NORWICH – During an early afternoon session, the Chenango County Court house was filled with court officials, law enforcement of the Sheriff’s department and concerned community members waited to hear what Judge Frank B.
Revoir would place on the record in the matter of Ernest F. Franklin, Jr. and Heather Franklin, the Guilford couple who allegedly murdered their 16-year-old son. It is alleged that the couple killed their son the day before setting their residence on fire.
• Heather Franklin with representation by Michael E. Trosset based out of Fly Creek began by saying, “Your Honor, we ask that bail be very minimum due to the fact my client now 30 weeks pregnant, with no past criminal record and has been licensed to give care for years, is not a threat to society and will end up having this baby in jail on tax payers money if she can not post bail. With her high risk pregnancy and just miscarrying not too long before, it is important my client receive care that the facility can not provide. Your Honor I advocate strongly that my client be released on her own recognizes or set minimal bail on this matter”.
Revoir asked both Mr. Trosset and his client, that if bail were to be posted would Heather have a place to go. “Your Honor, members of a church organization with relation for years would graciously take her in,” said Trosset. When asked if the people have a comment, Chenango County District Attorney Joseph A. McBride advised the court that, “The defendant’s license was revoked to be a foster parent.” Responding quickly, “Correction your Honor, she withdrew after adopting Jeffery. Her license was never revoked,” said Trosset. McBride continued by saying, “The evidence shows that Jeffery was indeed a handful, and became a big strain in the family because of his countless medical issues.
The defendant even went on Facebook to complain about Jeffery.” When asked what the family was doing prior to the incident, both defendants watched a newly released movie called ‘Manchester by the Sea,’ a film of a death that occurred accidentally resulting in no charges. “When an autopsy was performed, the medical examiner from Broome County could not determine the exact cause of death due to the damage from the fire, but it was clear that Jeffrey did not die of natural causes, meaning there was no debris in his mouth, trachea, bronchi or lungs from the smoke and the carbon monoxide levels were low resulting in a death that occurred prior to the fire,” said McBride. “Judge, I ask that on the matters of this case and her child that the defendant be remanded at this time without bail.”
Trosset said on the record that at this point there is no co-defendant. For the charge of arson he alleged that one must be present at the time of the fire, which he indicated that his client was not. “If my client is guilty of anything it is driving without a license. It will be a long time before this case will go to trial. My client deserves to be let free,” said Trossett.
Judge Revoir elected to set bail for Heather Franklin, in the amount of $125,000 cash or $250,000 bail bond.
• Ernest F. Franklin entered the courtroom following the conclusion of Heather Franklin, with public defender John D. Cameron. Cameron began with the close family and community ties he alleged Ernest had, and stated Ernest has remained a lifelong resident, and a military vet that served two tours just shortly after September 11, 2001 – stating that Ernest was honorably discharged for medical reasons. “Your honor, I understand this is a very serious case and after reviewing my clients history we ask that a reasonable and appropriate bail is set,” said Cameron.
Similar to Heather, it is alleged that multiple churchgoers and family members have offered to take in Ernest if bail was posted. McBride and lieutenant Richard Cobb from the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office addressed the court. “After looking into the military records, it is uncertain if the defendant was in active duty during his time in the military. He was stationed in Germany,” said McBride.
“As I previously advised the court that at the time of the incident, the defendant was not injured trying to save the boy. He was very calm and in fact pointed to the room where Jeffrey was. The fire was intentional and did not in fact cause the death of Jeffery. Judge, we ask that the defendant be remanded without bail at this time.”
Cameron responded on behalf of Ernest, “This is a terrible tragedy, you honor my client lost everything, his beloved son, his home, everything was lost. Our office has a forensic examiner that will review all of the evidence. Right now we do not have all of the answers regarding his military records that have been sealed, but we will learn more and more as time goes on.”
In the matter of this case, Revoir set bail in the amount of $250,000 cash or $500,000 bail bond. If convicted, both Heather and Ernest Franklin face up to 25 years to life in prison, each. No trial date has been set.
Both are set to appear in court at a later date. Both Ernest and Heather Franklin are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.