By Karenlyn Barone
As Troy, who is accused of the Our Lady of Peace Church murders last year, was lead into the Honorable Daniel J. Cotter's courtroom on June 11, he seemed more alert and was more participatory in his defense that day, often whispering to his lawyer.
Troy is a former mental patient who has previously been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. His defense attorney, Peter McCormack is concerned that his client cannot contribute rationally to his defense, yet, this day Troy appears more alert than ever. He is more animated than previous appearances and converses frequently with his attorney during the court session.
The judge is here today to decide on issues of admissibility regarding evidence and to determine whether or not a police line-up, in which the defendant was identified was conducted without suggestibility.
Cotter moved swiftly from issue to issue, patiently allowing McCormack minimal time to absorb his rulings and relay them to his client. His first rendering was in relation to two search warrants issued and conducted at Troy's residence, 56 Fowler Ave., Lynbrook and his parent's home, 33 Vincent Road, Hicksville. Cotter found both search warrants to have been properly issued and properly executed. No indication of what may have been seized from either location was mentioned, but certainly one issue to be brought out at the impending trial will be the much publicized list of names and addresses confiscated from Troy's pants pocket at the time of his arrest.
What will not be discussed at the trial are the results of a handwriting analysis done on Troy in May 2002. The defense had no prior knowledge of the analysis nor was he advised of the results, so the judge ruled that the prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Fred Schroeder, would be precluded from calling any handwriting analysts to testify at the trial. Cotter further ruled that the actual handwriting analysis was not admissible, either.
With one major issue left to be ruled on Troy appeared concerned. Although the previously noted hand wringing was still evident, on this day, there were also numerous times when Troy reached out to lay a hand on his attorney's arm in a beseeching way.
The defense took issue with an eyewitness and suggested that he had been affected by the publicity following his client's arrest. McCormack referred to the many images of Troy that subsequently appeared in the media.
McCormack contends that Gerard Denk, the eyewitness who reportedly chased Troy from the church on the day of the shootings, admitted to seeing television coverage of the incident on the local news channel.
"Gerard Denk was at a neighbor's house the afternoon of March 12 and admits that he saw coverage of Peter Troy being taken away by the police," said McCormack. "His identification has been affected."
McCormack further contends that the police line-up, in which eyewitnesses identified Troy, drew attention to his client in an unfair way.
"All the other men in the picture have bigger builds than my client and one men has a receding hairline," said McCormack. "Any testimony regarding the line-up should be suppressed."
Schroeder argued that the line-up was extremely fair and that there was no undo suggestiveness.
"The line-up was the first time the defendant was seen with a hairy face and the eyewitnesses still identified him," said Schroeder. "All the evidence regarding the line-up should be admissible."
After careful review of the line-up photographs Cotter ruled on the side of the prosecutor. Noted was the fact that the line-up subjects were seated and a sheet was draped over them, making body size insignificant. Cotter also stated that he saw no significant difference in skin color and ruled the photos and eyewitness identification pertaining to same was admissible.
The pre-trial hearing wound down as Troy physically appeared more tightly wound. Just when the rubbing of his hands became more furious and the rocking back and forth more deliberate, Cotter adjourned for the day. Jury selection is scheduled for this week.
