batavia

In an audit of New York's five regional off-track betting operations, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli warned that OTB wagering has dropped precipitously over the past five years, threatening the viability of the OTBs.

Western OTB comes off a little better in DiNapoli's audit, primarily because the gains in video slot operations are more than offsetting the declines in horse wagering (full Western OTB report (pdf)).

Western OTB Corporate and Branch Operations has experienced a 10-percent ($15.6 million) decline in net handle (total amount bet) over the past five years. And through May 2009, its net handle was down over $5 million compared to the same time the previous year. In addition, live racing and inter-track wagering at Batavia Downs were down 7.6 percent in 2008 from the prior year and have decreased 25 percent since 2005.

However, the corporation’s new video-gaming facility has generated additional revenue for the OTB. As a result, operating revenues increased to more than $21 million in 2008 compared to nearly $17.6 million in 2004, a 19-percent hike. These increases have significantly affected revenue distributions to local governments, which have grown from almost $3.9 million in 2004 to more than $4.9 million in 2008.

In the report on Western OTB, DiNapoli expresses concern that VTL gaming could level off or decline, depending on the economy or changing competitive issues.

The Buffalo News received a written response from OTB President Martin Basinait, who said WOTB is "somewhat more optimistic."

But he said a number of changes can be made in state law to make the OTBs more competitive, such as changing the formula by which revenues are shared with tracks.

Basinait noted other past warnings from the state comptroller's office, including a 2005 report that found the OTB did not properly plan for the possibility of failure of Batavia Downs and the casino. He said the success of the casino has shown it was "not due to happenstance."

Basinait said DiNapoli's red flags about the future economic health of the OTB's casino are "unwarranted."

Law enforcement is responding to 112 State St., where reportedly five individuals with baseball bats and pipes entered the residence.

At least one person is on the floor requiring medical assistance.

The people with baseball bats and pipes may still be in the area.

One person was struck with a pipe and another person is having a seizure.

Mercy EMS is being dispatched, but the scene is not yet secure.

Now, they're reporting the victims are at 5 Lewis Place.

A third victim is now reported on Hutchins Place.

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BATAVIA, NY -- Following a conviction for murder, 2nd, by a jury of 12 honest Genesee County residents today, Corfu resident Scott Franklin Doll, 48, is facing a possible state prison sentence of at least 15 years to life for beating to death Joseph Benaquist, 66, on Feb. 16, 2009.

"How do you find the defendant, Scott F. Doll, charged with murder in the second degree, guilty or not guilty?" a court clerk asked the woman appointed as jury foreperson. The woman answered "Guilty," and people on both sides of the aisle in the courtroom let out  gasps.

At least two women sitting on the defense side began to cry and sob immediately, with at least one person rushing from the courtroom in tears.

Judge Robert C. Noonan set July 2 as the sentencing date and Doll, who came to court in a pressed blue suit, stood motionless as the verdict was declared. He displayed no emotion as he was escorted from the courtroom by deputies to a holding cell in the courthouse.

His attorney, Paul Cambria, met with him privately for about 20 minutes after the verdict and said later that Doll's first words were, “I’m an innocent man and I’ve just been convicted of a crime."

Cambria said there will definitely be an appeal.

"We have a very strong issue on appeal that we intend to pursue," Cambria said. "I’m going to look forward to this conviction being reversed and for us to retry this case at another time."

Cambria's main point of appeal, he said, is the continued questioning by investigators after Doll repeatedly asked to speak to an attorney.

"New York State has the strongest right-to-counsel law probably of all 50 states," Cambria said. 

Doll asked for an attorney very soon after being confronted by Sheriff's Deputies on North Lake Road on Feb. 16. 

In pre-trial motions, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman argued that under what is known as the "emergency doctrine" -- when investigators believe they must get information from a person in order to save a life -- they can continue to question a suspect who has asked for an attorney.

Cambria will likely challenge the use of statements by Doll against him at trial, especially, perhaps, those made after Benaquist's body was found and the emergency doctrine might no longer at issue.

Both Friedman and Sheriff Gary Maha were clearly pleased with the outcome, stating that the right verdict was reached.

"We just hoped the jury would see the truth and see past the defense that was raised," Friedman said. "We are very pleased with the outcome."

Maha said there was never any doubt in his mind that Doll was the killer.

"He lied from the beginning," Maha said. "There was no way he was telling the truth in his testimony. Based on what I saw at the scene, the amount of blood, there is no way he could explain that without being involved."

Maha characterized Cambria's closing argument as fabrications and speculation.

"There is no evidence there at all," Maha said. "I think the jury saw through that and concentrated on the evidence and came out with the right verdict."

Friedman, in his closing argument, called Cambria's defense theories, "speculation." Cambria said after the verdict today that he found Friedman's characterization ironic.

"They (the prosecution) do that all the time (claim "speculation")," Cambria said. "That’s a standard argument that is made. It’s interesting that when that argument was made, the District Attorney then went into all of these various scenarios that no one testified about and we thought, ‘Where’s the speculation coming from?’ Talking about people under cars and the jacks and there wasn’t any of that  evidence in the case."

What the case came down to, Friedman said, was Doll's motivation kill Joseph Benaquist.

"As I said in my opening and my closing, it was all about cars and money," Friedman said. "I still believe that’s the case. Whether this was a premeditated murder for those reasons or whether there was an argument that led to this happening, I firmly believe that’s what it was about."

