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John Cole leaves the Saratoga County Courthouse during a break in his trial Tuesday March,6 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)
John Cole leaves the Saratoga County Courthouse during a break in his trial Tuesday March,6 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)
Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN
John Cole leaves the Saratoga County Courthouse during a break in his trial Tuesday March,6 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)
John Cole leaves the Saratoga County Courthouse during a break in his trial Tuesday March,6 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)
Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN
John Cole, 53, arrives at Saratoga County Court on Thursday, March 15, 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. Cole is charged with second-degree assault, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving for allegedly driving drunk and speeding when his car crashed. Deanna Shapiro, 50, of Cohoes, a victim of the car crash who is now a quadriplegic, was in court. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
lessJohn Cole, 53, arrives at Saratoga County Court on Thursday, March 15, 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. Cole is charged with second-degree assault, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving
... more
John Cole, 53, second from left, arrives at Saratoga County Court on Thursday, March 15, 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. Cole is charged with second-degree assault, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving for allegedly driving drunk and speeding when his car crashed. Deanna Shapiro, 50, of Cohoes, a victim of the car crash who is now a quadriplegic, was in court. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
lessJohn Cole, 53, second from left, arrives at Saratoga County Court on Thursday, March 15, 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. Cole is charged with second-degree assault, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and
... more
John Cole, 53, second from left, arrives at Saratoga County Court on Thursday, March 15, 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. Cole is charged with second-degree assault, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving for allegedly driving drunk and speeding when his car crashed. Deanna Shapiro, 50, of Cohoes, a victim of the car crash who is now a quadriplegic, was in court. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
lessJohn Cole, 53, second from left, arrives at Saratoga County Court on Thursday, March 15, 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. Cole is charged with second-degree assault, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and
... more
John Cole, 53, right, arrives at Saratoga County Court on Thursday, March 15, 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. Cole is charged with second-degree assault, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving for allegedly driving drunk and speeding when his car crashed. Deanna Shapiro, 50, of Cohoes, a victim of the car crash who is now a quadriplegic, was in court. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
lessJohn Cole, 53, right, arrives at Saratoga County Court on Thursday, March 15, 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. Cole is charged with second-degree assault, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless
... more
John Cole, 53, arrives at Saratoga County Court on Thursday, March 15, 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. Cole is charged with second-degree assault, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving for allegedly driving drunk and speeding when his car crashed. Deanna Shapiro, 50, of Cohoes, a victim of the car crash who is now a quadriplegic, was in court. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
lessJohn Cole, 53, arrives at Saratoga County Court on Thursday, March 15, 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. Cole is charged with second-degree assault, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving
... more
John Cole, 53, arrives at Saratoga County Court on Thursday, March 15, 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. Cole is charged with second-degree assault, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving for allegedly driving drunk and speeding when his car crashed. Deanna Shapiro, 50, of Cohoes, a victim of the car crash who is now a quadriplegic, was in court. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
lessJohn Cole, 53, arrives at Saratoga County Court on Thursday, March 15, 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. Cole is charged with second-degree assault, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving
... more
Deanna Shapiro, 50, of Cohoes, a victim of car crash who is now a quadriplegic, arrives at Saratoga County Court on Thursday, March 15, 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. John Cole, 53, is charged with second-degree assault, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving for allegedly driving drunk and speeding when his car crashed with Shapiro and her husband in the car. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
lessDeanna Shapiro, 50, of Cohoes, a victim of car crash who is now a quadriplegic, arrives at Saratoga County Court on Thursday, March 15, 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. John Cole, 53, is charged with second-degree
... more
Deanna Shapiro, 50, of Cohoes, a victim of car crash who is now a quadriplegic, arrives at Saratoga County Court on Thursday, March 15, 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. John Cole, 53, walking behind her at far left, is charged with second-degree assault, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving for allegedly driving drunk and speeding when his car crashed with Shapiro and her husband in the car. (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)
lessDeanna Shapiro, 50, of Cohoes, a victim of car crash who is now a quadriplegic, arrives at Saratoga County Court on Thursday, March 15, 2018 in Ballston Spa, N.Y. John Cole, 53, walking behind her at far left,
... more
Jury to continue work Friday in Cole vehicular assault trial
BALLSTON SPA -- A Saratoga County jury will return to court Friday to continue deciding the fate of auto repair businessman John W. Cole.
