By Brian Kelly
Watertown Daily Times
WATERTOWN — A state prison inmate acquitted in a Jefferson County Court trial in 2011 of trying to injure a corrections officer at Watertown Correctional Facility has filed a federal lawsuit claiming his constitutional rights were violated by the charge.
Justin D. Sutton, 26, now incarcerated at Downstate Correctional Facility, Fishkill, filed action Friday in U.S. District Court, Syracuse, against Jefferson County Court, Jefferson County Supreme Court and District Attorney Cindy F. Intschert claiming the charge for which he was tried — second-degree attempted assault — is a “legally impossible charge.”
Mr. Sutton was accused in an indictment handed up in May 2011 of trying to injure Officer Vincent Marzano by punching him in the face in December 2010 while incarcerated at the Watertown prison. Mr. Marzano testified at trial that Mr. Sutton lost inmate privileges for multiple behavior violations and again was found in violation of prison rules on the day of the incident. As the officer attempted to frisk Mr. Sutton for weapons, Mr. Marzano said, the inmate grabbed him and then punched him in the face.
Mr. Sutton, who acted as his own attorney at trial, testified that he might have “flinched” as Mr. Marzano attempted to have him place his hands on a wall to be frisked, prompting the officer to punch him first. He told the jury he was acting in self-defense when he punched Mr. Marzano. After a three-day trial, a jury deliberated nearly four hours before finding Mr. Sutton not guilty of second-degree attempted assault.
Mr. Sutton contends in his federal suit that in 1988 the state Court of Appeals struck down second-degree attempted assault as a legal charge, although the decision he cites found only that a specific subsection of state penal law rendered the count “legally impossible.” Subsequent appellate rulings have found that the charge can be upheld legally under other subsections of the law pertaining to assault.
Nevertheless, Mr. Sutton, who also is acting as his own attorney in the federal action, argues that his prosecution was “done either negligently or maliciously” and that County Court and Supreme Court erred in not dismissing the charge. He claims the charge caused him to be “boxed” at Watertown Correctional Facility, where he claims he was “harassed” and received “inhumane treatment” and threats to his safety, among other allegations.
He claims the series of incidents has caused him mental anguish, anxiety issues and psychological trauma. He is seeking $20 million in damages, according to the suit.
At the time of the alleged incident at the Watertown prison, Mr. Sutton was serving a term of up to 2½ years imposed in January 2010 after being convicted of attempted second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in New York City, according to the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision website. He was released under parole supervision in January 2012.
He was returned to prison July 10, according to the Department of Corrections site, having been convicted in Westchester County of two counts of first-degree identity theft and single counts of third-degree grand larceny and first-degree scheme to defraud. He has been sentenced to 5½ to 11 years in prison on those counts.