If necessary, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman will seek new grand jury indictments against a former Batavia resident who had his Genesee County convictions on sexual molestation charges thrown out by an appeals court.
In July 2014, after a jury trial, Sean A. Vickers, 47, was convicted of two counts of sodomy in the first degree, two counts of criminal sexual act in the first degree and sexual abuse in the first degree.
The appellate division of the Fourth Judicial Department threw out the first four convictions but left the 10th count of the amended indictment stand and ruled that the seven-year sentence imposed on that count was not unduly harsh.
The court ruled that because Vickers was originally indicted on counts of course of sexual conduct against a child and sexual predatory assault, those were the charges he should have been tried on, even though he consented to the amended indictment.
The court ruled a defendant cannot waive his right to be tried on the original indictment, citing prior case law.
The defendant has a "fundamental and nonwaivable right to be tried only on the crimes charged," the court said, citing the prior case, People v. Graves.
"An indictment may not be amended in any respect which changes the theory or theories of the prosecution as reflected in the evidence before the grand jury which filed it," the court said.
Then County Court Judge Robert Noonan sentenced Victors more than 100 years in state prison, a sentence that was later reduced by statute to 50 years.
The sentence was to be served concurrently with the 20 years Vickers received in Niagara County, so even though these four convictions were thrown out, Vickers remains in state prison.
At his sentencing, Friedman said he couldn't recall a child molestation case that was more disturbing.
"This case is the worst one I've ever had," Friedman said. "I've been in the criminal justice system for 40 years both as a prosecutor and a judge and I've never had anybody who has been prolific a predator as you have been Mr. Vickers."
Today, Friedman said he will seek permission to appeal this ruling, but if he can't, or the people don't prevail on appeal, he isn't done prosecuting Vickers.
"Ultimately, if needed, we will go before a grand jury with our four victims," Friedman said.
