TOMPKINS COUNTY, N.Y. — The cases of two Tompkins County men, including a Tompkins County Sheriff’s deputy, charged in December 2017 with rape and sexual assault remain on hold. Though trials were originally scheduled this summer, they have been adjourned awaiting a decision from the appellate court on who should prosecute the case.
Deputy Scott Walters and Lansing resident Matthew Pinney were charged with first-degree rape and first-degree sexual assault after an investigation into a reported Feb. 2, 2013 incident that took place at Walters’ residence.
Court records allege Walters and Pinney ran into a woman at the Crossroads Bar & Grille in Lansing and after drinks at the bar, Walters invited them back to his home in Lansing where they drank more and allegedly raped and sexually assaulted a woman incapable of consent “by reason of being physically helpless,” records state. Investigators reported, “Walters stated that (redacted) was coherent, willing and everything was consensual.” The woman told investigators she had reason to believe she was drugged that night and completed a sex assault evidence kit following the incident. New York State Police conducted the investigation, the sheriff’s office said in a news release last year.
Related: Court documents: Tompkins deputy accused of rape appeared ‘visibly nervous,’ denied claims
Both cases are adjourned until further notice due to a contended conflict of interest about whether the Tompkins County District Attorney’s office should prosecute a Tompkins County Sheriff’s deputy.
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten argued the conflict of interest and Schuyler County District Attorney Joseph Fazzary was brought in as a special prosecutor.
Both cases were scheduled for trial this summer, but Pinney’s case was adjourned after his lawyer filed a petition to remove Fazzary as prosecutor. According to Fazzary, the argument asserts Van Houten never had a conflict of interest and Fazzary should not have been assigned Walters or been permitted to seek jurisdiction to prosecute Pinney.
Judge John Rowley, who is presiding over the cases, adjourned Walters’ case as well, in recognition that the argument applies to both cases.
Both trials are adjourned until the appellate division delivers a decision as to whether Fazzary was appropriately assigned to prosecute both Walters and Pinney. It is expected that the appellate division will hear argument in February and deliver a decision within 60 to 90 days thereafter, Fazzary told The Ithaca Voice.
If the appellate division decides Van Houten alleged sufficiently that he had a conflict and Fazzary remain on the cases, Fazzary expects that both cases will be quickly scheduled for trial. However, should the appellate division state Fazzary should not be the prosecutor, then the cases will be dismissed and return to the Tompkins County District Attorney’s office, according to Fazzary.
“We are technically in a wait and see posture as to when the appellate division is going to hear argument and when they will make a decision,” Fazzary said.
Van Houten deferred comment about the cases to Fazzary.
Lt. Daniel Donahue, public information officer for the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed Walters is currently employed with the sheriff’s office. Donahue would not confirm whether Walters is actively on the force or suspended with pay.
Both Pinney and Walters’ lawyers could not be reached for comment.