DA ‘strenuously objects’ to plea terms for child rapist who fled crash that killed friend, attacked jail deputy
Updated 2:42 PM;
Syracuse, NY A convicted child rapist will spend 5 to 10 years in prison after admitting that he recklessly killed his friend in a car crash, fled the scene and later attacked a jail deputy after his arrest.
Shayne Copes, 21, took a plea Monday offered by state Supreme Court Justice Gordon Cuffy, who noted that Copes never meant to kill his friend and had unspecified “issues” that the judge said needed to be addressed.
Still, Cuffy knew he was going to hear a protest from prosecutors Chris Bednarski and John Centra. So the judge cut to the chase himself: the district attorney’s office “strenuously objected” to his offer, he noted.
Syracuse judge walks into the wrong courtroom, gets picked on by judge holding court
Updated May 11, 2021;
Facebook Share
Except another judge was already sitting in the judge’s chair.
Cuffy immediately realized his mistake and hung his head as lawyers, jail deputies and court security burst out laughing.
It didn’t help that Cuffy walked in on perhaps the biggest jokester on the floor. From the bench, Judge Stephen Dougherty didn’t miss a beat. He grabbed the microphone and intoned:
“All rise! Now entering the courtroom, Supreme Court Justice Gordon Cuffy.”
Cuffy’s humorous mistake is the result of a game of musical courtrooms that he and his three counterparts have been playing since courts reopened following the early days of the pandemic.
Syracuse man guilty in poker-game shooting after jury hears from 4 dead witnesses
Updated 11:10 AM;
Syracuse, NY A Syracuse man will head back to prison for a possible life sentence after a jury found him guilty again of a 2015 shooting at a high-stakes poker game.
Charquan Edwards, now 29, shot an 83-year-old man while fleeing the Tallman Street residence with $9,000 in wagers laid out on a table, prosecutor Lauren Phelps told the jury.
The victim, George Smith, has since died of unrelated causes, as did three other witnesses present that night. A fifth witness was hospitalized during last week’s retrial in Onondaga County.
Man found guilty in poker-game shooting after jury hears from 4 dead witnesses
Updated 11:26 AM;
Syracuse, NY A Syracuse man will head back to prison for a possible life sentence after a jury found him guilty again of a 2015 shooting at a high-stakes poker game.
Charquan Edwards, now 29, shot an 83-year-old man while fleeing the Tallman Street residence with $9,000 in wagers laid out on a table, prosecutor Lauren Phelps told the jury.
The victim, George Smith, has since died of unrelated causes, as did three other witnesses present that night. A fifth witness was hospitalized during last week’s retrial in Onondaga County.