Judge holds woman with multiple DWIs without bail
ALBION – The acting Orleans County Court judge decided to hold a Livingston County woman without bail because the judge said she is worried the woman might drive drunk again if she was freed from incarceration.
Sharon Davis, 54, of Geneseo was charged with 4 DWIs in less than three months, including one on April 21 in Barre when she registered a 0.26 percent Blood Alcohol Content.
Former County Court Judge James Punch, who retired on July 29, set bail for Davis at $20,000. Judges in Genesee and Livingston counties, where she has the other DWIs, set bail at $5,000.
Davis is currently an inmate in the Livingston County Jail. She picked up two more DWIs after posting bail from the first two arrests.
“I’m very nervous about her,” said Judge Sara Sheldon, who is acting Criminal Court judge in Orleans County. “This court is now holding her without bail.”
District Attorney Joe Cardone presented a plea offer for Davis where she would face a maximum of 2 ½ to 7 years in prison for the two DWIs in Orleans and Genesee counties. The other two DWIs in Livingston County would be prosecuted separately.
“That’s a gift,” Sheldon said about the offer.
Davis was given until Aug. 28 to consider the offer with her attorney, Christian Kennedy.
In other cases:
• An inmate at the Albion Correctional Facility admitted in Orleans County Court on Monday to attempting to have a drug brought into the prison.
Stacie Calloway, 47, is a Rochester native currently in the women’s prison. On March 26 she attempted to have Alprazolam, a prescription drug used to treat anxiety, be brought into the prison.
Calloway pleaded guilty to attempted promotion of prison contraband in the first degree.
The charge usually carries a 2- to 4-year maximum in prison. As part of a plea, Calloway will face a maximum of 1 ½ to 3 years in prison when she is sentenced on Oct. 23.
• A Rochester man in jail on $300,000 bail asked for his bail to be reduced.
Judge Sheldon told Victor T. Simmons, 46, of Rochester to give her some reasons why the bail should be lowered.
Simmons, through his attorney Mark Lewis, said he wants to see his grandmother who is sick. Simmons also is married with children.
“Three hundred thousand is a large amount,” Lewis said.
Simmons was arraigned on May 8 for 13 counts of drug charges, including six counts each of third-degree criminal sale and criminal possession of a controlled substance, as well as one count of fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Judge Punch set bail at $300,000, citing a 37-page criminal history for Simmons, which includes four felonies in New York State and other out-of-state convictions.
His most recent charges involve selling heroin and cocaine in Albion.
DA Joe Cardone asked that Sheldon continue the bail at $300,000.
After the DA and judge went over the 37-page criminal history and latest charges, Simmons backed off his request for a reduced bail.
“He says it’s OK,” Lewis told the judge.
• An Albion man asked the judge to give him a different assigned counsel.
Joshua D. Biaselli, 33, said his attorney, David Wade, doesn’t believe Biaselli is innocent of the charges. Biaselli said he should have an attorney who doesn’t assume he’s guilty.
Biaselli allegedly stole a car and drove while under the influence of alcohol and drugs on Feb. 10. He has been in jail on $200,000 bail.
Biaselli allegedly crashed the vehicle into a garage on Gulf Road in Murray. He was allegedly driving drunk and high from using cocaine and marijuana.
Biaselli was released from state prison in Elmira in January after serving more than five years in prison for felony DWI, bail jumping and drug convictions.
The judge said Wade has done nothing wrong to warrant removal from the case. Biaselli already was successful in having his first assigned attorney removed from the case.
Wade said a plea offer, for a maximum of 1 ½ to 4 ½ years in state prison, is being rejected by Biaselli who wants the case to go to trial.