Even though he isn't happy with the verdict, Cambria -- who has had an unshakable faith in Doll's innocence for 15 months -- said he still believes in the system.

"I have never criticized the system," Cambria said. "I believe in the system. I obviously think the verdict was the wrong one. I can’t recall a case that I’ve had that had as many reasonable doubts as this case had."

Joe Benaquist's stepsons, John and Josh Garcia, said they felt it was nice to see the system work.

"It doesn't bring our dad back," John said, "but it does bring a little closure."

Joe's girlfriend, Judy Scott, said, "My heart goes out to Scott's family. They don't deserve this. They seem like a good family."

She declined further comment.

Friedman credited volunteer firefighter James Waff with making the key difference in the case.

"Right from the start of this case, having a citizen call in a suspicious person walking down the road and doing the right thing  -- look what it led to," Friedman said. "I’m not sure how this case would have turned out if that person had not made that phone call to the Sheriff’s department."

Photos: Top, Lawrence Friedman; first inset, Sheriff Gary Maha; second inset, Paul Cambria; Bottom, Cambria and Daniel Killelea exit the Genesee County Courtroom to meet with the media.

BATAVIA, NY -- A jury of 12 Genesee County residents has found Scott F. Doll guilty of murder, 2nd.

The jury began deliberations around 2 p.m., Wednesday and took a recess at 5 p.m. The jury returned to deliberations at 9 a.m. and notified Judge Robert C. Noonan that it reached a verdict just before 4 p.m.

MORE TK

Submitted by Laura Russell Ricci:

On Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 GCASA honored winners from schools throughout Genesee County at our Annual Poster Contest. Pictured are our winners: Caitlin Napper, Aidan Berne, Aiden Sisson, Gemma Bochicchio, Stephanie Hoy,  Jacob Cryer, Laura Winspear, Austin Hynes-Fisher, Michael Shepard and Grand  Prize winner Sarah Scott. Our other winners not pictured are Nathan Moore and  Olivia Marchese. Congratulations to all of the students!

This weekend, the Batavia Players will bring to the stage a much-loved play by one of Britain's wittiest writers: "The Importance of Being Earnest," which is among Oscar Wilde's best-known works. The satire is centered around the mistaken identities of best friends Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff after both assume the name "Ernest" for their own romantic advantages, and it backfires in a surprising plot twist.

"I like his literature," says director Justin Soble of Wilde. "He's famous for comedies in which he satirizes society. And I like British comedy. It's kind of my acting niche. So when the chance came up to direct it, I jumped." 

This is Soble's first time directing, although he is no stranger to the stage. This will mark his 20th theater production, many of which have been with the Batavia Players.

His first directing experience hasn't exactly been a perfectly smooth one, as several weeks ago the show experienced a surprising plot twist of its own: a change in venue. "Earnest" had been scheduled as the first show to be performed in the Batavia Players' new black box theater on Harvester Avenue, but the theater wasn't finished on time. The new venue is John Kennedy School.

"It's definitely different because a black box has three sides, and a proscenium setup only has one," explains Soble. "It was going to be the perfect size. But we realized two weeks ago that we weren't going to be able to do it there, and we started coming here last week. It's very different."

Charles Smith (pictured above with Katelyn Rogers), who has the role of Jack, says that although it "took a couple rehearsals to switch over," overall it is "easier to do the proscenium style because people rarely do black box."

Smith, an 18-year-old Batavia homeschooled senior, is sharing the stage with his 16-year-old brother Matthew, who is playing Algernon. The two have appeared in numerous local theater productions, most of them being with Shakespeare in Springtime and Go Art! Summer Youth Theater. Both agree that they enjoy playing opposite each other onstage.

"It makes it a whole lot easier," says Matthew. "All the stuff we do all day, every day at home, we do onstage." 

What makes it even more natural is the similarity of their characters to their real life personalities.

"My character is very serious and reserved," says Charles. "He doesn't like to have fun."

"And I'm the opposite," adds Matthew.

"That's how it is in real life, too," explains Charles.

Performances will be at 7:30 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, at John Kennedy School, 166 Vine St. in Batavia. Tickets are $10 general admission and $8 for students and seniors. Tickets are available to purchase online at www.bataviaplayers.org, at the door, or by calling 1-866-967-8167.

Kathyrn D. Decker, 26, of 2250 River Road, Caledonia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and speeding. Decker was allegedly observed at 2:40 a.m., Thursday, by Sgt. Michael Hare of the Le Roy Police Department speeding on West Main Street in Le Roy.

Tiffany Marie Sheffer, 19, of Transit Road, Stafford, is charged with petit larceny. Sheffer is accused of stealing $66.95 in merchandise from Target. She was arrested at 3:45 p.m., Wednesday.

Alex Patrick Brasky, 19, of Clifton Avenue, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Brasky was charged following a traffic stop in the area of 301 Oak St., Batavia, by Deputy James Diehl at 11 p.m., May 12.

Aaron J. Horn, 35, of Fairport, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and aggravated unlicensed operation. Horn was arrested by State Police in Stafford at 9:50 a.m., Tuesday. He was jailed on cash bail. No further details available.

Michael C. Tunley, 39, of Bergen, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, motor vehicle registration suspended and aggravated unlicensed operation. Tunley was stopped by State Police at 3:05 p.m., Tuesday, on Route 33 in Stafford.

BATAVIA, NY -- On Wednesday, Paul Cambria, defense attorney for Scott Doll, and District Attorney Lawrence Friedman, presented their best arguments for guilt or innocence to a jury of 12 Genesee County residents.

