March 17, 2022 at 12:11 p.m.
$50,000 cash bond reinstated in Iliopoulos case
$50,000 cash bond reinstated in Iliopoulos case
Stavros G. Iliopoulos appeared Monday afternoon before Oneida County circuit judge Michael Bloom, the judge who presided over the original trial and granted the new trial. Iliopoulos is charged with child enticement, false imprisonment and first-degree child sexual assault. The charges were filed after a fifth-grade student at NCES reported that he had intercepted her as she was leaving a school restroom in September 2018, forced her into a janitor's closet and kissed her upper chest and stomach area. Iliopoulos has claimed the child walked into the closet on her own and he physically ejected her after she did not respond to his request that she leave.
Iliopoulos was sentenced to 14 years in prison, to be followed by 16 years extended supervision, after a jury convicted him of all charges following a two-day trial Sept. 4-5, 2019.
On June 15, 2021, assistant state public defender Jefren Olson filed a motion for post-conviction relief arguing that trial attorney Andrew Morgan was deficient in failing to seek exclusion of key DNA evidence in the case or request discovery relative to the DNA evidence. Olson also faulted defense counsel for his decision not to cross examine the complaining witness and his failure to present evidence that Iliopoulos had denied the child's claims.
Bloom ultimately agreed with Olson's assertions that trial counsel made three errors that resulted in the defendant being denied a fair trial:
• He didn't seek to exclude the DNA evidence presented at trial or obtain an expert to conduct an independent review of the evidence so as to put it into proper context
• He didn't cross examine the complaining witness
• He didn't present evidence of his client's denials to investigators, leaving the jury with the impression that he had confessed or at the very least had not denied the complaining witness's recitation of events.
In an oral ruling on Feb. 17, Bloom vacated the convictions and ordered a new trial.
While Iliopoulos was transported to the Oneida County jail from Stanley Correction Facility, to appear in person for the hearing, Olson appeared via Zoom. He advised the court that the public defender's office is still searching for an attorney to represent Iliopoulos in the new trial.
"At this time, we need to visit the issue of bail, and also address the status of counsel at this time," Bloom said.
Assistant district attorney Jillian Pfeifer said she would leave the matter of bail "to the court's discretion."
Olson said he was not prepared to offer a bond argument.
"I was trying to set up a call with Mr. Iliopoulos while he was still in the prison system last week, and he was transferred before I had a chance to speak with him," Olson explained. "I think to make some kind of confident argument on bail, I needed to get some information from him."
On the issue of trial counsel, he said he has talked to a dozen lawyers in the last two weeks about taking the case. He also noted the court is well aware of the difficulties the Rhinelander office is having finding attorneys willing to accept public defender appointments. He told Bloom that he sent an email to ADA Mary Sowinski, who is handling the case, advising that he was "very hopeful" that an appointment will be made in the next 10-14 days.
"And I think to give Mr. Iliopoulos a thorough chance at making a bail argument, explaining to the court what resources he may have available and where he would live, I would prefer to defer to new trial counsel," Olson said. "I think the court's original bond in this case was $50,000 cash. He was unable to meet that, he will be unable to meet that now. He remains indigent, of course. He has been locked up for three-plus years now."
Olson asked that Bloom reinstate the original bond, but with the provision that the new attorney be afforded a chance to argue for a bond reduction at the next hearing. In the event counsel hasn't been found, he would then meet with Iliopoulos and argue for him, if necessary.
Bloom set another status conference for March 25, two days before Iliopoulos will turn 69.
He faces up to life in prison if convicted following the new trial.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
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