NORWICH– Tammi L. Van Deusen said she asked for a lawyer and was not made aware that she was being tape-recorded during her police interview. Van Deusen also said she felt intimidated and signed many forms after her arrest on Aug. 4, 2000 that she did not understand or even read.
Van Deusen testified Friday on her behalf, saying, “I wanted an attorney from the beginning. They told me I had to wait until I got to Chenango County.”
The court dismissed two charges against Van Deusen, a second degree burglary charge and fourth degree conspiracy charge.
Van Deusen, who was 24 when sentenced in 2001 for her role in a drug-related murder, has been serving an 8 year sentence for her August 2000 admittance to robbery in the first degree. She was one of five defendants convicted in connection to the July 17, 2000 murder of Edward Pastore Jr., that took place at Pastore’s 118 Lewis Road Norwich home. The conviction was overturned by the State’s Court of Appeals. The plea was rejected because county court officials failed to fully inform Van Deusen of the terms of her plea bargain. Specifically, the court ruled that at the time of her plea, Van Deusen was not made aware that she was subject to post-release supervision. Her initial attempt to withdraw her plea was denied in 2000 by Judge Howard Sullivan and she was sentenced on Jan. 22, 2001.
Sullivan recused himself from the murder retrial. The court order stated, “This court now questions whether it, in fact, invested too much energy in effecting an outcome, even to the extent that it could have prejudiced subsequent rulings. A judge’s role in plea bargaining is that of an independent evaluator, not of an advocate.” The original motion to have the judge excused was denied; however persistence by Van Deusen’s attorney Randel Scharf made the court reconsider.
State Police Investigator Michael Franz also testified in court, saying he read Van Deusen her rights at least five times and that she spoke to authorities on her own free will. Franz said roughly half of the three hour interview was recorded because police ran out of cassette tape.
District Attorney Joseph McBride read through Van Deusen’s written statement made at the time of her arrest, and she denied ever saying a large portion of it. McBride also read through the release form listing each of Van Deusen’s Miranda rights that were separately initialed by her. “I signed a lot of forms that day. I didn’t know,” said Van Deusen.
A key role Van Deusen allegedly played in the crime was taking Xavier Lee Valentine of Staten Island and Paul Escalante the home of Pastore and pointing it out just prior to the crime. She denies knowing anything about the murder-robbery and claims she drove them to the house because they wanted to buy marijuana. The prosecution also believes she played a role in the drug trafficking and may have provided the weapons used in the murder.
The trial is set for March and Van Deusen, who is the mother of a seven year old son, requested bail, but Smith wanted more financial information before making a ruling.