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At least one of the six jurors who found Scott Doll not guilty of promoting prison contraband earlier this week is pretty certain Doll did, in fact, transport a balloon of crushed aspirin into the Genesee County Jail.

The proof, however, just wasn't there, she said.

Doll was accused of bringing the aspirin into the jail in violation of law following his conviction of murder for killing Pembroke resident Joseph Benaquist. 

Corrections officers testified to finding Doll in a holding cell on May 20 covered in white powder, with white powder on a sink, the floor and the bed, along with a green balloon sitting on the bed.

The juror -- whom we agreed to identify only as Juror #2 -- called The Batavian today because she was bothered by a statement from Sheriff Gary Maha about the verdict.

"Who knows, maybe they felt sorry for him because he's been convicted of murder and they thought, 'what's this silly little charge?'" Maha told The Batavian.

Nothing could be further from the truth, said Juror #2.

While the juror said she agrees with Maha that it makes no sense to believe anybody with the jail staff gave Doll the aspirin, she just didn't feel the case was made that Doll had the aspirin on his body when he entered the jail.

How it got there, she doesn't know, and Doll is the most likely culprit, but she just couldn't vote to convict him on the available evidence.

"We’re not saying there isn’t anybody who didn’t do their job," the juror said. "We’re not saying that at all. There was just no proof that he brought it in."

She said she was bothered by the fact that the prosecution did not offer the balloon into evidence, that there was no DNA evidence that might show Doll "stuck the balloon up his bum" or no photos were shown to put in perspective how much white powder was found in the jail cell.

The description of the amount of white powder found in the cell, Juror #2 said, left the impression that the amount of aspirin must have made the balloon "the size of a baseball."

She just didn't see how Doll could have hidden a balloon that size on his body and have it go undiscovered through three pat down searches.

The first vote, by secret written ballot, was 5-1 for acquittal. The one juror who favored guilty then asked the other jurors to explain their reasoning. After a short discussion, another vote was taken and "not guilty" was the unanimous decision.

Juror #2 said as far as she's concerned, it never crossed anybody's mine to let Doll off out of some sort of sympathy or that the case seemed too trival to bother with compared to his murder conviction.

"We took the case very serious," she said.

She also admitted that when she was first seated on the jury, she was sure Doll was guilty.

"You just don’t know," she said. "Things totally change when you are sitting in the jury box and you’re listening to all the evidence and you’re listen to all that testimony and you’re like, ‘wait a minute, I didn’t think of that.’"

Sure there's a free speech consideration, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman said when discussing the arrest of local Democrat activist Chris Charvella on a charge of aggravated harassment, 2nd.

But the statute he's charged under has nothing to do with the content of the phone message Charvella left for Republican Legislator Jay Grasso.

The statute is about making a phone call "for no legitimate purpose other than to harass or annoy," Friedman said.

The content of the message matters only in helping to establish intent, and intent is a matter, ultimately, only a judge or jury can decide.

"That's always true," Friedman said.

Critics of Charvella's arrest have expressed concern that the 30-year-old Batavia resident won't get a fair hearing in Genesee County because of his political affiliation.

Friedman, a Republican, said politics plays no part of it.

"I've been in this job 29 years and I challenge anyone to say politics has played a part in my decision making," Friedman said.

The case is being handled by one of Friedman's five assistant attorneys, and as is often the case, he said he isn't personally involved. Friedman said how the case is handled is entirely up to Assistant District Attorney Kevin Finnell.

Because of the jurisdiction of the case -- a town court, where ADAs handle the caseload -- and the nature of the charges, it's a case that he does not routinely follow.

"I don’t intend to get personally involved in this case, so my political affiliation is irrelevant," Friedman said. "My political affiliation is always irrelevant. I don’t look at anybody’s politics when I get involved in a case, neither the victims nor the defendants nor the witnesses nor anybody else."

He added, "I don't get involved just because a case is in the media."

Friedman said he hasn't read the case file and only knows about Charvella's arrest from what he's read in media reports. 

