Higher court dismisses case against Dino Callara, who served 2 years of incarceration

Medina man says he intends to file lawsuit against county

ALBION – A higher court has dismissed the charges against a Medina man, siding with his claims that a special prosecutor was improperly appointed.

Dino Callara, 56, of Medina was convicted of a jury of grand larceny in the fourth degree and two counts of petit larceny on Feb. 22, 2022.

He served 24 months of incarceration in the county jail and state prison.

However, he contended the special prosecutor, Anthony Bruce, did not have jurisdiction in the case because Bruce does not live in the county or have an office in an adjacent county.

The Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department issued a decision on July 26, agreeing with Callara and his attorney, Kerry A. Conner, that the case should be dismissed.

Callara was in Orleans County Court this morning before Judge Sanford Church, who held off on dismissing the case today but said he would likely do so on Friday.

Conner said it is “routine” for county court judges to dismiss cases after decisions from the Fourth Judicial Department in favor of a dismissal.

Bruce spoke at court today and said he doesn’t agree with the Fourth Judicial Department decision. He asked Church to hold off on dismissing the indictment, with Bruce saying the decision was made “with prejudice.”

Church said it would be “double jeopardy” to bring the charges again after Callara’s case already went before a jury.

Bruce said he wanted more time to state his argument for objecting to the decision. Bruce, a long-time federal prosecutor, lives in Orchard Park and lists 39 Ellicott St. in Batavia as an office in Genesee County, which is contiguous to Orleans.

Callara said after court that he intends to sue the District Attorney’s Office and County Court for its handling of his case. His attorney tried to argue Bruce didn’t have jurisdiction because his office in Batavia wasn’t set up or being used at the time of Callara’s court case.

Conner, an attorney with the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, said the defense should be the one to seek a stay to argue an appeal, not the prosecution.

“The Fourth Department’s decision is equivalent to an acquittal,” Conner said in court. “There is no reason not to dismiss.”

Judge Church acknowledged he hasn’t faced this issue yet as a judge, with a decision from the Fourth Judicial Department to dismiss the indictment. He said he will do more research and expects to dismiss the case in a written decision on Friday.