Below are what they said about some of the key points and facts in the case.

Motivation
Cambria argued that the People were unable to make a solid case for Doll to have any motivation to kill Joseph Benaquist.

"No one family member ever came in to say there was a dispute between Joe and Scott," Cambria said. "Did anybody from Adesa come in and say ther ever saw Joe and Scott have a cross word? Did anybody from corrections come in and say there was ever a problem between these two? Did any friend or the girlfriend of Joe Benaquist come in and say there was a cross word between these two men? No. Because they were friends."

Friedman said Doll's financial difficulties led to him taking resale control of a Malibu that Benaquist once drove -- to the point, Friedman said, of forging Benaquist's signature on the title -- and Doll never transferred title to a Pontiac G6 to Benaquist.

"If it (the G6) is sold at auction, it's paid off and he gets to keep the (extra) cash for himself," Friedman said. "The title never went to Benaquist. The defendant had the ability to sell the G6 and keep the proceeds for himself."

Doll had debts as high as $28,000 and was working with a debt-resolution company. Cambria pointed out that if the company delivered on its promises to Doll, the debt would have been reduced to $15,000.

As for money owed on the G6, Cambria said, the only issue just prior to Feb. 16, 2009 -- the night Benaquist was killed -- was a $1,500 payment that was due, and that payment was made automatically that day from Doll's overdraft account at Adesa.

The payment wasn't an issue, Cambria said.

Friedman argued that Doll forged a signature on the title for the Chevy Malibu -- a forgery that if discovered could lead to his dismissal, just three months shy of retirement, from the Department of Corrections. Furthermore, Doll never applied a $10,000 payment from Benaquist to his credit account at the Adesa auction as he should have, thereby denying Benaquist the ability to take title of the Pontiac G6.

No Weapon
Law enforcement searched three times in the area of North Lake and Knapp roads for the weapon that might have been used to bludgeon Joseph Benaquist to death. The weapon was never found, Cambria argued.

It defies common sense, according to Cambria, that Doll would have disposed of the weapon, but not the blood-stained coveralls he was wearing, his bloody sneakers or the blood-soaked gloves he left on the hood of a car the night of the murder.

"There was no weapon found because the person who beat Joseph Benaquist took the weapon with him," Cambria said. "Common sense tells you that if you beat somebody up and beat them like this, would you stick around, would you be walking back to the scene if you had just beaten somebody to death, or would you be out of there and take the weapon with you?"

Cambria argued that it wasn't logical that Doll would dispose of a weapon, but not also ensure that his gloves, shoes and coveralls wouldn't also be hidden. He argued that it wouldn't make sense for Doll to dispose of the weapon, but then return to the murder scene with no gloves, which would mean he would leave behind fingerprints.

The lack of a weapon didn't trouble Friedman. There are any number of ways, and plenty of time, potentially, for Scott Doll to drive to any number of possible spots to get rid of the weapon. The defense wants jurors, Friedman argued, to jump to the assumption that Doll drove straight from finding his buddy dead to the location where his van was eventually found, but there is no evidence, Friedman argued, that Doll did that. He could have driven anywhere before heading to the corner of Main and North Lake roads to park the minivan.

No call to 9-1-1
When Scott Doll arrived at the murder scene, in his version of events, he rushed to his buddy's side.

Which brings up the question, according to Friedman: Why didn't he call 9-1-1?

Doll was a corrections officer. He had training in emergency situations.

His friend was obviously seriously wounded. Sure, he would rush to his side, Friedman argued, but a reasonable person would first call 9-1-1.

But there's no evidence that Doll ever made such a call.

Doll testified that after Benaquist died, he approached the Knapp Road house, found the door partially opened, and retreated in fear, going to the Main Road location in the Windstar.

Doll testified that he was trying to figure out what to do and that he figured he needed to do something.

Why not call 9-1-1?

Why not call when he first got to the scene, or why not as he drove away? Friedman noted that it wasn't until he was walking back to the scene on North Lake Road that the thought first came to Doll that his son might be involved.

So why not call 9-1-1 if Doll wasn't guilty and it hadn't yet occurred to him that his son might be involved?

This wasn't a point addressed directly in Cambria's closing remarks.

Evidence of a struggle
Cambria argued that the evidence shows a sign of a struggle, from the defensive wounds found on Benaquist's hands to the blood transfer stains on the Nissan Altima and the Pontiac G6.

If Benaquist fought for his life, why isn't there a scratch on Doll, Cambria argued. There were no wounds on Doll, his clothes were not torn and there wasn't much blood on his coveralls to suggest a struggle, Cambria sad.

"if you were involved in something like this, there would be something on you," Cambria said. "There would be a torn piece of clothing, a bruise, a cut, something, and of course, there's no evidence of that."

Friedman countered that there was no struggle because Benaquist was ambushed.

"There is absolutely no evidence that there was any kind of struggle," Friedman said. "There is no evidence Joe Benaquist fought with is attacker. This was a one-sided ambush, a vicious attack on a 66-year-old man by a man 20 years younger."

Cambria complained that nail clippings from Banaquist were not examined for DNA. Friedman said there was no DNA examine because there was no reason to believe the examine would yield any useful evidence.

Bloody Knees
Nobody disputes that the knees of Doll's coveralls were soaked in blood.

Cambria argues that there are only two ways Doll's knees could get so saturated with blood that it soaked through to his skin.

