Ballston man convicted in shovel attack may be heading to new trial

A Ballston man found guilty in 2022 of attacking his ex-girlfriend’s father with a shovel may be heading for a new trial later this year.

Troy Tenace, 52, was arrested in September 2021 after police said he choked a woman when she tried to leave his house. When the woman’s father arrived, Tenace was accused of striking the man, causing a traumatic brain injury.

A jury convicted Tenace on charges of assault and criminal instruction of breathing following a jury trial. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Tenace appealed his conviction and in a decision issued on July 11, the Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department overturned the conviction. His attorney challenged the fact that Saratoga County Court Judge Jim Murphy used an anonymous jury. 

The appeals court found that the “practice of empaneling an anonymous jury contains no statutory justification,” the justices wrote.

They said that the law merely permits withholding residential or business addresses of prospective jurors.

The Saratoga County District Attorney’s Office conceded there was no factual support for utilizing an anonymous jury. However, it said that the defense did not raise the issue and that the error was harmless.”

The court disagreed and overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial.

A pretrial hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 14 at 2 p.m. 

This is the second time that the court has overturned a conviction because of Murphy’s use of an anonymous jury.

In April, the appeals court threw out the conviction of John C. Heidrich, of Halfmoon, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the kidnapping and rape of a woman in 2020. Heidrich is accused of meeting the victim online, persuading her to travel from the Boston area to Halfmoon. He then allegedly raped her at least three times, struck her in the head with a hammer, choked her and poured hot coffee on her.

That case is scheduled for a conference on Sept. 3 at 9:30 a.m.