Defense attorney upset by prosecutors in Oxley trial

CANTON — Since jury selection began Jan. 10 in the murder trial of Wayne T. Oxley Jr., defense attorney Peter A. Dumas has appeared calm and cool.

However, in St. Lawrence County Court on Friday, Mr. Dumas, Malone, found it hard to keep his emotions in check.

“I try to be polite. I was accommodating (with the district attorney’s office) since before the trial,” he said.

Tension arose after Mr. Dumas called Dr. Thomas A. Kubic, New York, to testify about the blood spatter on the ground based on photographs he reviewed. These were provided to Mr. Dumas by District Attorney Nicole M. Duvé, he said.

Dr. Kubic testified that the photographs showed investigators were at the murder scene without proper footwear. He also said investigators should have checked for latent footprints not visible to the naked eye.

But the 200 photographs were not admitted into evidence by the defense, and Dr. Kubic did not have the photographs with him.

Mr. Dumas argued that the photographs were taken by state police and already in evidence.

Ms. Duvé asked that Dr. Kubic’s testimony be stricken, but Judge Jerome J. Richards denied her request. He did, though, apply an adverse inference on his testimony.

Judge Richards said because the photographs were not present, the jury has the option to infer they are not here because they might show the police did not contaminate the murder scene.

Oxley, Ogdensburg, is accused of beating his neighbor Bernard A. Trickey Jr. to death with a wooden baseball bat in August 2005. He was convicted of second-degree murder in 2006, but an appellate court sent the case back for a retrial. A second trial ended with a hung jury.

Mr. Dumas is expected to rest his case next week. Ms. Duvé may call rebuttal witnesses.

Oxley said because Dr. Kubic’s testimony did not go as well as intended, Mr. Dumas may call an additional witness.

Michelle A. Disotell continued to face skepticism in her extensive cross-examination by prosecutors who are challenging her credibility.

Ms. Duvé read several documents in front of the jury that showed Ms. Disotell told mental health professionals she didn’t know her identity or the truth.

Ms. Disotell said she didn’t recall the documents she was questioned about.

Robert H. Ballan, assistant public defender, strongly objected to Ms. Disotell’s mental health history being made public. Judge Richards said it was in the interest of justice and he was not going to rehash that argument. Mr. Dumas will continue to call witnesses Tuesday afternoon.

Ms. Disotell said Robert C. “Chase” Webb told her he killed Mr. Trickey, but before the second Oxley trial she claimed that didn’t happen.