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At the close of yet another hearing on making restitution to her former employer, former Bergen resident Michele Ann Case made it clear how unhappy she is with HomeCare & Hospice, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman and The Batavian, accusing all of lying about her and defaming her good name.

Case called Friedman unethical. She said he had been duped by HomeCare & Hospice. Friedman, she also said, is just posturing for The Batavian, which she accused of libel.

"Then I want to go to jail and not pay any more restitution," Case told Judge Charles Zambito after Zambito warned her about her conduct. As she spoke, two deputies in the courtroom positioned themselves directly behind the chair she was sitting in.

She continued, "I don't want to see that man anymore," pointing at Friedman.

At the end of Case's rant, and before she could start again, Zambito adjourned the hearing.

Shortly after leaving the courtroom, Case emailed the following statement to The Batavian:

Please be advised that you have repeatedly printed lies about me on The Batavian and I hereby demand that you print an immediate retraction for your past 2 libelous posts. I also demand that you immediately cease & desist spreading falsehoods to the community I proudly served! Eventually, new evidence will exonerate me and implicate my former employer for falsely reporting a theft and insurance fraud and the DA will be brought up on ethics violations & prosecutor misconduct! 

Case has been in legal trouble in Genesee County since 2010 when she was accused of stealing more than $35,000 from an elderly patient. Those charges were eventually dismissed for reasons never officially disclosed by the court.

In 2011, she was accused of painting a mailbox that didn't belong to her, and later that year she was arrested and accused of bilking HomeCare & Hospice out of thousands of dollars by falsifying business records.

That case went to trial in 2012 and she was convicted by a jury but the conviction was overturned. An appeals court ruled that documents entered into evidence at trial were prejudicial and thereby denied Case her right to a fair trial.

Case was retried in 2014 and convicted again.

After the first conviction, a hearing was called to determine the amount of restitution Case owed HomeCare & Hospice and Judge Robert C. Noonan ruled that she would be required to pay $14,000.

Her attorney at the time tried to argue that restitution should be limited to the amount of money specified under the legal definition of third-degree grand larceny, which was $3,000.

Today, Case suggested that she has made restitution payments and that she owed no more than $2,500. It's not clear, but it appears Case believes The Batavian's prior reporting on the amount of restitution is libelous. Friedman said it was his impression that Case is claiming she's made sufficient payments to reduce the amount of restitution to $2,500. He said the court has been unable to confirm payments with officials in Niagara County, where Case now lives.

The issues currently in dispute about restitution, in this case, are whether Zambito has the authority to compel restitution and to set a payment schedule.

Since her second conviction, Case moved to Erie County and then Niagara County. Each time, her probation followed her into those counties. Public Defender Larry Ader, now representing Case -- though at the start of her rant in court this afternoon she told Zambito she was firing Ader -- said he believes that because Case was last on probation in Niagara County, and is no longer on probation. Ader maintains that only a Niagara County judge can issue a restitution order and that only the probation department in Niagara County can collect that restitution.

Zambito said he believes he has jurisdiction over restitution in this case and that he can order Genesee County Probation Department to collect the restitution.

Ader said it would be up to an appeals court to resolve the different views.

Prior to today, Case was supposed to supply a financial statement to help the court determine the amount of monthly payments, along with supporting documents. Friedman said the financial statement was delivered to his office late and that it only received any supporting documents 45 minutes prior to today's hearing. But with just a quick review of the documents, he said they appeared to be inadequate to support the financial statement.

According to Ader, Case hasn't been working while out on disability but should be cleared to work soon. In the meantime, her only source of income has been Social Security survivor benefits paid out on behalf of her 16-year-old child, who lives with her in Lockport. 

Friedman suggested a hearing might be needed so Case could be placed under oath to testify about her ability to make restitution payments. But after a conference with the Zambito and Ader at the bench, Zambito said he was going to order, for now, payments of $50 a month. That is the amount in the prior restitution order; they are to start at the beginning of the month.

Another hearing is scheduled 9:30 a.m., Jan. 7.