One is that Doll arrived after the attack and knelt down next to his dying friend, just in time to hear his dying words. The other is that Doll was on his knees while beating Benaquist.

The problem with the second explanation, according to Cambria, is that it would take Benaquist a long time to bleed out enough to create the pool of blood that would saturate the knees -- and what murderer would stick around that long on his knees.

And, if Doll did attack Benaquist and was on his knees to do it, there would be blood spatter on the back of the coveralls because of the required motion of the arm holding the blunt object used to beat Benaquist.

From Friedman's view point, there is nothing in evidence to support the assumption of the defense's expert witness that the attacker was on his knees while beating Benaquist. He also pointed out that Herb MacDonell testified that the absence of evidence doesn't mean there is evidence of absence. Meaning, just because you don't find something doesn't mean it should have been found.

Friedman's explanation for the bloody knees relies on an autopsy report that Benaquist was dragged across the driveway after the initial attack. There were scrapes on his back. Perhaps, Friedman argued, Doll dragged Benaquist from under the Altima over toward the G6.

Cambria took issue with the idea that Doll could be on his knees and drag a 220-pound man that far.

Expirated Blood vs. Impact Spatter
According to Friedman, the prosecution's bloodstain-spatter expert, Paul Kisch, said there was no expirated blood -- meaning blood breathed out through the mouth onto a surface -- on the coveralls worn by Scott Doll.

Kisch testified that all of the spatter came from an impact event.

The impact event, Friedman said, was a blunt object hitting Joseph Benaquist, causing spatter on both the coveralls and the Ford Windstar minivan Doll was driving.

Friedman drew a sharp comparison between Kisch and the defense bloodstain-pattern expert, Herbert MacDonell. Kisch studied all of the evidence and all of the reports. He wrote a written document detailing his findings. It was peered reviewed.

MacDonell, on the other hand, took no notes, wrote no report and didn't even physically examine the coveralls until the morning of his testimony.

But Cambria argued that was all the time MacDonell needed to look at the coveralls under his microscope and determine that the spatter on them was from clotted blood, meaning it could not have been blood produced at the time of the attack.

Cambria said MacDonell believed it was expirated blood and criticized the state's crime lab for not testing the spattered blood for saliva, which would better answer one way or another whether the spatter was expirated or from impact.

That test was unnecessary, Friedman argued, because the physical evidence, as Kisch testified, was clearly in favor of impact spatter. Kisch, unlike MacConell, actually read the medical examiner's report, which said there was no blood in the throat or mouth of Benaquist, and no significant amount of blood in the area of his mouth, meaning it was easy to rule out expirated blood.

Blood on the Windstar
According to Friedman, Kisch testified that the blood on the Ford Windstar Scott Doll was driving the evening of Feb. 16, 2009, was clearly impact spatter that came from an impact event in Benaquist's blood. That impact event, according to Friedman, was the blunt-force attack on Benaquist.

The impact spatter on the Windstar unequivocally places the Windstar at the scene of the attack, according to Friedman.

Cambria argued that his bloodstain-pattern expert said that it was impossible for spatter drops as small as those found on the Windstar to travel more than four or five feet. And photographic evidence showing Scott Doll's bloody footprint in the area where the Windstar would have been parked, was much further than four or five feet from the spot of the attack.

Also, Kisch testified that the spatter marks hit the back fender of the Windstar at a 90-degree angle. But Cambria showed a photograph of Benaquist's body behind the G6, with the Altima pulled slightly behind it. That would indicate that if the blood spatter from the attack could reach the Windstar at all, it wouldn't have done so at a 90-degree angle.

Cambria also argued that a spatter stain on the headlamp of the Windstar wasn't impact spatter, but clearly a transfer stain.

Friedman said that Herb MacDonell never offered any sort of explanation for how the blood got onto the Windstar.

Scott Doll's Statements
The statements Scott Doll made immediately after coming into contact with law enforcement the night of Feb. 16, 2009, were either the statements of a man trying to figure out what was going on and trying to buy time to figure it out, or they were the statements of a man trying to hide a crime and tacitly admitting his guilt.

If you believe the case put on by Paul Cambria, Doll said nothing that admits any degree of guilt.

On the other hand, Friedman argues that Doll's statements were A) cold and calculating, aimed to deceive law enforcement; B) demonstrate a changing version of the story, which is an indication of lying, and C) admissions of guilt.

When Doll was first stopped by law enforcement and asked about the blood on his coveralls, he said, "I butcher deer."

For Cambria, this shows Doll still wasn't aware he had fresh blood on his coveralls.

When a deputy asked Doll where he was going, he said a friend's house, and then gave directions that would lead away from Benaquist's house.

Friedman says this was an attempt to coldly deceive law enforcement.

Cambria says Doll was just trying to buy time.

Cambria complains that Doll repeatedly asked to speak with an attorney, and Friedman says that when a deputy asked, which attorney, Doll said his divorce attorney, but couldn't remember his name.

Doll, while shackled to the floor in the Sheriff's Office, tells a friend that "it's an open and shut case," and when asked if there was a body, he said, "I don't know that" (but clearly, even by his own testimony, he knew there was a body), and "I guess I'll get what I deserve."

To Friedman these are all statements of a guilty conscience.

Cambria says they are just statements of a man who wanted to talk to an attorney, was denied that request and was feeling the police already had him convicted.

Two Buffalo residents were arrested yesterday after they allegedly entered the Batavia JC Penney store with large garbage bags and tried to fill them with merchandise.

