NORWICH – An Afton man was found not guilty of all the charges against him following a bench trial in Chenango County Court Wednesday.
Curtis Snyder was arrested along with his 23-year-old son Matthew M. Snyder last Jan. 22 over allegations involving the theft and possession of nearly $30,000 worth of items taken from several burglarized homes.
Matthew Snyder pleaded guilty in January to two counts of burglary in a plea arrangement that will send him to state prison for four years. He testified in court that his father was unaware of his activities.
Matthew Snyder took the stand Wednesday and admitted he burglarized 11 different homes in the Afton area, stealing tens of thousands worth of property between 2005 and 2007.
“For the past three hours we heard Matthew Snyder speak and at the risk of stating the obvious, Matt Snyder is not on trial here,” said defense attorney Kenneth P. Whiting III.
“Judge, this is an instance of the prosecution attempting to place the sins of the son at the feet of the father,” said Whitman.
Prosecutor Stephen M. Dunshee had argued that Curtis Snyder was aware of his son’s activities and help to sell and store the property. The family all lived under the same roof and the assistant district attorney argued that it was impossible for Curtis Snyder not to be aware of the 80-plus pieces of stolen property found at the residence, which included several chainsaws, firearms, a four-wheeler, a dirt bike, $7,000 worth of jewelry, tools and more.
“I just can’t imagine a home owner who has a storehouse of stolen items not wondering where they all came from,” said Dunshee, noting the neither the father or son had a steady income in the last two years.
Supreme Court Justice Kevin M. Dowd said he spent the previous night reviewing the first day of testimony and following the attorney’s closing arguments, he handed out his verdict.
“This is a circumstantial case based on circumstantial evidence,” he said.
The judge said that because the case had no direct evidence, he had to hold the burden of proof to an even higher standard. “I must exclude every other possible hypothesis in order to find a verdict of guilt,” he explained.
“I can not say that was done by the people in this case. I don’t know how they could have done it. Mr. Dunshee did a great job doing everything he could, but it just wasn’t there,” said Dowd.
He found Curtis Snyder not guilty of the charges against him – third and fourth degree possession of stolen property – and the defendant was free to leave the courtroom.
The case began after a collaboration of the New York State Police, Chenango County Sheriff’s Department, Afton Police Department and the Canadian Pacific Railroad Police led to the original arrests.
Police had an informant wear a wire that recorded Matthew speaking about the crimes that led to a search warrant being issued for the residence he shared with his parents.
Matthew Snyder has been incarcerated since his arrest and will not be officially sentenced on his plea bargain until March 2. He is expected to get credit for time served and will then proceed to a state facility for approximately three years if Dowd confirms the agreement.