Previously:

• Bergen woman accused of stealing $35,000 from elderly woman's ...
• Police Beat: Alleged mailbox caper leads to charges in Bergen
• RN accused of creating inflated call claims to steal more than $14,000
• Grand Jury Report: Former employee accused of bilking her employer 
• Nurse convicted of falsifying pay records to steal money from her former employer
• Nurse who inflated claims to bilk employer of more than $14,000 gets four months in jail, probation
• Total amount of restitution still undecided for Bergen nurse who stole money from employer
• Amount of money nurse must repay former employer still unresolved
• Appeals court throws out conviction of woman accused of bilking employer out of $14K
• Former Bergen resident told second trial on fraud charges will be July 7
• Former nurse convicted for second time of stealing $14K from employer
• Former nurse from Bergen given probation following second conviction on grand larceny
• Restitution still pending in former nurse's seven-year-old theft case
• Restitution of $14K again delayed in case of former nurse who falsified business records

Police have yet to locate a person who was reportedly stabbed during an incident Monday night at 337 Ellicott St., Batavia; there has, however, been an arrest related to the case.

Rashawn L. Gosier, 40, of Shady Lane, Batavia, is charged with attempted assault, 3rd.

Chief Shawn Heubusch said Gosier is accused of attempting to assault another person at the same address during the same incident.

He said the police have only limited information on the stabbing victim, so have not been able to locate him.

Police responded to 337 Ellicott St. at 11:40 p.m. Monday to investigate a report of a fight. 

A subject, believed to be Gosier, fled the scene, where police located a stabbing victim and called for an ambulance. Officers then pursued the fleeing subject down Swan Street to the area of the railroad tracks.

While officers were busy trying to apprehend the person who fled, the stabbing victim left the scene.

Gosier, matching the description of the fleeing subject, was located a short time later in the basement of the incident location and he crawled out of a basement window (bottom photo).

He was taken into custody without further incident. After being taken to headquarters he was issued an appearance ticket on the attempted assault charge and ordered to appear in City Court at 1 p.m., Jan. 1.

If anybody has information that can assist in the investigation, they are asked to call Batavia PD at (585) 345-6350 or the confidential tip line at (585) 345-6370.

The Batavia Rotary Club carried on its annual pre-Christmas tradition Tuesday with a visit from Santa and players who will participate in the Club's annual basketball tournament at Genesee Community College after the New Year.

The tournament this year tip's off at 6 p.m., Jan. 2 with a game between Notre Dame and Wellsville followed by a 7:45 p.m. game between Batavia and Cal-Mum.

The consolation game will be Jan. 4 at 6 p.m. with the championship game at 7:45 p.m.

Attica will not participate in the tournament this year because the school's marching band is participating in a New Year's Day parade and members of the basketball team are traveling with the band and they may not back it back in time for the tournament. So Wellsville is playing this year but that team's players and coaches were unable to attend Tuesday's luncheon.

Meet the captains:

Santa's visit is filled mostly with gag gifts for Rotary members. This year he recognized three members who embodied "service above self" through their volunteer efforts.

Callie McCully, Notre Dame, Ryan Stefaniak, Batavia, and Baylee Miller, Cal-Mum.

City Church hosted its annual community Christmas party at St. Anthony's on Liberty Street, Batavia, last night, and gave away 33 bikes to children from the neighborhood.

They also handed out a ton of toys.

Numerous people donated bikes, toys, and money to the event, said Ryan Macdonald.

Photos by Mo Schoen.

We don't know if Sheriff William Sheron has been naughty or nice -- only Santa knows for sure -- but he sure had a lot of fun during Shop with a Cop at Walmart on Dec. 8. We previously shared a shot of Sheron standing on a shopping cart. This morning we obtained this picture of Sheron on Santa's lap in a photo taken by Trooper James O'Callahan.

Press release:

Providing students with authentic learning experiences is the goal of every career and technical education program. Students in the Conservation Program at the Batavia Career and Technical Education Center got just that opportunity when they constructed a kiosk for the Town of Bergen.

Despite the rainy, cold weather and muddy grounds, the Conservation students built a kiosk that has a roof, two benches and an information board. This project can be found in the Town of Bergen’s Drew’s Nature Center, located on West Sweden Road.

Ernest Haywood is the supervisor for the Town of Bergen. He contacted Jon Sanfratello, executive principal of the Batavia Campus, which includes the Batavia Career and Technical Education Center, to inquire about the possibility of constructing the kiosk.

“I thought the opportunity to build a kiosk for the nature center would foster the students understanding and appreciation of our natural resources as well as provide students a real-life experience to build something that would benefit the community for years to come,” Haywood said.

