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Mistrial Declared in Glenfield Man’s Trial on Child
Rape Charges in Lewis County Court After Prosecutorial Error
Published: April 11, 2025 at
04:00 p.m.
By: Julie Abbass, Independent
Journalist for linkinglewiscounty.com
LOWVILLE, N.Y. – A child rape
proceeding ended in a mistrial on Thursday morning for Glenfield resident
Dylan C. Hoch, Sr., 25, in Lewis County Court.
According to
Judge Daniel R. King’s decision on the defense attorney’s motion for a
mistrial, a video of the State Police interrogation of Mr. Hoch showed the
investigator asking the defendant “if he was on probation when he was
arrested before,” leading Judge King to immediately stop the video and dismiss
the jury.
“In our judicial
system it is recognized that if a jury learns of a defendant’s prior
arrests or prior bad acts, it can be so prejudicial to the defendant that
the defendant cannot receive a fair trial,” he explained in that decision.
Defense attorney
Kevin O’Brien of O’Brien & Eggleston, Albany, clarified in a phone
interview on Friday that the reference implied Mr. Hoch had been convicted
of a crime in the past, which is not true, compelling him to request a
mistrial.
“I am very
confident it was an honest mistake,” he said, adding that he really did not
want the mistrial but he felt he had to request it
to protect his client. “I think Judge King did the right thing.”
The case was
prosecuted by assistant district attorneys Tenaha L. Sparacino and Joseph
H. Hobika. District Attorney Jeffrey G. Tompkins
sat in the first row of the galley behind them during the proceeding, which
started with jury selection on Monday and Tuesday. The actual trial began
on Wednesday morning.
According to Mr.
Tompkins, Mr. O’Brien and the judge’s decision, the defense and prosecution
agreed in pre-trial proceedings to redact – remove by turning off the sound
– two sections of the video that brought up Mr. Hoch’s criminal record that
was not related to the case and could have influenced jurors’ opinions.
These instances
were in the first hour of the video which Mr. Tompkins said contained the
confession the prosecution wanted the jury to see.
All parties
involved, however, missed the final reference to the defendant’s past in
the short section of interrogation after more than 45 minutes of footage of
Mr. Hoch sitting in the room alone waiting for the investigator to return
near the end of the video.
The prosecution
requested Judge King give the jury a “curative instruction” to disregard
the information instead of declaring a mistrial which is, according to Mr.
Tompkins, quite common with an error of this type.
“But ultimately
it’s up to the court’s discretion,” conceded Mr. Tompkins.
In his decision,
Judge King stated he was not convinced that even an “artfully drafted”
curative instruction “would result in the jury being able to unhear that
which they have already heard.”
In July last
year, Mr. Hoch was indicted on the following 12 counts related to an
alleged series of sexual intercourse between January 2019 and December 2023
with a victim that was between 10 and 12 years old:
·
4 counts of predatory sexual assault, an A-II felony
·
4 counts of first-degree rape, a class B felony
·
4 counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a
class A misdemeanor
Mr. Hoch, who did
not post the $50,000 bail assigned to him after his arrest in February
2024, remains in custody.
Mr. Tompkins said
Mr. Hoch’s new trial will begin on June 9 with a new jury.
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