By: Casey J. Bortnick
A suspended Irondequoit police
officer accused of assault in an East End night club last May was back in court
Friday.
Prosectors say Officer Jason
Hughes, and his brother James, assaulted a Rochester man in the early morning
hours of May 29th, 2011.
Both brothers were indicted
and arraigned in October. They pleaded not guilty to assault in the third
degree.
The alleged incident was
captured in its entirety on security video. In addition to that evidence, two
eyewitnesses were called to testify during a preliminary hearing.
A bartender and a patron of
Club Vinyl were repeatedly questioned by the defense about how well they knew
Jason Hughes. Both identified him as being involved in the alleged assault last
May. The prosecution says that testimony, along with the video evidence, is
crucial.
"The video is pretty
telling in and of itself," said Assistant District Attorney Caroline
Morrison.
Morisson says security video
captured that night clearly shows the victim, Guillermo Franco Jr., being
assaulted by two men. Those men were later identified as Jason and James
Hughes.
Franco, who shared his story
with YNN in July, said he was attacked by both men after trying to help his
girlfriend get away from the off-duty police officer. Franco said he needed 13
stitches and suffered a concussion.
James Hughes, who works for
the Town of Irondequoit's highway department, was identified through security
video showed to his boss. Hughes' attorney Joe Damelio challenged whether or
not that identification was suggestive.
Morrison says it wasn't.
"That's our position and
we're pretty confident of that,” said Morrison.
Why did Morrison say she was
so confident?
“Because he knows him. They're
looking at a video. No one told him to identify this particular person and he
recognized this individual in the video,” Morrison said.
Jason Hughes remains suspended
with pay from the Irondequoit Police Department. James Hughes is still on the
job.
Damelio and Jason Hughes'
attorney, Larry Adolina, left court without commenting.
Judge Morse will issue a
written ruling on the challenges by the defense in early June. The next step
will be to set a date for trial in county court.