When approached by store employees, the couple reportedly dropped a bag stuffed with clothes, left the store, got into a van and drove away.

The incident was reported at 1:50 p.m.

A description of the van was provided to local law enforcement and it was reportedly stopped on Route 33 in Corfu by Corfu Police and State Police.

Taken into custody and turned over to Batavia Police were Milton J. Campbell, 51, of 825 Fillmore Ave., Buffalo, and Maria N. Manning, 39, of 102 Stevens St., Buffalo.

Campbell and Manning were jailed without bail.

Tonight, John Zola is relaxing for the first time in 30 years as a civilian.

The Alden/Buffalo-area native came to Genesee County more than three decades ago as a GCC student and never left.

“It was the place for me to be," Zola said. "It really was. It’s my adopted city, but it was the place for me to be. I blended in well. I worked here well. I think I helped the community."

Community is a key word to Zola's style of police work. I've only known him for a year or so, but I noticed he was a guy who never stood behind his badge, letting it become a barrier to talking with people and relating to them on a personal basis.

The newfangled term for that kind of police work is "community policing." To Zola, it was "old-time policing."

"I think you talk to people, you learn things about people," Zola said. "Everybody is different. Everybody’s situation is different. Getting to know the community and certain needs of different neighborhoods and different families, getting to know your community, that’s what it’s about. That’s what small-town policing is all about."

Eventually, Zola will be replaced by a rookie and I asked him if he had any advice for that rookie, and Zola said:

"Take it for it’s worth. Like I said, it’s small-town policing. It’s getting to know your community. Help the people you can and arrest the ones you have to and move on. Never, NEVER, take yourself too seriously. I mean you’re a human being first. You’re a parent, you’re a husband or a wife second. You’re a cop somewhere down the road there. Don’t walk around with that badge on your chest all the time. Don’t get a heavy badge. Treat people the way you would want to be treated."

He said it's important not to get bogged down by what he called "the 5-percenters," the minority of people who cause problems. It's important  to remember that "95 percent of the people you come into contact with in this job are fantastic people."

BATAVIA, NY -- Shortly after 5 p.m., Judge Robert C. Noonan gave the jurors in the Scott Doll murder trial what he called a "little history lesson."

Noonan said for his 20 years as a lawyer and the first five years as a judge, jurors who hadn't reached a verdict at the end of the day would be sent to a hotel, each with a room with no TV and their mobile phones would be taken away.

"We don't do that anymore," Noonan said.

He then proceeded to instruct the jurors to avoid all contact with any information or discussion about the case.

He said they are at a critical stage of the trial and there should be no outside influences on their thinking.

Before dismissing the jurors for the evening, there was no indication given as to how far along the jurors might be in their diliberations.

They were instructed to return at 9 a.m.

BATAVIA, NY -- Apply your common sense, jurors in the Scott Doll murder trial were told this morning.

That was the plea from Doll's attorney Paul Cambria and the message from District Attorney Lawrence Friedman.

But of course, the two experienced attorneys disagreed on where common sense would lead the jury.

For Cambria, it was toward acquittal and for Friedman it was toward conviction.

Around 2 this afternoon, after 45 minutes of instructions from Judge Robert C. Noonan, the 12 primary jurors were led to a private room where they are expected to deliberate in secret until they determine which trail of common sense leads to a verdict of guilt or innocence.

"I'm going to go through the evidence with you step-by-step," said Cambria to start his final presentation to the jury. "I'm going to show you that the evidence demonstrates, or fails to demonstrate, guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. I'm guided by common sense and I think common sense always rules the day ... I'm asking you to look at the case as reasonable people would look at it."

Friedman opened his closing argument by characterizing the defense case as "speculation."

"I will ask you to return a verdict based on facts," Friedman said.

As he wound up his remarks, Friedman referenced "Occam's razor," a rule of logic that postulates that the simplest explanation is often the right explanation.

"Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is not an invitation to abandon common sense," Friedman said. "Common sense will lead you to the correct answer. Common sense will answer the question, 'who did this?'"

NOTE: Assuming the jury doesn't come back with a verdict some time soon, I will write a more in depth story about the closing arguments tonight.

A 14-year-old Batavia girl who reported a possible abduction on Monday wasn't just fabricating a story to get out of doing her homework, or some other trivial reason.

The police are investigating what happened on Monday morning.

A release from the Batavia Police last night led to a report on The Batavian that said the girl involved was being investigated and the case might be turned over to the county attorney.

A police spokesman says the report was more artfully worded than that.

The key sentence in the report: "At this time, the cause of the report is being investigated, and once completed, will be referred to the Genesee County Attorney for any further appropriate action."

Det. Rich Schauf said this afternoon that the girl wasn't abducted, and "it wasn't a stranger."

He said she's a 14-year-old girl dealing with something she didn't know how to deal with. He said the police could not release right now any further details.

A car is on fire in front of the City of Batavia Police Department at 10 W. Main St. Officers are being dispatched to control traffic.

City firefighters are responding.

(Note: This version, with more information and details, replaces a story published earler today.)

BATAVIA, NY -- "Joe Benaquist was my friend," Scott F. Doll said today during testimony in his own murder trial.

The statement came after Defense Attorney Paul Cambria asked if Doll -- who claims to have been with Benaquist when he took his last breath -- had ever seen anybody die before. Doll said, yes, a family member. He then began to tear up.

