Sullivan County Judge Wants Attorney In Hate-Crime Beatings Jailed

Monticello, NY – Attorney William Brenner was summoned before Sullivan County Judge Frank LaBuda Wednesday for a hearing on judicial contempt.

LaBuda is threatening to jail the Grahamsville attorney for five days and impose “a substantial fine” after the two tangled in court Monday.

Brenner represents Sean Gadsen, a teenager accused with two other teens of beating up four Frum boys in the parking lot of Walmart in August 2008.

The exchange happened immediately after District Attorney Jim Farrell noted two other defendants had worked out plea deals, but Brenner’s client had not.

“The district attorney’s office and I have had no conferences or even plea discussions with respect to this matter and I’m waiting to hear,” Brenner said during Monday’s hearing.

Read the full story at Times Herald Record http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100303/NEWS/100309895/-1/COMM04

ORIGINAL YWN ARTICLE FROM AUG 2008:

William Harrison, 18, of Livingston Manor, Sean Gadsen, 16, of Youngsville, and Matthew Alcivar, 17, of Queens, had been charged with second-degree assault as a hate crime and second-degree gang assault, felonies, and misdemeanors for aggravated harassment and disorderly conduct.

Sheriff’s deputies say around 10 p.m. in August ’08, the teenagers began harassing the Frum boys in the store. The two groups were standing in the checkout line at an entrance near the grocery section. One of the teens accused one of the Frum boys of bumping into him.

After having words, the teens left the store and waited outside. A clerk warned the Frum boys to take a different exit, and they left at the opposite end of the store to avoid a confrontation.

But the teens spotted them going to their cars and chased them down in the parking lot. The attackers cursed at them and made reference to them being Jewish.

“The video at Wal-Mart is telling,” Undersheriff Eric Chaboty said. “It is clear these were the aggressors.”

All of the Frum boys — ages 16 to 21 — sustained some injuries in the beating.
The 16-year-old victim suffered facial fractures in several places, Chaboty said. He was taken by ambulance to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla.

The others declined treatment.

Witnesses reported that the teens had fled in a Dodge Avenger. A sheriff’s deputy spotted the car heading west at a high speed on Route 17. They were pulled over near Exit 103 and arrested, police said.

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3 Responses

hanavon says:

March 3, 2010 6:37 pm at 6:37 pm

what?! why would you jail the attorney?! he did his job in representing a criminal. everyone has the right to representation, no matter how bad the crime is. this is unconstitutional
Shlomo2 says:

March 3, 2010 11:03 pm at 11:03 pm

It sounds as though the issue is that the defense attorney stated that there had been no plea discussions. The DA contested that statement and the defense attorney apparently became argumentative.
It’s not that he is representing a criminal, it’s that he may have crossed a few lines (lying, arguing).
Moose613 says:

March 4, 2010 6:33 am at 6:33 am

According to the original story, it appears that the judge has an agenda here. Nothing in the story indicates that the defense attorney did anything wrong.