COUNTDOWN: 16 days to Wrongful Conviction Day: (Thursday October 6, 2016);
"Prosecutors
rested their case this afternoon in the murder trial of Oral "Nick"
Hillary. Hillary is charged with the 2011 death of 12 year-old Garrett
Phillips in Potsdam. The defense team then requested a dismissal for lack of evidence,
calling the peoples' case “far from legally sufficient.” Judge Felix
Catena reserved judgement and the trial proceeded, with witnesses for
the defense. A reminder that Catena is judge
and jury in this, after Hillary waived his right to trial by jury.........The
prosecution also raised questions about Hillary’s ankle injury.
Rensselaer county medical examiner Michael Sikirica was asked to examine
photos of Hillary’s ankle taken two days after the murder. Sikirica said the wound appeared “fresh,” that there was “no evidence
of healing” and that it appeared one to two days old. Hillary has said
he injured his ankle a week before Garrett’s death moving furniture in
his apartment. Sikirica was the coroner who did the autopsy on Garrett’s body. While
the court was shown graphic police photos of the victim, Sikirica
described scratches and scrapes on Garrett’s face and neck, as if
someone “grabbed Garrett Phillips over the mouth.” He said the injuries
were consistent with, but not necessarily caused by, fingernails. Defense attorney Earl Ward reminded Sikirica of earlier grand jury
testimony when he said there was “no patterning consistent with gloves.”
Nick Hillary’s fingerprints have not been found at the crime scene
despite an exhaustive search by state police forensics experts. But
prosecutor Fitzpatrick countered by asking if the injuries could be made
with “surgical or thin gloves,” Sikirica answered yes."
http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/32607/20160920/prosecution-rests-in-the-nick-hillary-trial-defense-moves-for-dismissal