FIRST ON 13: Lawyer: Drop deputy’s attempted murder charge in Saratoga Springs shootout

A motion has just been filed from the off-duty Rutland County deputy from Glens Falls, involved in last

November’s wild shootout in Saratoga Springs. It spells out why Vito Caselnova’s lawyer said his client’s attempted murder charge should be dismissed.

Lawyer Greg Teresi’s motion points out page-by-page what he said are errors in how the district attorney presented the case to the Grand Jury –a defective proceeding, incomplete and insufficient instructions, including improper instructions on what “withdrawal” means and that the ADA never told the grand jury that Caselnova tried to back away from the situation.

The dramatic videos of that morning shootout – and his motion – spell out how his client was within his rights to draw his gun. That’s because he believed that the men from Utica were trying to rob him and kidnap Cali Brown, his date, Teresi said.

The three men from Utica should have been charged with gang assault, said Teresi, and not just misdemeanor attempted assault.

Teresi’s motion also accused the district attorney’s office of prosecutorial bias, treating Caselnova differently than the three men from Utica.

It reads: “The officer of the court clearly had his opinion made up when he reprimanded one party, but not the other…”

Prosecutors have two weeks to respond to the defense motions and then Judge Jim Murphy will decide if the Grand Jury was properly told about the justification defense.

Hear Teresi discuss more details of the motion, and why he argues the charges against his client should be dismissed, by watching the video of Mark Mulholland’s story.