BUFFALO, N.Y. — Tom Eoannou represents Gabriele Ballowe of Evans. She was convicted for the fatal hit and run of 52-year-old Barry Moss in December 2013
It was in December 2016, when Ballowe agreed to a deal with state prosecutors and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge for a one-year jail sentence.
"We preserved our right to appeal," said Eoannou in an interview Friday. "We wouldn't take a plea unless we could."
This is why Eoannou now eagerly awaits the outcome of a state appeals ruling which could potentially overturn the conviction altogether.
"Restore her to her rights pre-conviction," explains the criminal defense attorney, "and that would be very important. We've maintained all along that this was a tragic accident, and that's what it was. We'll now wait for the court to report to the appellate division."
The appellate ruling orders Erie County Judge Christopher Burns to review the Grand Jury minutes in this case. This would resolve questions as to why two grand juries reviewed this case.
The first group of grand jurors had actually voted to indict Ballowe early on in the case.
Eoannou says it's unclear why the state didn't move on the case then, "We had felt we were ready to go then. We wanted to know, 'What did you say to that grand jury?' To this day, we don't know."
He added, "There are cases where, before the grand jury indicts, the DA ethically and honestly would say, 'We don't have enough proof' and withdraw it. In this case, the DA said, 'Vote.' They voted and then said, 'Well, change your mind...and then two years later they reindicted based on new evidence."
The appellate division wants Judge Burns to find out if there was in fact "new evidence" to pursue that second indictment, years later.
"That's really a check on the system," said Eoannou, "as to how the grand jury should be handled and can a DA go in after they indict and say, 'Cancel it'?"
If Judge Burns determines in his review that the grand jury minutes are relatively the same and there is no new evidence presented to the second grand jury, the second grand jury decision would be nullified and the case could be dismissed.
If Judge Burns finds that state prosecutors did something wrong, Eoannou believes that could nullify the entire process, "If a district attorney's office can manipulate a grand jury like that, well, how many bites at the apple can they give themselves? Can they go in eight times, 10 times?"
Eoannou says it's not clear if the grand jury minutes will be included in Judge Burns' report because the release of those minutes was not required in the order from the appellate division.
Because both grand jury minutes include lengthy presentations, it could be several weeks before the review of those minutes are complete and the report is submitted to the appellate division.