DA investigating possible video of alleged church assault
Is there a video of the alleged brutal assault that took the life of a 19-year-old and seriously injured his 17-year-old brother in a Chadwicks church?
Utica Observer-Dispatch/November 17, 2015
By Micaela Parker
Is there a video of the alleged brutal assault that took the life of a 19-year-old and seriously injured his 17-year-old brother in a Chadwicks church?
And if so, will it shed light on the level of alleged involvement of each of the six defendants currently charged in the case?
The Oneida County District Attorney’s Office, after a court order, recently obtained two cellphones and a number of memory cards from church pastor Tiffanie Irwin’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Kurt Schultz.
Those items are believed to contain a record of the alleged assaults that began Oct. 11 and spanned into Oct. 12 in the Word of Life Christian Church at 3354 Oneida St.
Police said the beatings resulted in the death of Lucas Leonard, 19. His brother Christopher, 17, was severely injured.
Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara referred all questions back to the content of the document, obtained by the O-D through a Freedom of Information Act request. Schultz did not immediately return a call for comment.
In a decision and order signed by Acting Supreme Court Justice Barry M. Donalty in October, the Oneida County Public Defender’s Office moved to have a subpoena requesting certain “electronic evidence” pertaining to the investigation be dismissed.
McNamara argued in the document that, as a result of reviewing phone conversations among arrested members of the Word of Life Christian Church, the office has reasonable cause to believe that a video of what has been termed by church members a “counseling session” exists. The office requested Schultz to produce any and all “telephones, computers, iPads (and) video cameras,” as well as any associated electronic storage devices for such equipment.
“DA McNamara quoted text messages between one of the defendants and his mother which were sent and received during the time of the alleged assaults,” the documents state. “Defendant’s mother sent a text message asking, ‘Is the cam still working?’ to which defendant sent a reply text message stating, ‘Yes’. Another text message from this defendant’s mother stated, ‘I’m glad it’s recorded so that there’s a record.’”
Additional text messages reportedly were sent between the same defendant and Tiffanie Irwin, who has not yet been charged for any possible involvement in the incident, regarding the status of the SD memory cards and related paraphernalia. The court documents refer to Irwin as a “prospective defendant.”
It was Irwin who handed two cellphones and a number of SD cards over to her attorney, according to the document. Schultz established an attorney-client relationship with Irwin “only after she relayed certain information to him about the pending homicide and assault investigation.” Schultz stated on the record that he believed he did not have to comply with the subpoena because whatever information he learned from his client was protected by attorney-client privilege, according to the document.
The court disagreed. Donalty ordered the cellphones and SD cards be delivered to the District Attorney’s office.
In a brief discussion of case law, it was noted that the grand jury’s primary function is to investigate crimes and determined whether sufficient evidence exists to accuse and individual of a crime. It also was noted that attorney-client privilege is not a “cloak” that permits the defendant or an attorney to withhold evidence of a crime.
An Oneida County grand jury is expected to release its decision near Thanksgiving regarding additional or upgraded charges for the defendants and any new indictments in the case.
Charges
Bruce Leonard, 65, and Deborah Leonard, 59, of Clayville, are charged with first-degree manslaughter in the death of their son Lucas, 19.
Joseph Irwin, 26, of Chadwicks; David Morey, 26, and Linda Morey, 54, both of Utica; and Sarah Ferguson, 33, of Clayville, are charged with felony second-degree assault for the alleged assault on Lucas' brother Christopher, 17.
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