(Updated 4:10 p.m.)
Reginald M. Wilson passed up a plea deal that would have limited his prison time to two- to four-years in State Prison on a charge of criminal possession of stolen property.
This afternoon, a jury convicted him of burglary, 2nd, and criminal possession of stolen property, 3rd, and now Wilson has to wonder if Judge Robert C. Noonan will want to lock him away for life.
Because of Wilson's prior violent felony offenses, his upcoming stint in prison won't be a short one either way.
On the burglary charge, Wilson is facing a possible 5 to 15 year sentence. The possession charge carries a maximum sentence of 3 1/2 to 7 years.
District Attorney Lawrence Friedman said he's not ready to indicate whether he will ask Noonan to consider a life sentence.
Noonan set the sentencing for May 12 and revoked Wilson's $100,000 bail, which was never posted.
Wilson showed little reaction when the verdict was read. There were four additional law enforcement officers in the court room when the jury came back. The jury forewoman's hands were visibly shaking when she handed the verdict slip to the court deputy.
Defense Attorney Fares Rumi said he still believes the jury should have returned a not-guilty verdict.
"I felt we put on a strong defense," Rumi said. "I felt we exposed the weaknesses in the prosecution's case. I'm obviously disappointed in the verdict. I didn't feel the People met the burden of proof. But the law is the law. We have a good system."
Friedman said he was pleased with the verdict, that he felt all along that Wilson was guilty.
"As I told the jury (this morning), I really could not believe that this witness (Dillon Brito) who testified for us, the accomplice, as a 17-year-old, would falsely implicate this particular defendant. I just could not fathom what his motivation would be for doing that. He was consistent. I thought he was believable. Obviously, the jury thought so, too."
UPDATE: After court, I failed to ask Mr. Rumi why he didn't have Gibson and Dash testify. Readers may remember that Gibson and Dash were reportedly willing to say that Wilson did not participate in the burglary. I spoke with Mr. Rumi again a few minutes ago. He said even though the trial is over, he didn't want to go into detail on his strategy, but it was a strategic decision based on his review of all the statements in the case. "I still believe it is the right decision." Also, in a previous story I said Rumi is "from Batavia." He said he grew up in Batavia, but now lives and is based in Rochester.
For previous coverage of this case, click here.
I've lost my faith in
I've lost my faith in humanity. But expect an appeal none the less.
I am not surprised at all by
I am not surprised at all by the jury's verdict, although the testimony seemed limited, the defense did not put forth anything to show that Mr. Wilson was not-guilty.
As I have stated here prior, Mr. Wilson is a textbook case for life in prison for repeat felony convicts, he has had three prior robbery convictions and a rape conviction, he is a registered sex offender, he was only out of prison for 3 months when he was arrested on these current charges, he is plain and simply a menace to society.
The DA and the judge have an obligation to protect society from people like him.
I feel bad for him in some respects because I am sure that he has had a difficult life and there are probably reason why he is the way he is, however he will be taken care of for the rest of his life.
"I've lost my faith in
"I've lost my faith in humanity. But expect an appeal none the less."
Liz, are you saying you think this guy is innocent?!?! That given his violent criminal past he should not be locked away forever???!!!
Here's the question I have
Here's the question I have for Liz -- normally, the friends and family of the defendant sit on the defendant's side of the courtroom, as friends and family of Reggie did yesterday.
Today, during closing arguments, the entire group sat in a single row on the prosecution side of the courtroom, putting them in close proximity to the jury box.
There was a lot of texting going on among that group. Twice (though somebody said three times) phones rang.
Once, Mr. Friedman had to stop and have Judge Noonan admonish the spectators not to say anything during his summation.
Was this a deliberate attempt to intimidate the jury?
Mr Spencer, "Menace to
Mr Spencer, "Menace to Society?" How is it any of you know anything about Mr Wilson other than what has been written? Did you know that while leaving the court room one of the prosocution's witnesses (whom has a long standing ugly relationship with my family) proclaimed "He's going to rot in prison whether he did it or not" after just testifying that she knows he did it? And when attempted to be brought to the jury's attention it was objected to and sustained. Or that the prosocution's witness is on file stating she knows Mr Wilson did not do anything wrong. But then changed her story when thought she would be getting in trouble herself. Or that 2 of the admitted guilty parties stated that Mr Wilson did not have anything to do with this. How about that Mr Wilson had gone to the city in the car in question on multiple occations, had he stolen it himself or even known it was why would he not ditch it then? Or how about Brito, who was on the run for how long? Untill after speaking to a couple of dash's associates and being told of his arrest, then that if he pleads against him would get a better deal "Because batavia is going to want that big fish like Mr Wilson". But when any of this was brought up at trial it was objected to by the D.A and sustained by Noonan. Yes! MR WILSON IS INNOCENT! And i will continue to proclaim that to any person who will ask untill he is free. Again Mr Wilson may not be an innocent man but he is now, yesterday, tomorrow, and forever will be innocent of these crimes of which he was WRONGLY convicted! He absolutely should not be locked away forever. He should not be locked away at all for these crimes. How can people be so closed minded. Does anybody know the connection of these people? Here i'll explain. Joey Dash has children with Tony Whites girlfreinds sister. Who also happens to be the cousin of Mr Brito. Mr dash's children's grandmother has a long standing violent history AGAINST Mr Wilson's family. Oh i wish i could make you see. But at last i know i can not. And when he is free. My efforts will be vindicated.
