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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.

Submitted by Cheryl Chaddock:

Brad Chaddock of Oakfield bagged his very own monster 9pt. buck last Saturday morning with his bow. Brad is a dedicated bow hunter during the season. He and his dad, Rob Chaddock, of Elba, spend many hours throughout the year practicing archery and it has paid off. He has had very successful hunts in the past, but this is his biggest to date. Congratulations to Brad.

Press release:

Genesee County Deputy Sheriff Jason E. Saile was recently honored by the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)-New York State and New York State STOP-DWI for his efforts in combating DWI.

Deputy Saile was one of 17 local law enforcement officers recognized statewide for outstanding achievements in deterring drunk/impaired driving. During 2009, Deputy Saile made 43 DWI arrests, of which nine were felonies; made 72 criminal arrests and issued 537 traffic tickets.

Deputy Saile was presented an Individual Officer Award during the MADD and STOP-DWI Law Enforcement Recognition Awards Event held in Albany, New York on Tuesday, November 16, 2010.

Deputy Saile was nominated for this award by Sheriff Gary T. Maha.

A 19-year-old Silver Springs man is charged with leaving the scene of a property damage accident, driving without a license and speeding following a rollover accident in Pavilion early Thursday morning.

Nathan P. Hulme was issued three citations following an investigation by Deputy Frank Bordonaro into the 3:07 a.m. accident on Starr Road.

Neither Hulme nor his 21-year-old passenger James S. Craft were injured.

According to Bordonaro, Hulme was Northbound on Starr Road in a 2004 GMC pickup when he failed to negotiate a curve. The truck hit an embankment, a sign and then overturned and landed on its roof.

It was a historic moment, Public Defender Gary Horton said.

"This may be the first time you have Judge (Robert) Noonan, (District Attorney Lawrence) Friedman and I all agree on something."

There was nothing but agreement from the two dozen or so speakers who took up the cause of Genesee Justice at the County Legislature's budget hearing Wednesday evening.

The budget proposal calls for the elimination of Genesee Justice as a department and moving most of its current functions into the probation department.

The change could save the county $237,000, but several speakers said that Genesee Justice saves the county maybe as much as $1 million a year by helping to keep people out of jail.

Nothing against the Probation Department, many speakers said, but probation officers won't take the same approach in dealing with offenders and victims which Genesee Justice has done successfully for 30 years.

Speakers praised Genesee Justice as a pioneering "restorative justice" program. They characterized probation as a law enforcement agency -- one that takes more of a punitive approach in dealing with offenders.

"Probation officers carry weapons, they make arrests," said Oakfield Justice Thomas Graham. "Genesee Justice is more of a social agency, they handle casework, and they work very hard to help people make it through without sending them back to jail."

After the meeting, Julie Smith, director of probation, said she disagrees with that characterization of her department.

"Probation is (also) an alternative to incarceration," Smith said. "There are about 700 offenders on our case load and if it wasn’t for us, they would be in jail.

"We are following offenders," Smith added. "We are checking up on them. We are in their lives."

According to County Manager Jay Gsell, the county budget picture is so dire -- more than 80 percent of the budget is state-mandated expenses -- that drastic measures are needed. The budget contains little that is discretionary and the direction of the legislature was to balance the budget without increasing the tax levy.

"If we were masters of our own fate, that would be a lot easier to do, but we’re not," Gsell said. "We are creatures of state government."

Genesee Justice is a pioneering agency in what is known as "restorative justice." It focuses on the needs of victims and offenders to help bring about some level of reconciliation, and to help offenders re-enter society as productive citizens rather treat offenders in a traditional law-and-order manner.

The local program was started with grants 30 years ago at a time when the concepts of restorative justice were rarely considered by judges or prosecutors. 

As one speaker noted, Genesee Justice has been cited in scholarly articles on restorative justice from around the world.

Among the functions handled by Genesee Justice are: supervising first-time DWI offenders who have been granted a conditional discharge; overseeing work-release programs and community service; helping victims of crime with getting through the judicial process; and receiving restitution payments and completing paperwork, as well as managing the "release-under-supervision" (RUS) program.

Genesee Justice took over RUS from probation 2002. RUS allows courts to release alleged offenders prior to trial who don't qualify for release under their own recognizance but do not necessarily need to be held on bail.

Judges Robert Noonan, Robert Balbick, Thomas Graham, Michael Delplato, as well as Sheriff Gary Maha and District Attorney Lawrence Friedman all expressed concern that switching RUS back to probation would mean fewer alleged offenders would receive RUS status.

"The Genesee Justice program as it has developed is amazing in terms of keeping the jail population down," said Noonan. "I know probation says they can do it and I know they honestly believe they can do it.

"But I believe what you are going to see is a spike in the population at the jail and you are going to wind up paying dollars at the far end after eliminating a very, very important program."

Balbick said he just doesn't know what will happen if RUS is moved back to probation, and that worries him.

"The RUS program runs well because we have a department that runs it well," Balbick said. "I don’t know what it will be if probation runs it. Maybe they will run it well, but I don’t know. I do know that Genesee Justice runs it well."

One speaker suggested it would take $30 million to build a new jail, if needed. Sheriff Maha noted that the current jail was constructed at its present capacity because there was a Genesee Justice program to help keep offenders out of jail.

"If the jail population increases, the State Commission of Correction will come down and tell us to do something about our increased population -- like build a new jail or put on an addition," Maha said. "We'll be like our neighbors to our south who had to build a jail addition to address their jail population."

