but the first conviction was overturned on appeal.
This morning Judge Charles Zambito ordered Case to prepare a financial affidavit to help him determine appropriate monthly payments and set a hearing for 9:45 a.m., Dec. 18.
Meanwhile, Public Defender Jerry Ader, representing Case, is challenging Zambito's jurisdiction to order restitution payments.
Because Case has moved a couple of times since her jury trial conviction in July 2016 her probation was transferred to Erie County and then to Niagara County.
She is no longer on probation.
Ader contends that since she was last on probation in Niagara County, the county court in Niagara County has jurisdiction over restitution. He said there is no legal mechanism to transfer jurisdiction back to a court in Genesee County.
District Attorney Lawrence Friedman disagrees. He argued that legal precedent doesn't cover jurisdiction over restitution just other matters related to probation.
Ader said he will prepare a written memo for Zambito on his interpretation of legal precedent for Zambito to consider prior to the Dec. 18 hearing.
Case was convicted of falsifying business records in order to increase her compensation from HomeCare & Hospice. She said the inaccurate records were not her fault.
