By Roger DuPuis
The Times-Leader
WILKES-BARRE — No evidence.
That’s why inmate Nathaniel Adderly claims he should not have been convicted of assaulting two Luzerne County correctional officers in October 2012.
Luzerne County Senior Judge Joseph Augello found Adderly, 42, guilty in January following a bench trial.
Defense attorney Mary V. Deady filed appeal documents on behalf of Adderly on Tuesday in county court, arguing that Augello’s verdict was not supported by evidence.
Adderly already was serving a three-to-six-year state prison sentence after a county jury convicted him of violating the state’s Megan’s Law registration requirements, court documents indicate. He is subject to lifetime registration stemming from a conviction of rape and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.
According to a criminal complaint, Adderly became combative with a correctional officer as he was being allowed into the yard of the Luzerne County Correctional Facility. Adderly lunged at the officer, at which point several other officers intervened, the complaint says.
Two officers were injured during the struggle, according to court papers.
Officer Kristopher Renfer sustained injuries to his left knee, hip and shoulder, the complaint says, while Officer Charles Schrader was diagnosed with a concussion.
Deady’s argument to the court on Tuesday rips into the official depiction of events.
“The evidence was insufficient to support the guilty verdict of aggravated assault on both counts because no medical evidence from a competent medical professional was presented to support the existence of the alleged bodily injuries,” she wrote.
“The only evidence presented regarding the alleged bodily injuries was hearsay evidence from the alleged victims and was therefore insufficient to support the guilty verdicts,” Deady added.
Moreover, she wrote, there was no video evidence of the incident “even though there are security cameras in the hallways of the correctional facility.”
Augello in February sentenced Adderly to 30 to 60 months for the conviction, but as it was to run concurrently with his previous Megan’s Law registration conviction, the end result is that Adderly might not serve any extra time behind bars as a result of the assault conviction.
Adderly remains incarcerated in the state prison at Houtzdale, Clearfield County, records indicate.