Appeals court rejects appeal in bat-attack case

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May 15, 2009

By SUE BOTSFORD The Press Republican Fri May 15, 2009, 11:48 AM EDT

ELIZABETHTOWN — The assault conviction of a garage owner who hit a romantic rival with a baseball bat was upheld on appeal.

Craig W. Scharpf, 42, of Witherbee was convicted after an Essex County Court jury trial in June 2007 of first-degree assault, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, third-degree intimidating a victim or witness and two counts of second-degree aggravated harassment.

Scharpf struck Jamie Rotella of Moriah with a baseball bat, causing serious head injuries and later made threats against a witness, Rotella’s girlfriend, Mindy Kimball.

He did not testify at his trial, but his attorney argued he acted in self defense, introducing his statements to police and the recording of a 911 call made by Kimball.

Scharpf was convicted on all counts and was sentenced, as a second-felony offender, to concurrent and consecutive prison terms, the longest of which was 15 years.

He was also ordered to make $29,655 in restitution for the victim’s medical expenses.

defense

The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court was not convinced by Scharpf’s contention that the district attorney failed his justification of defense.

Justification for use of deadly force can be established if Scharpf believed such force was necessary to prevent a burglary of his home or to protect himself from the use or imminent use of deadly physical force against him, the justices said.

Although his attorney argued that Scharpf believed Rotella was about to break into his auto-repair garage and attack him, Scharpf denied touching the victim and said the man fell and struck his head on a pipe by the front door.

However, there was no blood by the pipe, and Kimball said Scharpf ambushed Rotella and struck him twice in the head before Rotella reached the house or had contact with the defendant.

Evidence was presented that Rotella was unarmed, had not reached the doorway or broken into the house and that the defendant struck the victim with the bat before any contact was made.

CHARGE TO JURY

The judge’s charge of consciousness of guilt was justified, the appeals court ruled, because Scharpf tried to avoid police and was found hiding in his sister’s barn.

EFFECTIVE COUNSEL

Scharpf’s final contention in his appeal was that he was deprived of effective assistance of counsel because he was incarcerated 75 miles away and his attorney had to drive two hours to see him.

The appeals court rejected that, saying he was able to talk with his attorney by phone and that at various times he was brought back to Essex County to be able to participate in proceedings.

IN DANNEMORA

At sentencing, Judge Richard Meyer said Scharpf’s lengthy criminal history included separate incidents of shooting someone in the leg with a shotgun, threatening individuals with a knife and a 3-foot-long metal pipe, and ramming one car off the road and another into oncoming traffic.

According to Department of Corrections records, Scharpf is serving his time at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora.

He will see the Parole Board in August 2020.

— Staff Writer Lohr McKinstry contributed to this story.