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Men accused of burglary on Maple Street waive rights to pre-trial hearings

By Howard B. Owens

Two men accused of burglarizing a Maple Street apartment while the resident sits in jail appeared in Batavia City Court on Tuesday and waived their right for a pre-trial hearing.

The waiver means the case will be sent to the grand jury for possible indictment, but also paves the way for a possible plea deal and one of the suspects indicated in court that he is expecting a possible plea bargain.

Both Eric P. Doleman, 41, no permanent address, and Frederick H. Robidoux Jr., 49, no permanent address. are charged with burglary, 2nd.

Doleman, top photo, was also charged Tuesday with criminal mischief, 3rd, and petit larceny.

Doleman is accused of breaking a window on a 2010 Kia on Dec. 13 parked at Tops Market and stealing a laptop computer.

Robidoux is also charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

The duo was stopped on Walnut Street early in the morning Dec. 29 after a Maple Street resident reported seeing the men carrying items from an apartment at 10 Maple St., Batavia.

The resident of the apartment, Edward R. Freida, is being held in Genesee County jail without bail on drug and weapon charges.

When Doleman's case was called, after he was charged with the Dec. 13 car break-in, Judge Robert Balbick asked Doleman if he agreed to waive a pre-trial hearing. Doleman appeared confused and said he thought the two cases would be combined as part of a plea deal. He kept turning his head toward the back of the room where District Attorney Lawrence Friedman was standing.

After the hearing, Friedman said he couldn't comment on whether or not a plea deal is in the works.

Both Doleman and Robidoux are being held in Genesee County Jail without bail.

Doug Yeomans

The best place for them is in jail/prison. Please keep them there. Considering the fact that both of them have already been to prison, why should they get any plea deals at all?

Doleman has been in prison twice. Once for CRIM POSS STOLEN PROP 4TH E and once for GRAND LARCENY - AUTO 4TH E. He will obviously keep on victimizing other people if he's set free. It's how he is and it's what he does.

Robidoux has been to prison for SODOMY 3RD E .

Robidoux and Doleman went to a residence with the intention of breaking in and stealing property and they're being offered a plea bargain? I just don't understand that.

Jan 3, 2012, 10:48pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

We've discussed this before -- juries are unpredictable.

Remember Casey Anthony? She sure as hell seemed guilty, but a jury didn't agree. Or how about OJ?

It didn't go over well locally when Ron Smith was acquitted:

http://thebatavian.com/howard-owens/breaking-jury-finds-ronald-smith-no…

And this not guilty verdict surprised a lot of people:

http://thebatavian.com/blogs/howard-owens/jury-finds-scott-doll-not-gui…

(Since these people were found not guilty, I'm not saying as a matter of fact that they committed the crimes they were accused of, just using them as examples of people where a perception was widespread of their guilt, but a jury didn't agree, and you can be sure in all three cases, the prosecutors were quite convinced of the defendants guilt.)

There's no guarantees in a criminal trial, but there is a guarantee in a plea bargain.

Also, both of these men have assigned council, which means if they went to trial, you and I would be paying the bill for their defense, and for their prosecution. Trials are a lot more expensive than plea deals.

DAs don't do plea bargains to be nice. They do them because they are the quickest, most reliable, least expensive way to lock up people they believe committed crimes.

Jan 3, 2012, 11:44pm Permalink
John Woodworth JR

Welcome to our soft judicial system. This has several contributing factors such as;

Juries focus and worry on how their decision will affect the suspect's life rather than facts. Not saying all but, I have met several people who did not convict someone because, it would negatively impact the individual's life.

Prisons are so, overcrowded that lesser crimes are often forgiven to avoid further chaos.

Lawyers will delay so long, that it forces a cost consuming agenda to assist in an acquisition of a plea deal.

Society believes we can change ones way if, we give them another chance. This is true for a very few cases but, the majority just keep returning because, they cannot coop with society.

Jan 4, 2012, 10:46am Permalink
Doug Yeomans

Hmm...just have to hope that the judge can and will impose a sentence that fits the crime and of being repeat offenders. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Jan 4, 2012, 11:18am Permalink
Howard B. Owens

Pretty much everything is governed by sentencing guidelines.

Burglary 2nd is a Class C felony.

The way I read the sentencing guidelines, for a second violent felony offender, a Class C Felony must be at least seven years in prison and not more than 15 years. Assuming that's right, my best guess is the plea will probably be for a determinate sentence within that range. Noonan can impose something longer or shorter than the plea, but if longer then the defendant can possibly appeal.

That's just a guess. I'm not an attorney. I just play one in comments on the web.

Jan 4, 2012, 12:55pm Permalink

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