For previous coverage of Charvella's arrest for allegedly harassing Grasso, click here.

Photo: File photo.

Officials at UMMC  have requested the fire department to go to 127 North St., Batavia, to investigate the smell of chemicals on the second floor of the building.

UPDATE 11:36 a.m.: Tim Yaeger, emergeny services coordinator, is on scene to assist city fire. We've heard no other updates. There's no indication from radio traffic that this is a serious situation.

UPDATE 1:14 p.m.: City fire units which responded are back in service.

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While the acquittal of Scott Doll on a promoting prison contraband charge is surprising, said Sheriff Gary Maha, he remains confident that it was Doll who brought a balloon filled with aspirin into the Genesee County Jail on May 20.

"You never know what goes on in a jury's mind," said Maha. "Who knows, maybe they felt sorry for him because he's been convicted of murder and they thought, 'what's this silly little charge?'"

The implication of the defense was that a member of the Sheriff's staff provided Doll with the powdered aspirin. It's a notion that Maha rejects, saying that all of the officers who came into contact with Doll the day he was convicted of killing Joseph Benaquist are professionals who know the regulations.

"We might have to look at the particulars and do some review," Maha said. "We might need to remind our guys to do a more thorough search of incoming inmates."

The initial report released by the Sheriff's Office said that Doll had the green balloon of white powder concealed on his body. But the only evidence introduced at trial was that the first time anybody saw a balloon was when it was sitting on a holding cell bed and Doll was already covered in white powder with more on the floor and the sink.

Maha said he was told from the beginning that the balloon was found on Scott Doll. He said he would ask his investigators about the discrepancy.

He doesn't believe, however, that any policies or procedures need to be changed. The fact that Doll wasn't convicted is more a matter, he indicted, that defense attorney Dan Killelea did a good job of creating reasonable doubt.

Maha agreed with Assistant District Attorney Robert Zickl's closing argument that if any department official was going to give Doll aspirin, why crush it up first? Why not just hand him a bunch of tablets?

"There's no possible way one of our guys gave it to him," Maha said. "That's totally ridiculous. I think he (Killelea) probably wanted to create doubt.

"As far as I know," Maha added, "we did everything right. It should have been a slam-dunk."

Inset photo: File photo of Sheriff Gary Maha.

A light pole is reportedly down at Ellicott and Court streets, Downtown Batavia.

UPDATE 3:27 p.m.: It looks like age and wind did this pole in. City crews are on scene getting it removed.

One person suffered minor injuries in an accident Saturday at the intersection of Park Road and Veterans Memorial Drive.

The apparent cause of the accident was one driver pulling out from a stop sign who did not see the other car approaching.

Aaron N. Holley, 16, a passenger in the second vehicle, was transported to UMMC for a report of pain.

The driver of the first vehicle, D.C. Chamberlain, 16, of Route 20A, Perry, was cited for alleged failure to yield.

The driver of the second vehicle was Allen Peters, 31, of Durham Street, Rochester.

Holley was the only reported injury.

The accident occurred at 7:32 p.m.

(initial report)

This fine group of people are residents at 400 Towers. They came out today for a little lunchtime talk about The Batavian. They asked a few questions and talked about how they get their news. Bea McManis, in the back row with The Batavian sweatshirt on, organized the event and said very nice things about the site, its news and its readers.

It is reported that traffic lights are out on Vine, Summit and Ross at the Main Street intersection. Power is also out in that area.

A utility pole is also arcing, but is not a hazard, at Summit and Washington.

National Grid has been notified.

UPDATE 11:42 a.m.: National Grid reports 274 customers on the north and south sides of Main Street are without power.

There was a two-car accident at the corner of Main and Jackson, Batavia, this morning.

One person was taken to UMMC, as a precaution, with a complaint of chest pain.

There is a disabled school bus partially blocking traffic in a westbound lane of Main Street near Oak Street.

Police are on scene and a tow truck is on its way.

A student pilot apparently forgot to put down the landing gear on his plane today leading to an unintentional crash landing at the Genesee County Airport this afternoon.