No it was not a deliberate
No it was not a deliberate attempt to intimidate the jury. We sat there because we wanted to be front row. However i believe you were sitting front row on his side today. There was not enough room for everybody to be front row next to you. The statement Mr Freidman made about somebody making a comment, was when the D.A was explaining Brito's testimony, she sighed loudly and said oh my god. She was wrong for that. But under the circumstances it was difficult for any of us to listen to him, when our sides weren't even allowed to be heard. Also the phone, i'm thankful she was removed from the court room. She made all of us look bad. To my understanding it was a friend of his sister. For her i can not speak, i only know that i was embarrassed myself.
Not that it matters much, but
Not that it matters much, but just for the record, there were two women sitting where I normally sit when I arrived.
However, I had already determined before I arrived that I was going to sit where I sat today because it's a better vantage point to observe the jury.
Mr Owens i'm not mad in any
Mr Owens i'm not mad in any way shape or form that you sat there... Please don't take it that way. I was just explaining why it was we sat where we sat.
"There were four additional
"There were four additional law enforcement officers in the court room when the jury came back. The jury forewoman's hands were visibly shaking when she handed the verdict slip to the court deputy."
Howard, what's that about? were there threats made?
Liz, I didn't take it as you
Liz, I didn't take it as you being mad. I just didn't want to leave the impression (I'm not even saying you intended it) that I purposefully tried to change the seating around.
Dave, none that I know of. Some of including that information is just adding some color to the story as far as what was going on in the court room. I've never been in County Court when a jury came back, so I can't say if it's standard procedure. I wouldn't be surprised, however, on cases where the possible sentence is so great, that additional security precautions are taken.
Liz, men·ace /ˈmɛnɪs/
Liz,
men·ace
/ˈmɛnɪs/ Show Spelled [men-is] Show IPA noun, verb,-aced, -ac·ing.
–noun
1.
something that threatens to cause evil, harm, injury, etc.; a threat: Air pollution is a menace to health.
2.
a person whose actions, attitudes, or ideas are considered dangerous or harmful: When he gets behind the wheel of a car, he's a real menace.
3.
an extremely annoying person.
–verb (used with object)
4.
to utter or direct a threat against; threaten.
5.
to serve as a probable threat to; imperil.
That about sums it up.
People can check the DOC
People can check the DOC website and find Mr. Wilson's prison record there: All public information:
DIN# 93 B 0579--Att. Robbery served 3 years
96 B 1558--Att. Robbery Served 2 years
99 B 2647--Rape 3rd Served 3 years
03 B 0159--Robbery Served 6 years
Sounds like a menace to me (even if he is innocent of the current charges) This does not include the numerous other charges that he didn't do state time for.
YES, LIZ, HE IS A MENACE!!!!
Howard, My sincere thanks to
Howard,
My sincere thanks to you and the Batavian for covering this case for the past six months.
You're welcome, Don.
You're welcome, Don.
Mr Spencer, Have you ever hit
Mr Spencer, Have you ever hit an animal with your car? Does that make you an animal abuser? Have you ever had an alcoholic drink? Ever gotten intoxicated? Does that make you an alcoholic? Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket? More than one? Does that make you a reckless driver? Mr Wilson had to steal so his family could survive. Being the oldest child, with little parental anything. I don't agree with his tatics, and the time he's served for those charges he deserved. I could only imagine how the family's who were affected by those past crimes felt. The rape, how often have you been wrong when guessing someone's age? Do you feel now that our 14-16 yr old girls do not act dress and appear to be older? Would you have thought to check for ID if a women came on to you AT A BAR? Would it make a difference if i told you that same women to this day apologizes to Mr Wilson's family and friends for what she sais she did to him. You know nothing of the circumstances. Nothing of his reasoning. And i don't blame you. You don't know him, in order to see the other side of the story, you would have to see him, for him.