As Doll fought back the tears, Cambria asked, "Did you kill Joseph Benaquist?"

Struggling not to cry, Doll said, "No. I did not."

Cambria took a step from the podium and quietly said to District Attorney Lawrence Friedman, "your witness."

The 48-year-old Doll is charged with murder, 2nd. He's accused of beating Joseph Benaquist to death in the driveway of Benaquist's Pembroke home the evening of Feb. 16, 2009.

At 9:25, Tuesday morning, Doll took the stand in his own defense, and by the time he stepped down at 12:12 p.m. he had been asked a range of questions from Cambria and Friedman that covered his background, finances, car deals with Benaquist and his version of events from the night of the murder.

Background
Scott F. Doll was employed at the Wende Correctional Facility as a supervisor in the Special Needs unit, which is a segregated portion of the prison for inmates with IQs of 90 or less.

He earned $75,000 a year straight time from the State Department of Corrections.

On the night of the murder, he was three months shy of his 25th year in corrections. At 25 years, he would become eligible for retirement.

Under questioning from Friedman, Doll acknowledged that a felony conviction could lead to his termination, and if he lost his job for any other reason prior to reaching 25 years of service, Doll would lose his retirement benefits.

In the time period leading up to Benaquist's death, Doll said, he had been working extra hours to increase the amount of earnings used in calculating his retirement pay.

As a corrections officer, Doll went through a number of training courses. Such courses were provided at least annually. They included training in emergency response procedure, first aid, use of force, unarmed defense tactics, crisis intervention (Doll said, "I don't recall that one") and baton training, which Doll said used to be taught annually until the DoC realized too many people were getting hurt.

Asked by Friedman if he could use a baton in his job assignment, Doll said, "Yes, if I carried one."

He said the training consisted of how to use the baton to jab people, to knock out the back of their knee and as a defense weapon.

"They always trained us," Doll said, "don't go for the head."

SF Enterprises had always been a side line, Doll said, but in working toward retirement, Doll said he wasn't paying as much attention to his car dealership.

"It got to the point where I really didn’t care about the business anymore," Doll said.

Several of Doll's friends and family members used SF Enterprises to gain access to the Adesa auto auction, Doll said. The one access card mentioned that might be shared was registered to his son, Brandon Doll. Brandon's card was in Benaquist's wallet the night of the murder.

To help facilitate his son, Josh Doll, and others using SF Enterprises for auto transactions, Doll pre-signed a number of documents in his MV 50 book.

"Josh had access, whoever needed it had access, everybody had access to the books," Doll said. "Was it right as far as the DMV? Probably not, but that’s the way I did it."

The 66-year-old Benaquist, Doll testified, had a fascination with cars. He bought and sold many cars through SF Enterprises over the years and would volunteer to go to the auction with Scott to help out or just hang out.

The two men met in the mid 1990s when they were both work-party supervisors at the Wyoming Correctional Facility. They worked the same shift and would usually have coffee together in the morning, lunch together at noon and talk as they left for work at the end of the day.

They became friends socially, with Doll, he said, inviting Joe Benaquist over for family gatherings and other social events.

Finances
In February 2009, Scott Doll had somewhere in the neighborhood of $27,000 to $28,000 in personal debt.

It was debt, he said, he agreed to take responsibility for when he and his ex-wife were divorced. He said most of the debt was hers.

At some point, he decided the debt was too much and he wanted to reduce the burden, so he contacted a debt resolution company.

That company advised Doll, he testified, to stop making monthly payments to the credit card companies. The lenders would be more apt to negotiate away some of the debt if he wasn't making payments, he said.

The company told Doll that they could reduce his debt burden by 25 to 40 percent.

Before the company would negotiate with lenders on his behalf, they needed to be paid up front, Doll said. To that end, and for perhaps as long as a year on a 32-month agreement, Doll was paying the company $457.55 per month.

Friedman wanted to know if payments were being made on Doll's behalf to creditors, and with much sparring on this point, Doll said he didn't believe the company was paying off debts. "They wanted their money first," he said.

Doll wasn't sure if he owed another payment to the credit company in mid-February 2009.

Friedman's questions left the impression that a payment had been missed.

Phone records indicate the company called Doll at 5:16 p.m., Feb. 16.

"You didn't answer the call, did you?" Friedman asked.

"I don't recall."

"You hadn't made your monthly payment, had you?"

"I don't recall."

Friedman had a document that was apparently a record of all the interactions between Doll and the credit resolution company. He used it to show Doll that Doll had agreed to a 32-month contract with the company.

When it came time for Cambria to ask Doll more questions, Cambria turned to page four of the document and asked about the Feb. 16 call. Apparently, there was entry on the document related to a possible conversation between Doll and the credit company on that day.

But Friedman objected to the question -- the actual document had not been introduced into evidence and Doll had already said he didn't recall talking with a company rep at that time, meaning the document could not be used to refresh his memory -- and Judge Robert C. Noonan sustained the objection.

Doll also had some financial issues with the Adesa auction.

On Dec. 21, 2008, Doll was notified that his authorization to buy and sell through Adesa was terminated.

"That was because your dealer's license had expired," Friedman said.

"That's not correct," Doll shot back.

Doll explained that Adesa asked to see his renewed license, which he provided.

On Jan. 5, Doll's account was put on financial hold and again on Jan. 30. 

Doll said it was because he hadn't made payments on his credit cards, which came to the attention of Adesa. He said Adesa asked for proof that he was working with a credit resolution company.