“It is my hope that the kiosk will provide information for community members to enhance their knowledge of what the Drew's Nature Center has to offer and directions and guidance to visitors on how to independently explore, at one’s own pace, the natural wonders of the center.”

Sanfratello echoed Haywood's thoughts.

“This project gave the students the opportunity to understand the importance of time management, and customer satisfaction all while using the skills learned in the classroom and shop," Sanfratello said. "They worked under some difficult weather conditions but they got the job done."

Jacob Vandenbosch is the Conservation Program instructor.

“The Conservation students were able to learn carpentry skills by creating a location for the community to enjoy the outdoors. As an added bonus, they learned the importance of giving back to the community,” Vandenbosch said. “We will also be exploring future class projects at the nature center and working alongside the town to improve the community’s experience."

Submitted photo: The Conservation a.m. session class with their completed project. Not in order of photo. Ali Mann, Peyton Armison, Andrew Clark, Chad Green, Evan Hands, Mitchell Humel, Dominic Ianni, Kristofer Kuszlyk, Breanna Mest, Adam Offen, Noah Pangrazio, Tristan Rasmussen, Kaitlyn Shultz, Alec Slepinski, Nathan Tabor, Hunter Wade, Tyler Will.

A reader submitted this video of a car fire this morning at Main And Oak streets, Batavia, in front of Oliver's Candies.

An accident with injuries is reported on West Main Street Road, east of Wortendyke Road, Batavia.

East Pembroke fire and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 4:19 p.m.: East Pembroke assignment is back in service.

Terry Thompson and Becky Marsh, of Mercy Flight/Mercy EMS, talk about a career as a paramedic to a group of 10th-graders from throughout the region as part of the 10th Grade Career Day at Genesee Community College, sponsored by Batavia and Mount Morris CTE.

Throughout the morning, students rotated among a couple of dozen classrooms led by speakers from the local community representing various career fields including environmental science, cosmetology, educational administration, media and communications, the military, border protection, and nursing, among other fields.

More than 450 students from GLOW along with Steuben County participated.

Chris Suozzi, vice president of business development, Genesee County Economic Development Center, was the keynote speaker to kick things off in the morning.

The Attica Blue Devils beat the Oakfield-Alabama Hornets in a game played at O-A on Monday night, 58-48.

Travis Wiedrich scored 17 points for the Hornets and Joey Bordick scored 13.

For Attica, Devon Henderson scored 18 points. Frankie Bisceglie scored 14.

CORRECTION: In our story on the upcoming Lions' Tournament, we incorrectly referred to Coach Ryan Stehlar as a first-year coach. He is in his sixth year coaching the Hornets. We apologize for the error.

To purchase prints, click here.

AP: Federal court says NY ban on nunchucks unconstitutional

An ambulance is requested to Swan and Ellicott for a subject with stab wounds.

Police are on scene.

A few minutes before there was a reported of an individual saying he was going to kill somebody and an officer was chasing a black male, bald, in a blue jacket.

Multiple police units are in the area.

UPDATE 12:04 a.m.: One person is in custody.

UPDATE 1 a.m.: The apparent stabbing victim left the scene with another individual while police chased a person they believe was the suspect in the stabbing. The possible suspect ran through the neighborhood but managed to return to the residence where the alleged stabbing took place and went into the basement. He was then spotted crawling out of a basement window (see second picture) and taken into custody. He has not yet been charged with a crime because the alleged victim was not available to interview by the time he was taken into custody. He was taken back to the station for questioning. The stabbing victim, as of 12:30 a.m., hadn't shown up at UMMC but he may be from Rochester and may have tried going to a Rochester-area hospital. There's no information available on how serious the wounds might be. There were no other suspects, no other people taken into custody, and no other injuries reported either to civilians or police.

A retired Army general who was born in Batavia, attended Notre Dame High School, and was nominated by the late Rep. Barber Conable to attend West Point, has been accused by his grown daughter of sexual abuse that started when she was a toddler and continued into her high school years.

The Army attempted to court-martial Maj. Gen. James J. Grazioplene, 69, who retired in 2005, last year. But a judge ruled the statute of limitations had run out under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, even though there was otherwise enough evidence to prosecute Grazioplene.

While Grazioplene avoided a court-martial, civilian authorities took up the investigation and Grazioplene was arrested Dec. 7 following an indictment by a grand jury in Prince William County, Va., on multiple counts of rape and incest.