Smith said that probation handled RUS for 26 years and they can easily take over the program again.

Several speakers said they believe the elimination of Genesee Justice is "a done deal," and that the local justice system community was not consulted first.

The repeated complaint was that only two people -- Gsell and Smith -- supported the plan and were pushing it through without a lot of outside input.

"It appears to me that the only people who are speaking out in favor of this proposal are the ones making the proposal," Friedman said. "They’re the only ones who appear to believe that it’s a good idea. Otherwise, from what I’m hearing, everyone involved in the criminal justice systems, thinks this is a bad idea."

Smith was quick to point out after the meeting that she's not the one who made the proposal.

“This is at the direction of the legislature," Smith said. "The legislature asked me to look at. It’s nothing that I sought out. There’s a lot of misinformation out there (saying) that I sought to do this, but the legislature asked us to do this and we’ll do our best to step up to the plate."

Gsell said it certainly isn't a done deal.

"How can it be? The legislature hasn’t even voted," Gsell said. "This is what we go through every year when we make proposals on the budget. I make a proposal and that becomes what the legislators deal with. That’s where we’re at right now."

The legislators we spoke with after the meeting said they certainly haven't made up their minds and they want to discuss it further with other members of the legislature before making a decision.

Mary Pat Hancock, chairwoman of the legislature, said "we're hearing the concerns and considerations of the people, and we're certainly listening."

"We will consider it carefully," Hancock said. "This is presented as a tentative budget and we don’t pass a budget for another three weeks."

Legislator Jay Grasso noted that he took copious notes during the meeting and he looks forward to sitting down with his fellow legislators to hear what they think.

Most of all, he said, it was a big change from previous public hearings where few people show up and even fewer have anything to say.

"It’s democracy in action," Grasso said. "You should have people here. You should have people questioning what we do. You should have people saying, ‘well, why are you doing this?’ I found it unique and refreshing."

Photos: Top, Gary Horton holding up a button in support of Genesee Justice; County Judge Robert Noonan; Legislature Chairwoman Mary Pat Hancock; City Court Judge Robert Balbick; County Manager Jay Gsell; Sheriff Gary Maha.

Just for the record, the Batavia Daily News has issued a correction regarding an article published yesterday about the Chris Charvella case.

Yesterday, we did a post about a quote taken out of context, thinking it was significant enough to the case to bring attention to the matter. We're glad to see the Daily found the misunderstanding of the quote relevant enough to clarify it.

UPDATE: Managing Editor Mark Graczyk has written a blog post explaining the Daily's correction policy.

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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Le Roy Police have arrested a 31-year-old village resident suspected of child sexual abuse.

Gregory A. Jones, of 34 Main St., Apt. #1, Le Roy, is charged with two counts of predatory sexual assault against a child, a class A-II felony.

The alleged victim is under 13 years old.

Included in the predatory sexual assault charge are accusations of a criminal sexual act, 1st, formerly known as sodomy, and coarse sexual conduct against a child, 1st.

The alleged crimes occurred over an 11-month period at his residence on Main Street.

The investigation was conducted by Det. John Condidorio and the Department of Social Services.

Jones was jailed without bail.

Assisting in the case were the Genesee County Advocacy Center, the District Attorney’s Office and the New York State Police Computer Forensic Unit.

A driver who hit a car that stalled on Reuben Road, Alabama, after it ran out of gas, said that he looked down at his radio just before he came upon the car and didn't see it in time to stop.

Two people suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the accident.

Jason G. Moneau, 33, of Summit Street, Batavia, was driving a 1991 Dodge sedan at 10:02 p.m., Friday, when he hit a car which had pulled to the side of the road in the area of 7415 Reuben Road.

A passenger of the parked car, Mae E. Hryhorenko, 30, was transported to UMMC.

Moneau was transported by ground ambulance to Erie County Medical Center.

The accident was investigated by Deputy Jason Diehl.

A handwritten note on the investigation report says, "traffic charges are pending."

A 21-year-old Lyndonville resident is charged with DWI following a one-car accident early Tuesday morning on the I-490 off-ramp in Le Roy.

Police say Alyssa Brianne Sprague was driving too fast and moved from her lane unsafely when her 2004 Chevy sedan struck the guardrail on the off-ramp, continued onto Vallance Road, spun and struck another guardrail.

Sprague was not injured in the crash.

She was, however, charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater.

The accident occurred at 1:19 a.m. and was investigated by Deputy Frank Bordonaro.

One person was injured when a car struck a deer on Bennett Road in Darien at 8:26 p.m., Monday.

Taken to UMMC with non-life-threatening injuries was 17-year-old Brittney N. Torrey.

Torrey was a passenger in a car driven by 20-year-old Matthew S. Shaffer, of Harvester Avenue, Batavia.

Neither Shaffer nor an infant in the car, Isabella A. Torrey, were injured.

No citations were issued.

The accident was investigated by Deputy Jason Diehl.

Two people were injured in a crash Monday afternoon near the intersection of routes 33 and 19 when an eastbound car reportedly turned left in front of a westbound car.

The driver of the first car, Laura A. Squier, 45, of Brasser Drive, Rochester, was cited for allegedly failing to yield the right of away.

The Sheriff's Office accident report says she was injured, but does not say what hospital she was taken to.

The driver of the other car, 54-year-old Robert J. Jurewicz, of South Swan Street, Batavia, was transported to UMMC with non-life-threatening injuries.

The accident was reported at 3:47 p.m.

It was investigated by Deputy Jason Diehl.

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.

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.