Jurors began deliberating about 2:35 p.m. Thursday after hearing closing arguments and judicial instructions in the DWI-related felony assault trial of Cole, 53, the owner of the local Cole's Collision chain.
County Judge James A. Murphy III sent the panel of seven men and five women home for the night at 6:30 p.m. They will return on Friday at 9 a.m.
"You look tired to me," the judge told the jury, "so I think we're going to call it a day."
Cole faces charges he drove drunk, sped and caused a crash just after midnight on March 11, 2017 that left a back seat passenger a quadriplegic.
He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted of second-degree assault, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving. Jurors sent several notes to the judge late Thursday asking for descriptions of the charges -- and twice asked for the definition of the second-degree assault count.
Earlier, Deanna Shapiro, 50, the woman paralyzed by the crash, watched the closing arguments from her wheelchair in court. Her husband, Scott, was nearby. On the other side of the courtroom sat Regina Cole, the defendant's wife, with family members.
On March 10, 2017, John and Regina Cole and Deanna and Scott Shapiro met up at Cole's home to prepare for a night out in Halfmoon. That night, Cole drove his 2015 twin-turbocharged BMW coupe to the Rusty Nail bar and restaurant for dinner and then to Trick Shot, another bar on Route 9 where they went to see a band perform.
All told, some 11 people were in their group, mostly couples, out on a cold and windy Friday night, testimony showed.
More than five hours later, on the ride from Trick Shot to Cole's home, the defendant drove. His wife was in the passenger seat. The Shapiros were in the back seat.
Both Shapiros testified that after coming down Route 9, Cole turned onto Sitterly Road and sped up. They say they and Regina Cole asked Cole to slow down but he said no and told his wife to "shut up."
A State Police investigator testified that his examination revealed Cole floored the gas and reached 78 mph on the 40 mph road. Prosecutors allege Cole crossed a double-solid yellow line, struck a sign post, ripped it from the ground and took it with him, struck a fire hydrant and sent it flying across the road, then crossed the double-line again and ultimately hit a tree at 50 mph, flipped over and landed upright.
Regina Cole testified that her husband never told her to "shut up," and that something struck the car, prompting her husband to swerve and ultimately hit a trusses in a nearby construction zone. She and a defense expert witness said the car was not speeding and hit trusses and not a tree.
As Assistant District Attorney Katherine DeMartino spoke, two photos of the wrecked BMW were on screens for jurors to see.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I submit to you that whether the car hit a tree or it hit a stack of trusses, it doesn't matter," the prosecutor said.
"It doesn't matter," DeMartino continued, "because whether it was the tree or whether it was the trusses, the impact of that collision caused this damage and because of that impact, Deanna Shapiro will never walk again. The defendant's reckless conduct put this crash in motion."
Earlier, in her closing argument, defense attorney Cheryl Coleman questioned why prosecutors did not play the 911 tape her client made after the crash. She suggested it was because Cole sounded sober on it.
Coleman told the jurors that to convict her client of felony assault, they must conclude her client was aware of a risk and recklessly and consciously disregarded it.
And Coleman pressed jurors repeatedly to remember that merely thinking Cole is "probably guilty" is not enough to convict him and that it needs to be beyond a reasonable doubt.
After her stressing the point, the Judge James Murphy III told Coleman, "we've heard enough about reasonable doubt. Move on."
Coleman, appearing taken aback, asked the judge if he was instructing her to move on.
"I'm instructing you that I will instruct the jury on the burden of proof ...," Murphy responded.
Later, as the prosecutor spoke, the judge reacted to an apparent look on Coleman's face and said, Ms. Coleman, let's watch it with the facial expressions."
A blood test showed Cole's blood alcohol level to be 0.10 percent, two points above the state's 0.08 percent threshold for DWI. But it was ruled inadmissible for trial.
The prosecution relied instead on the testimony of a state trooper who said Cole failed four of five field sobriety tests at the scene -- and said Cole refused to volunteer for a blood alcohol test, saying he'd go to jail first.
DeMartino reminded the jury that Cole later told the state trooper he drank three or four beers at the Rusty Nail and another beer at Trick Shot.
The jury later asked to hear a read back if the trooper's testimony.
Coleman said none of the other people at the bars that night, to a person, testified that Cole appeared drunk.
Cole, who as a much younger man was convicted of multiple felonies and served time in prison, has been free of legal trouble for several years now.
https://www.timesunion.com/7dayarchive/article/Deliberations-under-way-in-Cole-vehicular-assault-12756823.php