While the crash, reported at 12:17 p.m., caused an estimated $40,000 damage to a 2004 Cessna, there were no injuries, fire or fuel spill.

The student pilot, according to a Sheriff's Office release, was 66-year-old Michael E. Pearson, of Pittsford.

His instructor was Robert J. Roberts, 35, of Rochester.

The student and instructor were doing "touch-and-go" training at the airport this afternoon at the time of the accident.

The plane skidded 546 feet down the runway.

The investigation is continuing, conducted by Deputy Lonnie Nati and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Assisting at the scene were Genesee County Emergency Services, Town of Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS.

(initial report)

A jury of six Batavia residents took only about five minutes to reach a not guilty verdict in the promoting prison contraband trial of Scott F. Doll.

Assistant District Attorney Robert Zickl had little to say after the trial.

"I guess I don’t have a reaction," Zickl said. "This is divided up. Everybody has different jobs to do. They have their job, I have mine. Everybody does their job and this is where we wind up."

Doll's attorney, Dan Killelea, said Scott insisted from the beginning that he was not guilty.

"I think his faith in the jury system was very shaken by his conviction in the murder trial," said Killelea, who helped defend Doll in May against charges that he killed retired corrections officer Joseph Benaquist.

"I’m hoping, I’m really hoping, this restores some of his faith in the system, because it’s a system I believe in. I think it’s the best system we have, though it’s not perfect."

He also praised Zickl for putting on a thorough case and presenting a strong closing argument.

"Bob Zickl did, I believe, a tremendous job," Killelea said. "I thought his closing argument was outstanding. He had me worried. He gave the jurors a lot to work with if they were going to go that way. I hope I was able to point out some holes in the case and I’m hoping that’s what they hung their hat on."

As for the implication that a specific corrections officer supplied the aspirin to Doll, Killelea said it wasn't his intention to draw a bead on a specific individual.

"I think in light of the circumstantial nature of the prosecution’s case, I don’t think the facts led to only one conclusion -- that he was guilty -- and I’m hopeful the jury agreed with me and found reasonable doubt in other legitimate conclusions that could have been reached," Killelea said.

Doll, dressed in a prison-supplied pair of tan slacks and white shirt, showed no apparent reaction to the verdict.

Today's coverage:

• No proof Doll brought contraband into jail, defense contends
• Doll's attorney suggests corrections officer at jail was source of aspirin

In closing arguments in the Scott Doll prison contraband case, the key question attorneys for both sides wrangled over is who brought powdered aspirin into the Genesee County Jail.

Defense Attorney Dan Killelea made the suggestion that the aspirin was given to Doll by a corrections officer at the jail.

Repeating a phrase Doll reportedly used when speaking "officer to officer" with Corrections Officer Vincent Maurer about his state of mind after trying to ingest the aspirin, Doll reportedly said to Maurer, "an officer gave it to me."

After the aspirin was discovered by Maurer, Killelea suggested, jail officials had no choice but to prosecute him for promoting prison contraband.

"Who’s going to step up (and say) they just gave aspirin to a guy just was convicted of murder?" Killelea said. "Who is going to fess up to showing some humanity, some professional courtesy?"

Assistant District Attorney Robert Zickl said that suggestion made no sense and wasn't supported by the evidence.

This is not "Law and Order Batavia," Zickl said, adding that conspiracy theories belong on TV, where they’re entertaining, but they’re not reality. Zickl said this case is reality.

"If you are a senior corrections officer are you going to risk your career by giving the defendant aspirin ground up in a balloon?" Zickl said. "If you did that, why would you say you've got to go upstairs to check on something and let somebody else watch the defendant? Why wouldn’t you stay there and watch him ingest it?"

Zickl argued that if a corrections officer wanted to give Doll aspirin, why grind it up, why not just give him a few tablets?

The evidence -- the balloon, the white powder all over the jail cell and on Doll's face -- is more consistent with the behavior of an intoxicated, despondent person who carried the alleged contraband into the jail himself.

