By Brittany Grove

Sun Staff Writer

bgrove@evesun.com

NORWICH – Rehabilitation was the theme for Chenango County court on Friday, Nov. 8 in Norwich.

Public defender John Cameron helped young defendant – who assaulted an officer – get probation with the hope that he will change his life. Chenango County Court Judge Frank B. Revoir Jr. sent a drunk driver to prison and recommends Shock Incarceration to reform a convicted felon.

• Andrew Graham, 21, Norwich, was charged with the class D felony of assault in the second degree for allegedly causing physical injury to an officer on May 5 in Norwich. Graham resisted arrest and bit the right forearm of officer Jeremy Burdick breaking the skin and causing him to bleed.

“The EMS tried to take me to the hospital because I was having a seizure,” Graham said. “The police officer grabbed me and had me in a headlock. I was out of it because of the seizure and don't like it when people touch me afterwards. I don't really remember what happened.”

Dunshee said to the judge that if Graham could not remember biting the officer “then we don't have a plea.”

Graham's lawyer, Cameron, counseled Graham and said, “You were the only one there who could have bit him, right? If you were the only one there and they say you bit him, then isn't it safe to say you did bite him.”

Graham agreed with his lawyer and admitted he bit the officer.

Once the judge made sure that Graham was in the right mental state to plea and had not been coerced into pleading guilty, he was sentenced to six months mandatory incarceration in the Chenango County Correctional Facility which will count toward the five years probation and supervision he also received. If Graham violates the terms of his probation, he can be re-sentenced the maximum sentence for the charge he received, which is a determinate sentence of up to seven years.

“You have a juvenile record, but hopefully this will be the beginning of a new life. Probation wants to work with you. Use it as an opportunity,” said Revoir to Graham.

Graham gave his belongings to his mother and embraced her. She cried and held him for several seconds before he was handcuffed and taken out of the court.

• Jeremy Sawyer, 36, Norwich, appeared in court for violating a condition of his probation sentence for his previous convictions of DWI misdemeanor and the class E felony of aggravated operation of motor vehicle in the first degree. He did not report to his probation officer on seven different occasions since being sentenced on May 18, 2012.