Jennifer M. Elmore, 47, a Virginia resident, told the Washington Post, which broke the story, her earliest memory of sexual abuse was when she was 3 years old and at her grandmother's house in Le Roy.

The military's investigation focused on events from 1983 to 1989. Virginia authorities concentrated on events in 1988 and 1989, when the family lived in Woodbridge, Va., where Elmore attended high school in her junior year.

According to the Post, Grazioplene has denied the charges, telling a reporter in September, “The charges are false and incorrect." Grazioplene and his attorney have declined to comment on the case otherwise.

Like many news organizations, the Post does not typically reveal the names of victims in sexual crimes but Elmore told the Post she wanted to go public.

According to the Post, reporters interviewed Elmore, other family members, including Grazioplene 's sister, coworkers, and reviewed letters, all of which corroborated some of Elmore's version of events.

Elmore said she's been estranged from her parents for years and her parents have tried to bridge the gap. She decided to tell the military about the alleged abuse in 2015 after a phone call where her parents apparently again tried to talk her into being part of the family again and her father said, according to Elmore, that “the only thing worse that I could have done to you is murder you.”

Grazioplene was nominated to West Point by Conable in 1967. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the academy in 1971. His LinkedIn profile says he is currently CEO at Mission Readiness LLC. He's also worked for Total Life Cycle Support and DynCorp. International.

Press release:

Members of the Byron-Bergen Central School District’s learning community can always be counted on to provide assistance to neighbors in need during the holidays. For many years, district students, teachers, staff, and administrators have worked together with local partners to make the season happier for everyone in the Byron-Bergen area. This year’s Holiday Community Service program collected toys and games, clothing items, rolls of wrapping paper, boxes for wrapping gifts, and over 2,000 non-perishable food items. In addition, close to $4,000 was donated by the faculty, staff, and others in our learning community to purchase gifts for district families in need. Many area businesses also helped out by “adopting” local families and individuals, providing special holiday gifts.

The District partnered with the local Hesperus Lodge No. 837 Free & Accepted Masons, where donated food items were taken for sorting and packing. Organized by Dick Sands, Carol and David Coffta, and the Masons; employees from both the Byron-Bergen Elementary and Jr./Sr. High Schools, Board of Education members, and community volunteers pitched in to help. More school volunteers helped to deliver over 100 food baskets and gifts before the holidays.

“The magic of this special season is the community spirit it inspires in so many of us,” said District Superintendent Mickey Edwards. “I am so proud of the generosity shown by all of the members of our learning community.”

A big part of the program’s success this year was the contribution made by the Varsity Club Holiday Food Drive. Student-athletes from the high school pulled together to collect more than 950 food items—a record amount. The food drive was organized by Varsity Club student officers, combined with hard work provided by the girls and boys basketball teams and the swim team. Team members pooled their competitive spirit to make the challenge more fun: it became a contest, won by the girls basketball team who collected almost 400 items. Varsity team members from all three seasons of sports at Byron-Bergen perform community service throughout the school year, with projects like the annual Lift-a-thon, the Retro Apparel Sale, and the spring Blood Drive. 

Top photo: Volunteers from the Byron-Bergen learning community packed over 100 food baskets and delivered them during the weekend of December 15. 

Students in Ann Marie Starowitz's class at St. Joe's performed a Christmas story play today for the third week of Advent that included students narrating the story of the birth of Jesus and singing Christmas songs for their fellow students.

Photos by Howard Owens. Bottom photo by Ann Marie Starowitz.

A police officer did not violate the rights of a sex offender when he sent a text message to the suspect's mobile phone upon his arrest to confirm the defendant had used the phone to exchange messages with his victim, and unknowingly, with police, an NYS appeals court has ruled.

Patrick M. Hackett, 44 at the time of his arrest, was accused in May 2013 of having sexual intercourse with a teenage girl in Batavia. He was later indicted on a single count of rape, 3rd, for being more than 21 years old and having sexual intercourse with a partner who was less than 17 years of age.

Hacket was convicted by a jury Nov. 13, 2014, and later appealed the use of his text messages as evidence against him, which was instrumental in his conviction.

