General Discussion > Private investigator says innocent! PRIVATE INVESIGATOR SAYS INNOCENT! Written by David Beers--Peter Wlasiuks private investigator: Although PETER was initially represented by Attorney PETER McBRIDE, when the case went to trial PETER was represented by an Attorney named FREDERICK NERONI of Delhi, NY (now disbarred). PETER was subsequently convicted and later sentenced to 25-life in state prison. An appeal was filed on his behalf. A litany of prosecutorial and judicial errors was identified and the case was returned for a re-trial. Attorney RANDEL SCHARF of Cooperstown, NY was assigned as PETER’S new Attorney. In November of 2007 I received a call and met with counselor SCHARF who had preliminarily reviewed the case and was requesting my services. I have been a licensed private investigator since 1996. Previously, I was employed by the NY State Police as an investigator with experience in narcotics, major crimes and the forensics unit. Overall, to date, I have over 34 years of investigative experience. After a preliminary review of the case with counselor SCHARF, I agreed to adopt a case. I have been involved with the case ever since. I recognized some major issues and concerns with the case right away dealing with the police investigation as well as the physical evidence. It became readily apparent that PETER’S original Attorney was either never provided all of the discovery information or failed to ask for it. As additional discovery materials were received and reviewed, more and more problems were discovered re the police investigation and physical evidence. If these issues had been addressed and properly dealt with before the first trial, I have no doubt that PETER would have been exonerated. For example, another forensic pathologist identified as Dr. MICHAEL SIKIRICA, was consulted in this case and concluded that this was a drowning but he was never called as a defense witness. Additionally, the unqualified accident reconstruction work was never challenged. And the list goes on. Trying to undo everything that wasn’t done is an uphill battle. Fast forward now to the second trial held in September of 2008 before acting Chenango County Court Judge, MARTIN SMITH (Broome County Court Judge). Now we’re dealing with a jury that knows PETER has already been convicted previously. Change of venue is warranted and asked for but summarily denied. Defense challenges are brought out in detail during the trial. Dr. SIKIRICA testifies for the defense this time. The people now bolster Dr. TERZIAN by bringing the infamous Dr. MICHAEL BADEN to say what TERZIAN just said. The defense calls a qualified accident re-constructionist. I even testified about finding burdocks growing all around the lake and even in the area where the accident occurred, albeit, I find them growing in 2008. Jurors are split during deliberations. Unfortunately, a small part of a piece of evidence offered by Attorney SCHARF and received into evidence becomes a focal point by jurors during deliberations. Without any limiting instructions from the court, jurors misinterpret the evidence which acts as a turning point in breaking the split and PETER is convicted again. And again sentenced to state prison for 25-life. Another appeal is filed. Even before the second trial started, I became convinced that one or more of the police investigators involved in this case had engaged in official misconduct and/or evidence tampering. While awaiting the appeal decision, I continued to examine the facts of the case. On July, 25, 2011, I wrote a letter to the NY State Attorney General’s Office in Binghamton, New York articulating my concerns in this matter. (attached) On September, 1, 2011, I met and interviewed with two investigators from the AG’s office. I provided information, documentation and photographs in support of my findings. After our meeting, I compiled additional information and sent it to them. I have heard nothing since. In December 2011, the appeals court granted the appeal finding Attorney SCHARF ineffective for offering said evidence and PETER is granted a third trial. In January 2012, Judge SMITH assigns Binghamton, NY Attorney MARK LOUGHRAN to represent PETER for his third trial. Judge SMITH also recuses himself and assigns Broome County Court Judge JOSEPH CAWLEY to sit as Chenango County Court Judge in PETER’s third trial. A change of venue is warranted more than before, but again, asked for and denied. The third trial for PETER commences in June, 2012 in Chenango County Court. Again, the jurors are made fully aware throughout the course of the trial that PETER was twice convicted of murdering his wife PATTY. Without going into all of the details of this third trial, the bottom line is, PETER was convicted again and sentencing is pending which is likely to be the same. I’ve been doing criminal defense work now for over 15 years. In my experience, having an innocent client does happen from time to time but is very rare. I believe this is one of those rare cases where an innocent man has been wrongly convicted. Obviously, there are many aspects of this case that I couldn’t include in this brief summary
Posted on: Sun, 25 May 2014 15:43:14 +0000
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