He didn't, however, recall actually talking with the credit resolution company about the need for proof, or actually providing it to Adesa.

On re-examination, Cambria used the credit resolution company document Friedman previously provided to ask Doll about a Feb. 3 call with the company in which he requested such proof. Doll said he didn't recall the conversation.

Friedman also questioned Doll about a Chevy Malibu that Benaquist had owned and that Doll put back on his floorplan, getting a $4,600 check from the finance company at the time. The check, Friedman said in questioning, was supposed to go toward payments on a Pontiac G6 that Benaquist had apparently purchased on the SF Enterprises floorplan, but "you didn't use it for that, did you?" Friedman asked.

Doll said he deposited the money in his business account.

"Before that deposit, you were more than $2,000 over drawn, weren't you?" Friedman asked.

"According to this," Doll said, pointing to a bank document provided by Friedman.

Later, Friedman would note that Doll had written a $2,200 check on the business account the same day he received the $4,600 from the floorplan credit agency.

Car Deals
Four cars have played an evidentiary role in the Scott Doll murder trial:

• A 2006 Chevy Malibu
• A 2008 Pontiac G6
• A Grand Caravan
• A motor home

The Malibu was bought on the SF Enterprises floorplan in 2006 for Joseph Benaquist. Doll couldn't recall if he went with Benaquist to the auction to buy the car.

Benaquist did eventually pay for the car and used it as his own personal vehicle for some time.

When Benaquist decided he no longer wanted the Malibu, Doll tried selling it for him. He tried putting ads in the newspaper and placing it on his "lot" (which was the parking lot of his brother's grocery store in Corfu), and twice SF Enterprises tried auctioning it off in Adesa, but it hadn't sold.

Benaquist needed the money from the sale because he had bought at Pontiac G6 at the Adesa auction. The day he purchased it, he gave Doll a check for $10,000.

The money was intended to pay off, according to Doll, a motor home that Benaquist purchased some time before, and the balance applied to the G6.

As for the partial payment on the G6, Doll said while being initially questioned by Cambria, that he didn't worry about Benaquist paying his debts.

"I never really worried about it with him," Doll said. "He always said, 'I’m good for it. I’m good for it,' and I'd known him for years. Whatever arrangements he wanted to make with me, he made."

Friedman struck a skeptical note about whether Benaquist owed money for the motor home.

 "If I told you there was no reference in the floorplan to the RV, wouldn't that surprise you?" Friedman asked.

(Honestly, our notes on his response are ambiguous, so we can't provide Doll's response to this question.)

Friedman wanted to know if Doll gave Benaquist the documents for the RV and Doll said he wouldn't do that until the vehicle was paid off on the floorplan.

Benaquist, Doll said, used dealer plates to drive the RV to Tennessee and sent the dealer plates back to him via Federal Express.

On re-examination, Cambria asked Doll if Benaquist's son, Michael Benaquist, had testified that Joe Benaquist purchased an RV from Doll, and Doll said he had.

SF Enterprises was also involved in a purchase of a Dodge Grand Caravan for Mark Kobal. The original Caravan purchased didn't meet Kobal's specifications, but it was registered in his name.

In order to get Kobal the Grand Caravan he wanted, SF Enterprises purchased one through Adesa using the floorplan. But because it wasn't fully paid for, Doll provided Kobal with a temporary registration and let him take the van.

At one point, the auction house finance company came looking for the van since it technically was supposed to remain in Doll's inventory, but the van wasn't on his lot.

Either Brandon Doll, Kobal or Josh Doll -- Scott Doll couldn't remember who -- drove the van to the finance company at the Adesa lot to show it was still in possession of SF Enterprises.

At one point, Friedman produced a bill of sale for the Grand Caravan, for which the Malibu was used as a trade-in on the purchase.

Friedman asked Doll if the handwriting was his and Doll said he wasn't sure.

Friedman stood back from the witness stand aghast, "You don't recognize your own handwriting?"

Doll said he wanted to be sure.

"Do you recognize your handwriting?"

"It appears to be."

"That's your signature?"

"It appears to be."

During the line of questioning, Friedman said, "You just testified about the history of the 2006 Malibu and now you can't remember if you traded it in on the Grand Caravan?"

Doll said there was an explanation for the transaction, but Friedman ignored his statement and studied his notes on the podium.

On re-examination, Cambria asked for the explanation. Doll said that the finance company, AFC, required a receipt to floorplan a car not bought at auction.

"They're basically telling you to justify why they can give you the check," Doll said.

The Night of the Murder
On Feb. 16, 2009, Scott Doll got off work at 3 p.m., he testified.

On cross examination, Friedman jumped right to phone records and noted that Doll made a call or received a call at 3:01 p.m. From or who the call was made to wasn't specified. In previous testimony, the first call mentioned for Scott Doll's phone that day was a 4:01 p.m. call to the Adesa auction house.

Doll said he was supposed to meet Joseph Benaquist at Adesa some time between 7:30  and 8 p.m.

That was a Monday. There would be an auto auction on Tuesday and Benaquist intended to put the Pontiac G6 up for auction.

Doll testified that he waited for about 30 minutes, sometimes standing outside of the Ford Windstar he was driving, to have a smoke.

"My mother didn't like me smoking in her van," Doll said.

He agreed to meet Benaquist at the auction to remove the plates -- which is why he was carrying a screwdriver that night -- and to help Benaquist clean out the G6, Doll said.

