Rochester/Greece, N.Y. - A judge has thrown out charges against a former Greece Police Sergeant, after a grand jury indicted Brian Ball for fabricating a report in a suspected DWI accident.
At issue is whether prosecutors gave Brian Ball enough information about the charges against him so he could determine whether to testify to the grand jury that would decide his fate.
Ball is accused of putting false information on a report of the crash that killed 18-year old Stephanie Oliva of Greece.
District Attorney Mike Green says a key issue was protecting witnesses, some of whom worked with Ball, and under then-Chief Merritt Rahn. "We wanted to protect witnesses,” Green said. “The balance we struck was to say, ‘We'll let you know before you go into the grand jury, but we're not going to tell you ahead of time.’"
However, Judge Francis Affronti said Ball should have been given more information, especially because of the age of the case—and--he took it one step further, attacking the case itself.
“The evidence, even viewed in the light most favorable to the people is legally insufficient," the judge wrote.
Prosecutors will appeal on both counts.
Green said the ruling does not impact the pending criminal cases against former Chief Merritt Rahn. "This is a situation limited to Brian Ball. It has nothing to do with any other case."
The district attorney's office must file an appeal with in 30 days, but any ruling could take six months or longer.
Brian Ball was fired from the Greece Police Department.
