Morning News Briefing
Written by WBTA STAFF on October 3, 2019
Arguments abounded as the trial against former Batavia High School Football star Antwan Odom continued into day three.
The focus was on the lawyers in day three of the trial according to our news partner, The Batavian, with a clearly contentious relationship between defense Attorney Frank Housh and District Attorney Lawrence Friedman.
Housh presented a seemingly convincing closing statement with a reportedly sympathetic looking jury only to be torn apart point-by-point with Friedman’s closing statement.
Odom is accused of stabbing former Batavia football teammate Ray Leach in an altercation in the summer of 2018 to which defense attorney Housh maintains that Leach was not the victim but the aggressor.
Odom is facing a felony count of first-degree Assault and the jury is expected to start deliberations today.
Alleged shoplifting with a kid at Home Depot leads to charges for Pavilion man.
Following an investigation into a stolen generator from the Home Depot Store in Batavia, Genesee County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 41 year old Jason Mckenzie of Covell Road Pavilion.
Mckenzie was with his daughter when he allegedly stole the generator from Home Depot earlier last month and was apprehended Monday while he was trying to sell the stolen merchandise at a pawn shop.
He was charged with Petit Larceny along with Endangering the Welfare of a Child and was released with appearance tickets for Batavia Town Court on October 17th.
A crash in Alabama ends in arrest for an Evans Street man.
Deputies arrested 20 year old Austin Kotarski of Batavia after investigation into a motor vehicle accident on Lewiston Road in Alabama.
Kotarski is facing counts of Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs along with traffic and vehicle infractions for Moving from a Lane Unsafely and having an Uninspected Motor Vehicle.
After being processed at the Genesee County Jail Kotarski was released with appearance tickets for Alabama Town Court.
Nearly a year after a limo crash in Schoharie left 20 people dead, the NTSB has released a new report on the tragedy.
In it, officials said some of the passengers in the vehicle may have survived if they were wearing seat belts.
Most of the belts in the vehicle were under the seats and not visible to passengers.
The NTSB is now recommending the state make it mandatory that all motor vehicle passengers wear seat belts.
Yesterday’s report does not reveal a final conclusion about what caused the crash.
Governor Cuomo says the end of the AIDS epidemic in New York is getting closer.
He made the announcement yesterday after data revealed a 28 percent drop in new HIV cases since 2014.
That’s the year the state launched an aggressive campaign to make sure people living with both HIV and AIDS get the support and treatment they need to live healthy lives.
It’s projected the AIDS epidemic in New York may be over by the end of 2020.