Based on past experience, Doll said, Joe Benaquist didn't have a good track record of cleaning out all of his personal belongings of cars he was returning to the auction.

When Joe didn't show, Scott got back on Route 5 and headed to Pembroke, figuring he would stop by his buddy's house to find out why he didn't show up.

When Doll arrived at the home on Knapp Road, he noticed a faint light coming from under a car that he now figures was the Nissan Altima. As he got closer, he saw Benaquist in the driveway, he said, struggling to get up.

He parked the Windstar at the bottom of the driveway and went to his buddy's side, he said.

"My first instinct was to help him lay down," Doll said.

Benaquist had been severely beaten, according to previous testimony. He had multiple skull fractures and lacerations to his head and the scene was very bloody.

On cross examination, Friedman asked about Doll's statement that he wanted to "comfort" Benaquist, asking in a mocking tone, "You were going to make him comfortable, is that your testimony?"

"i don't know if that's the right word," Doll said. "If somebody is bleeding, you want them to not struggle so much."

Friedman asked about his first-aid training.

"I don't think anything came to my mind as far as first-aid training," Doll said. "I just didn't know what the heck was going on."

As Friedman tried to draw out of Doll his exact motions -- what he did physically with Benaquist -- Doll said he was trying to get Benaquist to lay down so "he wouldn't hurt himself."

Again, in a mocking tone, Friedman said, "You didn't want Joe Benaquist to hurt himself?"

"I guess that's that I was thinking at the time," Doll said.

As he held his buddy, Doll told Cambria during his direct testimony, he kept asking Benaquist what happened.

"I don't know how many times I said, 'what's happened?" Doll said. "He was mumbling and the only thing I made out was, 'The boy."

Doll paused.

"'The boy."

Benaquist struggled, Doll said, until he stopped breathing.

"I kept saying, 'Joe? Joe?," Doll said. "He didn't respond."

"I got up," Doll continued. "I didn't know what to do. I was scared."

Doll said he started to walk toward the house, but notice the door was open, well not open, but cracked open.

"I was thinking, 'I've got to get the hell out of here. I didn't know what was going on," Doll said.

On cross examination, Doll said he didn't know why he started toward the house.

"I've gone over this and over this for the past 15 months," Doll said. "I don't know why I was going to the house. All I remember is that going toward the house and seeing the door open and being terrified."

 At that point, Doll said, he decided to leave the scene.

"I was trying to decipher what I had just seen and heard. I kept saying to myself, 'I've got to do something.' I drove up to the corner thinking, 'I've got to do something.'"

Doll parked the minivan -- backing it in between two already parked cars, he told Friedman -- and got out.

He doesn't remember what he did next. He would be found by a deputy carrying a jack and lug wrench from the minivan, as well as a screwdriver, and his bloody gloves would be found on a car parked next to the minivan.

As he walked north on North Lake Road, Doll said Benaquist's alleged final words came back to him and he thought, "Oh my God, is my son involved in this?"

At that point, Doll started to tear up.

As he walked, a Sheriff's deputy pulled his patrol vehicle up behind Doll.

"I turned around and something fell out of my pocket," Doll said.  

The deputy asked him what fell out of his pocket, "It's a jack," Doll said. He picked it up and handed it to the deputy.

Doll said he had no idea why he was carrying a jack or where it came from. He said he didn't recall taking it out of the Windstar.

"Do you know why you told the deputy you were out for a cardio work out?" Cambria asked Doll.

"I wanted to buy time and figure out what was happening," Doll said. "I needed some help to help me decide what was going on because I wasn't thinking clearly."

Deputy Jason Diehl previously testified that when he first interviewed Doll, he asked about the blood on Doll's coveralls and Doll said, "I butcher deer."

Under questioning from Friedman, Doll said he had three or four pairs of coveralls in his garage, and that he does, in fact, butcher deer. The same coveralls he might use in butchering deer he also might wear to work on cars.

Doll said when first questioned by Diehl he didn't realize he had fresh blood on him.

Later, when questioned by Deputy Patrick Reeves, he did realize he had blood on his coveralls, but he doesn't recall what he told Reeves about the blood on the coveralls or the van.

Doll said deputies kept him sitting in a patrol car at the corner of Main and North Lake roads in Pembroke for hours. His requests to call either an attorney or his son were ignored, he said.

"I kept asking, 'what's going on?'" Doll said. "'What's happening?' I also asked to speak to a lawyer, because I needed some help to clear my mind and figure out what I needed to do here. I wasn't thinking too clearly."

Eventually, Doll was transferred to the Sheriff's Office on Park Road, where he was placed in a holding room, changed into orange jail garb and shackled.

While he was shackled, his friend and former fellow corrections officer Teresa Zelaszkiewicz arrived and was allowed to talk with Doll.

Investigator Kris Kautz listened in on the conversation and has testified that Doll made some incriminating statements, but Doll testified that he doesn't remember the details of the conversation.

"I only know what I was feeling at the time," Doll said. "I needed to talk to a lawyer. I just thought I would get this cleared up. I didn't think this situation would go this far. I thought they would investigate the possibility of somebody else doing this."

Whatever anti-incumbent mood might be sweeping the nation didn't carry over into today's Batavia City Schools School Board election.

Both incumbents -- Steve Mountain and Pat Burk -- won re-election while challenger Denine Scott fell short.

Mountain received 486 votes, Burk 381 and Scott received 336, based on preliminary results.

The 2010-11 school budget of $39.945,756 passed with 413 votes to 223.