Killelea questioned why the balloon wasn't introduced as evidence, why it wasn't tested for fingerprints or DNA. He argued that to produce the amount of white powder observed by officers, a pretty large balloon would be needed, and a balloon that size would be difficult to hide through three pat down searches.

There is no evidence, Zickl argued, that the balloon was giant. He said 20 ground-up pills could produce a good deal of powder and easily be concealed by an experienced former corrections officer who would know how to hide something not easily found in a standard pat down search.

After arguments, with the jury out of the courtroom, Killelea objected to Zickl's closing argument, saying that Zickl repeatedly made reference to the aspirin being in the balloon at one time. He said no evidence was introduced to prove the balloon ever contained aspirin, or that there even was a balloon.

Judge Robert Balbick is just completing instructions to the jurors, who will begin deliberations shortly.

A plane is reportedly "down on the runway" at the Genesee County Airport.

It left the terminal and went off the runway. There are no injuries and only minor damage to the plane. There is no fuel leakage.

The Town of Batavia Fire Department is responding. Mercy EMS was called, then cancelled.

UPDATE (12:25 p.m.): The airport has been temporarily shut down while the incident is being investigated.

UPDATE (12:35 p.m.): An investigator from the Federal Aviation Administration is en route. Pictures are being taken at the scene. Then the plane will be towed away and the airport reopened.

UPDATE (1:31 p.m.): The airplane has been stabilized and is being removed from the airport runway now. The airport is to be reopened shortly. The FAA investigator is on scene. Town of Batavia fire units are put back in service.

There's no proof that Scott Doll carried a green balloon into the Genesee County Jail on May 20.

That's the assertion made by defense attorney Dan Killelea in an opening statement this morning in Doll's trial for allegedly introducing contraband into jail following his murder conviction.

Doll was allegedly found in a holding cell about to drink from a cup with a mixture of water and a white powdery substance.

Sgt. Greg Walker transported Doll from the courthouse, and then came back to the jail to investigate the alleged incident in the holding cell. He testified that when he looked into the holding cell, there was a white powdery substance trailing from the sink, to the floor and onto the bed.

The green balloon was laying empty on the bed.

It turned out that the white powder was aspirin.

Walker testified that he did a brief pat down search of Doll in the holding cell at the Genesee County Courthouse and found only a couple of coins in Doll's pocket, which he allowed him to keep.

The sargeant testified that Deputy Vincent Maurer also conducted a search of Doll upon his arrival at the jail.

At that time, Maurer felt something unusual along Doll's pant leg and took Doll into a holding cell for a more thorough search. Nothing was found.

Walker also testified that he arrived at the courthouse as the same time Doll was dropped off at the front door and held the door for him to enter the building.

Doll appeared intoxicated, Walker said. He could smell alcohol on his breath and he was staggering and swaying a bit.

UPDATE 12:16 p.m.: Maurer testifies that Doll told him an "officer" gave him the white powder and he didn't know what it was.

"I told him it was my birthday and I didn’t want to see him hurt himself on my birthday and have that be my memory," Maurer said. "He said it was nothing against me. I'm trying to take the edge off -- some officer gave it to me."

Maurer added that Doll said, "You don’t know what I’m going through. I’ve lost my family. I’ve lost 25 years of my career. I’ve lost everything. Officer to officer."

When Doll arrived, prior to the alleged white powder incident, Maurer observed that Doll appeared despondent and intoxicated. He recommended Doll be placed under constant supervision, but that constant supervision -- which involves an officer sitting outside his cell and logging everything he does -- would not begin until after he was fully processed.

Maurer said a document that says he should be on constant watch while in the holding cell is a typo, that he should have gone on constant watch after processing was completed.

Maurer also testified that nobody was in the holding cell prior to Doll entering and that he didn't see a balloon or white powder in the room.

As for the pat search when Doll first arrived, Maurer said when patting his pant leg, "I felt something funny" and asked him to go into a holding cell for a more thorough search. Doll was asked to drop his pants and nothing unusual was found. At that point, he said he thought that maybe he only felt the seam of Doll's pants previously.

