The attorney for a Batavia man accused of rape is troubled by the wide range of potential dates for the alleged attack and would like District Attorney Lawrence Friedman to try and get the woman making the accusation to try and come closer to an exact date.
Establishing a more accurate date would enable attorney Clark Zimmermann to determine if his client has alibis for the time of the alleged rape.
Jason A. Armstrong Sr., is accused of anally raping a woman at a residence on South Main Street, Batavia, sometime between Nov. 6 and 10.
Zimmermann said it was good that the indictment was able to specify the alleged attack happened between 8 and 9 p.m. on whichever day it occurred, but Nov. 6 to Nov. 10 is rather wide range to accept without more effort to narrow it down.
"I would think an adult as the complainant is, would be able to further specify or narrow the time frame," Zimmermann told Judge Michael F. Pietruszka. "Right now we have five possible days between 8 and 9 that this event could have occurred."
Friedman said he is certainly willing to cooperate in working with the alleged victim in narrowing the time frame down, but given the fact that the complaint wasn't made until the end of December, the amount of time that had passed before she was interviewed, made it difficult for her to recall the exact date.
"While I would like to provide a precise date or more precise date, I'm simply unable to do that at this time," Friedman said.
Zimmermann said he would expect the woman would have some ability to use work records or other life records to help her recall and narrow the time frame. He said the woman was working some jobs off the books in November and perhaps knowing when and where she worked would help. He indicated he uncovered some of that information through is own investigations and offered to provide that information to Friedman.
Friedman said he would accept the information and attempt to use it to help the woman come up with a more precise time frame.
Armstrong was indicted by a grand jury on counts of criminal sexual act in the first degree and assault in the second degree for allegedly causing physical injury.
He's also indicted on a count of third-degree assault for allegedly causing physical injury to another person on or about Dec. 5 while at the same address, on South Main Street, as the alleged rape.
Zimmermann said he was still gathering evidence that might assist Armstrong in establishing alibis in both cases, including recorded phone messages left by one of the alleged victims.
Friedman objected that he had not yet received the evidence, despite filing a motion to receive it, and Zimmermann said that given the fact no trial date has been established yet, he still had time to gather the details and provide them in a timely manner.
"I certainly don't intend to sandbag him and I hope he doesn't do the same to me," Zimmermann said. "I think I've provided ample notice and if he disagrees, that's why we have you, Judge."
The case was set for another appearance on March 25, giving both sides more time to prepare their cases. At that time, if no plea deal is reached, Pietruszka will establish a plea cutoff date before setting a trial date.
