Cole free on bail after his lawyer argued judge was unfair
Published 5:21 pm, Thursday, March 22, 2018
John W. Cole is handcuffed after being convicted of felony assault and alcohol-impaired driving in Saratoga County Court in Ballston Spa on March 16, 2018.
John W. Cole is handcuffed after being convicted of felony assault and alcohol-impaired driving in Saratoga County Court in Ballston Spa on March 16, 2018.
John W. Cole is handcuffed after being convicted of felony assault and alcohol-impaired driving in Saratoga County Court in Ballston Spa on March 16, 2018.
John W. Cole is handcuffed after being convicted of felony assault and alcohol-impaired driving in Saratoga County Court in Ballston Spa on March 16, 2018.
ALBANY — An appellate justice released John W. Cole on $50,000 bail after his attorney argued that Saratoga County Judge James A. Murphy III improperly told her to "stop talking about reasonable doubt" during her closing argument at the auto repair businessman's trial.
In court papers, the attorney, Cheryl Coleman, made the case to Appellate Justice Eugene "Gus" Devine that Murphy wrongly barred portions of her Power Point presentation during the closing argument.
"The court was unduly intrusive and restrictive during defense counsel's summation, barring portions of counsel's power point presentation and most unbelievable ... ordering counsel to 'stop talking about reasonable doubt,'" Coleman stated. "When counsel inquired, 'Is the court directing me to stop talking to the jury about reasonable doubt?' the court answered, 'Talk about something else.'"
Coleman, among other points, contended Murphy was overly harsh in a pretrial ruling that allowed prosecutors to potentially grill Cole, if he testified, about his violent felony convictions in 1991.
"This had a chilling effect upon defendant taking the stand, which he did not do," Coleman said. "This was reversible error insofar as it basically barred defendant from testifying in his own defense."
She said Cole has lived an "exemplary life" in the 23 years since he was released from state prison following convictions for burglary, felony assault, possession of stolen property and possessing a weapon in Rensselaer County.
On March 16, a jury convicted Cole, 53, of second-degree assault and alcohol-impaired driving in the March 11, 2017 crash on Sitterly Road that left a passenger — Deanna Shapiro — a quadriplegic.
Prosecutors said Cole floored the gas pedal of his 2015 turbocharged BMW, lost control and slammed into a tree, causing the catastrophic injuries to Shapiro, who was in the back seat with her husband, Scott. Cole's wife, Regina, was in the front seat. They were returning from seeing a band at a local bar.
Cole faces two to seven years in prison at his sentencing on April 27 by Murphy, the county's former district attorney. On Wednesday, Devine released Cole on $50,000 bail, which allows the businessman, who owns the Cole's Collision chain, to remain free as he appeals his conviction.
Before the trial, Cole hired the Albany-based Baker Public Relations firm — headed by onetime local television reporter Megan Baker — to publicize his company's philanthropic efforts with some of the area's better-known charities. Calling it an "orchestrated, conspiratorial, PR-firm-manipulated, shopped-out method," Murphy scolded Cole and at one point threatened to revoke his bail if he ignored a court order to curtail his media outreach.
"During the trial, the court over a period of several days lambasted the defendant on the record, out of the presence of the jury, due to certain favorable public relations efforts which had been generated by a public relations firm," Coleman stated.
When jurors asked Murphy if they could convict Cole of second-degree assault without finding he was intoxicated, the judge, over objections from Coleman, replied "yes" and read the law. Coleman argued that Murphy made an "incorrect oversimplification of the law."
District Attorney Karen Eddy's office opposed the release of Cole from the the county jail.