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PLATTSBURGH — The sexual-abuse conviction of a Malone restaurant owner has been upheld by a state appeals court.
Zufer "Zukie" Cecunjanin, who was 35 when he was sentenced in August 2008, was convicted after a jury trial of attempted first-degree sexual abuse and second-degree unlawful imprisonment.
According to the ruling by the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court, the victim and friends arrived at the Night Life club in Malone in July 2007. After dancing and drinking into the morning hours, the victim sat for some time in the corner of the bar with Cecunjanin and three of his family members.
During this time, the victim became very intoxicated and had trouble sitting up. Cecunjanin then started trying to kiss her and put his hands under her shirt. He took her into a storage room and shut the door.
The victim said he again tried to kiss her, tried to persuade her to go upstairs and would not let her leave the room.
Her parents had been summoned by her friend, and her father took her out of the storage room and outside, where police were waiting.
Cecunjanin's first contention in his appeal was that there wasn't enough evidence to support the sexual-abuse conviction because no evidence was presented that the victim was physically helpless.
The appeals court said there was extensive evidence that the victim was intoxicated, including proof that her blood-alcohol content was 0.267 percent shortly after the incident.
There was also testimony from her friends who were with her that night. The victim herself said things were pretty blurry that night.
The appeals court said "the state of the victim's physical helplessness at any given moment is largely a question of fact" for the jury.
Cecunjanin also contended that his convictions were against the weight of evidence.
He testified he never touched the woman inappropriately. Several bar patrons, the bouncer and a bartender also said they saw nothing. The bartender said she found the victim alone in the storage room and called Cecunjanin, who tried to remove her.
In light of the conflicting testimony, the jury chose to believe the prosecution witnesses, and the appeals court said it had no reason to reject the jury's decision.
Also challenged were Judge Jerome Richards's investigation into two charges of jury misconduct.
In the first instance, during jury deliberations, defense counsel told the court one juror harbored the intent to convict Cecunjanin regardless of the evidence.
Richards conducted an extensive inquiry into the allegation, which the defense attorney participated in. Questioned were the juror's spouse and others.
The inquiry was sufficient for Richards to determine the juror was not grossly unqualified to serve, according to the appeals court.
Cecunjanin's contention that the juror should have been questioned was not raised at that time.
The second incident alleged that a juror's husband was a friend of both the Franklin County judge and district attorney.
The only question asked of the jurors was whether any of them or anyone close to them worked for the District Attorney's Office.
The appeals court said it was the juror's husband, not the juror, who was friends with the judge and DA, neither of whom was involved in the trial.
Therefore, there was no legitimate issue of her being grossly unqualified to serve, the justices ruled.
They also rejected Cecunjanin's contention that he was deprived of effective assistance of counsel. Because he disagreed with some of the trial tactics does not mean his attorney did not perform well during the trial.
Cecunjanin has already served his sentence in the Franklin County Jail and been released.
E-mail Sue Botsford:
botsford@westelcom.com
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