UPDATE 12:52 p.m.: Batavia City Court Judge Robert Balbick rules that Assistant District Attorney Robert Zickl could have asked his question during his initial direct examination, after Wolf had been qualified as an expert witness. Since that didn't happen, Killelea's objection is sustained.

UPDATE 12:56 p.m.: Lunch break. Prosecution will rest after lunch. The defense will not call any witnesses.

The Tony Award-winning rock opera "RENT" ran on Broadway for 5,124 performances and now a group of local actors are working on putting together a Batavia production that will run Jan. 13-16.

With the cast deep into rehearsals, they received a special visit at Batavia Middle School on Monday evening -- Gwen Stewart, one of the original cast members of "RENT" on Broadway stopped by for a visit.

After a short rehearsal, Stewart hopped onto the edge of the stage and talked about the importance and message of RENT, which dealt with what was a very controversial issue at the time -- AIDS.

She said because of advances in treatment, AIDS isn't the death sentence that it was when "RENT" opened in 1980, but the message of dealing with medical hardships is still relevant.

A couple of cast members mentioned that they had seen Stewart perform in "RENT," either on Broadway or in Rochester.

The local production of "RENT" is being staged by WNY Arts Society. For a complete cast list, click here. The director is Ashley Bateman, pictured above on the left with Stewart.

Scott F. Doll is back in Batavia this afternoon, dressed in tan slacks and a new, white, unironed shirt, listening to attorneys question prospective jurors in his newest criminal case.

Doll allegedly tried to smuggle a white powdery substance into the Genesee County Jail on May 20, the day he was convicted by a jury of murdering 66-year-old Joseph Benaquist in February 2009.

It turned out the substance, reportedly stashed in a purple balloon concealed on his body, was nothing more than aspirin.

But even aspirin can't be brought into a jail without permission.

Currently, Doll is living in Fallsburg at the Sullivan Correctional Facility.

Sullivan is an all male, maximum-security prison just north of New York City.

Doll is serving a 15-years-to-life sentence.

Dan Killelea, part of Doll's legal team for the murder trial, is representing Doll in the alleged "promoting prison contraband" case.

More than 30 prospective jurors crowded into Batavia City Court at 1 p.m.

A jury for a misdemeanor allegation in city court is comprised of six people with only one or two alternatives. The number of challenges each attorney can make is reduced to three, so jury selection shouldn't last past this afternoon.

The trial is on the docket for Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.

A 15-year-old girl reported missing by Batavia Police on Friday has been found and reunited with her family.

Det. Rich Schauf said no criminal activity is suspected in her disappearance but did not release further details.

A former corrections officer who admitted to workers compensation fraud will spend a couple of more months in jail before serving five months of probation, but the stiffest penalty he may face is paying back the nearly $38,000 he still owes the state.

James S. Gibbs has completed two months in county jail and will serve another two months before being released on probation, Judge Robert C. Noonan ruled today.

In May, Gibbs admitted to charges of grand larceny and attempted workers compensation fraud. He also agreed to more than $40,000 in restitution, with $20,000 payable before his sentencing.

Since then he's allegedly violated the terms of his presentencing release by getting arrested in Monroe County on a possession of a controlled substance charge, and he's been through a divorce in which the couple lost their home.

Rather than a $20,000 payment, Gibbs has paid only $3,003.13.

Over the five years of his probation, his attorney Thomas Burns noted, paying back nearly $38,000 would work out to more than $600 per month, which Burns said seemed like a steep amount to expect Gibbs to pay back (among other expenses, Gibbs must pay child support). He asked for payments of $175 per month.

Even District Attorney Lawrence Friedman acknowledged that asking Gibbs to pay back the full amount in five years was a tall order.

"We ask that you set whatever maximum amount you deem appropriate," Friedman said.

Noonan noted that Gibbs was a good wage earner before his arrest, even in his side job -- driveway paving. He set the monthly payment at $200 per month and ordered that restitution be reviewed next summer.

For previous coverage, click here.