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» Tuesday: Last witness called in trooper-shooting case » Troopers on boat testify Monday; McCray’s grand jury testimony read in court » Jan. 22: Lawyer argues troopers didn’t have right to stop McCray » May 12, 2009: Troopers, ranger honored for disarming, stabilizing suicidal man » Aug. 30, 2008: Long negotiation with suicidal man preceded shooting of trooper

MALONE - The jury deliberated for a little more than two hours Wednesday, working through lunch, and convicted Donald McCray on both felony counts.

After receiving instructions from Franklin County Court Judge Robert Main Jr., the jury left the courtroom around 11:15 a.m. and returned guilty verdicts at 1:34 p.m. for second-degree assault on a police officer and second-degree criminal use of a firearm.

Both charges are Class C felonies. McCray was remanded to Franklin County Jail pending sentencing on April 12, and Franklin County Assistant District Attorney Jack Delehanty said he plans to ask for the maximum sentence of 15 years in state prison.

"My boss, the DA Derek P. Champagne, thought that it was appropriate to attempt to convey to a jury in this county that it doesn't matter, if the police get called out on a mental hygiene law arrest, if that subject is suicidal or says they are," Delehanty said after the verdict. "Unless they cooperate with law enforcement who respond to help them, if they commit a crime, any crime, they will be vigorously prosecuted."

State police and forest rangers began to search for McCray after several telephone calls on Aug. 27 and 28, 2008 in which he threatened suicide. They found him the second day near Axton Landing, off Coreys Road between Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake. McCray took off in a canoe onto the Raquette River, and two state troopers and a forest ranger followed in a motor boat. After two hours of negotiation with McCray, who was holding a .50-caliber muzzle-loader to himself the whole time, Trooper George Stannard tried to grab the rifle when McCray pointed it away from himself for a moment. The rifle went off in the course of the struggle, severely injuring Stannard's right hand.

Greg La Duke, McCray's lawyer, said he was still looking at his options for a possible appeal.

"I disagree with a number of the pretrial rulings (and) a number of the rulings during the trial," La Duke said. "We're going to explore those issues and go from there."

La Duke said he didn't want to mention any specific rulings Wednesday.

"One thing I will say is, Trooper Stannard was an excellent witness, and I'll leave it at that," La Duke said.

Jury selection was Jan. 20, and the trial started Jan. 21. Delehanty and La Duke gave their closing arguments Wednesday morning.

In his closing statement, La Duke re-emphasized several points he made during the trial. He argued that better training and communication could have prevented what happened. Negotiators were on the way and were almost at the scene when Stannard was shot, but the two troopers didn't know this, and Forest Ranger Julie Harjung knew but didn't know when they would be arriving. He also said state police aren't adequately trained to deal with suicidal people, noting that there is nothing about it in the state police manual and they don't receive any refresher training after the state police academy.

La Duke also said McCray was not breaking any law, nor was he under arrest, citing testimony from several witnesses in law enforcement to back this up. La Duke therefore argued the police therefore were not performing a lawful duty when they tried to grab his rifle, a necessary element of the charge of assault on a police officer. He argued that McCray also would have been charged with resisting arrest or obstructing governmental administration if this were the case.

"Given the opportunity, they would throw the kitchen sink at him," La Duke said.

Nobody testified they saw McCray's finger on the trigger of the rifle, which had had its hammer cocked during the entire standoff, when it went off. However, although lawful duty is a necessary element of the charge, intent to harm is not. Delehanty argued, in his closing, that training was not the issue and that police have an obligation under mental hygiene law to take into custody people who are threatening to harm themselves, including getting a weapon away from them.

"(McCray) had a lawful duty to submit to lawful force to disarm him," Delehanty said, as he held up the rifle to the jury. "But he did not. He fought for this, and it went on. Does it really matter that Trooper Stannard's injuries were not intentionally caused by that fellow right there?"

Delehanty also argued McCray was trying to avoid going to jail for unpaid child support by threatening suicide, hoping to be hospitalized instead, as had happened after a similar incident in March 2008 in Ticonderoga. McCray called Sunmount Developmental Disabilities Services Office, in Tupper Lake, before calling 911, and he gave false locations to 911 dispatchers. Delehanty said McCray could have gone to Sunmount or given a real location if he was really looking for help and not to escape from jail.

Delehanty said that, at the sentencing, he plans to bring up McCray's 10 convictions over the past 19 years. Five of them were felonies in Maine, including two assault convictions; the other five were misdemeanors in Maine and New York. The jury had not been aware of these convictions, as New York law bars mention of any prior convictions unless the defendant takes the stand, and even then only if the convictions can somehow be shown to reflect on the credibility of the testimony.

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Contact Nathan Brown at 891-2600 ext. 26 or nbrown@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.