"Although there is a lack of medical, scientific, or other physical evidence of the crime, the jury saw incriminating text messages from (the) defendant to the victim in which he admitted that he engaged in sexual intercourse with her and professed his love to her," the justices of the Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department, wrote in their decision. "In addition, (the) defendant’s trial testimony in which he denied having sexual intercourse with the victim was not credible inasmuch as he provided the jury with improbable explanations for the incriminating text messages."

The charge against Hackett arose after his victim reported the sexual intercourse to police. She cooperated in the investigation and agreed to send Hackett a text message. Once he responded, a police officer used her phone to exchange a series of text messages with Hacket.

When the officer arrested Hackett, the officer used his mobile phone to send a text message to Hackett's phone. Hackett's phone either vibrated or made a noise and the officer could observe that his text message had arrived at the phone. At that time, the officer did not open the phone and view the text messages. A search warrant was later obtained.

In his appeal, Hackett said the text messages should not have been admissible at trial because the officer's actions at the time of arrest, he said, constituted an illegal search and seizure.

Hackett's appeal relied on a 2014 case, Riley v. California. Riley, a Supreme Court ruling, determined that a search warrant, based on probable cause, is required for police to search a suspect's mobile phone.

The appeals court ruled that the Riley case does not prohibit officers from sending text messages to the defendant and making observations of the defendant's phone and that the court in Riley found that officers can observe physical aspects of the phone.

Further, the text message sent by the officer was not part of the police officer's application later for a warrant to search the phone and there was sufficient probable cause to obtain the warrant.

The court also ruled that Hackett received competent representation from his defense attorney at trial, who was successful in suppressing some evidence the prosecution tried to enter into the record.

It also did not violate Hackett's right to a fair trial by allowing testimony about Hackett providing his victim with alcohol prior to their sexual contact, even though he was not indicted on that "bad act." The court ruled the incident helped complete the narrative of events leading up to the crime on the night in question. The court ruled the exclusion of this information would not have changed the outcome of the trial given the overwhelming evidence of Hackett's guilt. Testimony about the drinking, the court ruled, was "harmless."

At the time of his arrest, Hackett was already a registered sex offender. He was convicted in 1993 in Cattaraugus County of kidnapping and rape in the first degree.

On his local conviction, he was sentenced to three and a half year to four years in prison. He is scheduled to be released in November.

Press release:

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced $4,639,000 in federal funding for six water infrastructure improvement projects across the Rochester-Finger Lakes Region. The funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development’s Water and Waste Disposal Loans and Grants Program.

Specifically, Schumer and Gillibrand explained, the Town of Alabama in Genesee County will receive: $1,653,000 to create Water District #2 and the Town of Bethany in Genesee County will receive $722,000 to create Water District #4.

The Town of Clarendon in Orleans County will receive $790,000 to create Water District #13 and an additional $790,000 to improve the water improvement benefit area #12, and the Town of Torrey in Yates County will receive $684,000 to create Water District 1, the first municipal water system to serve this area.

“These federal investments in job-creating and economy-boosting water infrastructure projects are great news for the Rochester-Finger Lakes region,” Schumer said. “This federal funding will allow five towns across the region to construct and make critical improvements to municipal water systems needed to provide clean, safe drinking water to their communities.

"I am proud to announce these federal investments and will continue fighting to ensure rural communities across Upstate New York have the resources they need to build, protect and maintain their water infrastructure.”

“All New Yorkers should have access to a reliable source of clean water, and with these grants, communities throughout the Rochester-Finger Lakes region will be able to expand and improve their water systems,” Gillibrand said.

“These investments will help provide safe and clean water for residents in the towns of Alabama, Bethany, Clarendon and Torrey, and I will always fight in the Senate for the resources to protect the health and quality of life for residents.”

Press release:

Le Roy Police Department’s first "Stuff the Cruiser" event this past weekend was a huge success.

On Dec. 16th, Le Roy police along with volunteers from Le Roy Rotary Early Act were stationed outside of Tops Market in Le Roy for the event.

Community members and local business owners donated enough food to fill five police cruisers, totaling almost 3,000 nonperishable food items. In addition to food, gifts cards and cash donations were also received.

All donated items will be distributed to local families in need this holiday season.

Le Roy police would like to thank Tops Market, Le Roy Rotary, Le Roy schools and all of the community and business owners who provided generous donations!

Le Roy police also partnered with Le Roy schools and Dunkin’ Donuts on Saturday, Dec. 15th, where 60 toys were donated, which will be distributed within the community by Le Roy schools.