By April Amadon
Niagara Gazette
July 06, 2009 02:14 pm
—
On the day jury selection was set to begin for their trial, the two coaches charged in connection with alleged hazing on a Wilson school bus had the cases against them dismissed.
On Monday morning, Assistant District Attorney Robert Zucco asked Town Justice George R. Berger for a dismissal, and the request was granted.
The coches, William M. Atlas and Thomas J. Baia, had been charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child. They were reportedly on the bus during an April 17, 2008, trip from Niagara Falls to Wilson, when the alleged hazing occurred.
The decision to dismiss the case was apparently made last week after a meeting between District Attorney Michael Violante and the defense attorneys, Herbert Greenman, representing Atlas, and Robert Viola, representing Baia.
“We had an idea what was going to happen (Monday morning), but we were prepared to go to trial,” Greenman said.
The attorneys were ready for the trial, but are “thrilled” that the case ended this way, he said.
“It’s sort of a meancholy thing, (when) you’ve done all this work ... but on the other hand, I’ll never complain,” Greenman said. “We’re just hoping that people can move on with their lives.”
Meanwhile, a verdict is pending in the case against two Wilson baseball players. The non-jury trial for 17-year-olds Christopher Sidote and Colton Sherman ended Wednesday, and Berger has yet to render a decision.
Zucco said he would not comment on the dismissal of the coaches’ charges until that decision comes in.
“Until that decision is issued, we feel it’s not appropriate to make public comment about the reasons for dismissal in this case,” Zucco said.
Greenman said the defense agrees.
“It’s very difficult right now to really talk about it, because we don’t want to interfere with respect to the other case,” he said.
Berger said he could not comment on the status of the players’ cases because the teens are considered youthful offenders.
“Any information from the case from last week is sealed,” he said. “It’s not public information.”
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