The indictments filed against Watkins Glen Police Officer Brandon Matthews and his wife Danielle Matthews for perjury has been dismissed.
According to a release from their attorney, the court decided that the couple had been denied their right to testify before a grand jury.
“Immediately after the arraignment, the Special Prosecutor admitted that he failed to afford my client’s this right. The Indictment should have never been filed, therefore my clients should have never been arrested,” the couple’s attorney said in a news release.
Matthew Buzzetti, the attorney representing the couple, say Matthews returned to full-duty in April 2021 as a road patrol officer in Watkins Glen.
However, due to his arrest in December on the perjury charges he was placed on administrative leave. “Yet again, for charges that he is innocent of,” Buzzetti added.
“Currently, District Attorney Fazzary has a conflict in prosecuting the Matthews due to my client’s police work and being acquaintances of the family,” Buzzetti added of prosecuting any criminal case against the couple. “The application for the Special Prosecutor specifically sought Attorney Todd Casella from Yates County, not District Attorney Van Houten who was appointed in August of 2020.”
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