Man from E. Greenbush arrested for threatening with machete

Man released pending grand jury decision

COLONY – An East Greenbush man was taken into custody by East Greenbush police on Friday, May 17, in connection with an August incident that occurred in Colonie.

Court records show that on August 15, Colonie police requested and received an arrest warrant for 55-year-old Myron Graves, who was living in Albany at the time. The warrant was issued following an investigation into an incident that occurred five days earlier on Stover Place.

According to records, on August 10, at approximately 6:50 p.m., Graves allegedly had a verbal argument with an individual and threatened them over the phone. A short time later, he drove to the individual’s home. Graves honked the horn outside the individual’s home until the individual came out, then chased the individual across the lawn with a machete in his hand. The individual was able to get into the home and Graves allegedly said, “I’m going to get you,” and the next time he saw her, he attempted to slit her throat while knocking on the glass door with the tip of the machete. He then left.

The person went to the Colonie Police Station, filed a report and applied for a restraining order initiating a full home visit.

After an investigation, investigators filed charges and issued an arrest warrant for third-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, second-degree menacing, and second-degree aggravated harassment. Graves has also been previously convicted of third-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and third-degree attempted sale of a controlled substance on the same date in 1990.

He was arraigned on May 17 at 6:45 p.m. by Colonie Town Judge David Green and released on his own bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on June 17, according to Colonie Town court records, but the case could be transferred to district court.

According to state law CPL 530.10, a city court, a municipal court, or a village court, when arraigning a defendant charged with a serious crime—which is true in this case—“may not order probation or bail if (i) the defendant is charged with a Class A felony or (ii) the defendant has been convicted of two previous serious crimes.”

However, Green failed to comply with that order on May 8 when he released another man with two felony convictions, Garry McFadden, after another felony arrest. We reported on that story last week, but the situation might be different if the two convictions were for the same crime.

Court decisions have argued that multiple felony convictions stemming from the same incident count as one conviction when calculating the number of convictions used to determine whether a defendant is a repeat offender.

Spotlight News contacted Green and he agreed to speak generally about the incident but declined to comment on this specific case.

“Case law provides the opportunity to deviate from the order if the crimes occurred on the same date,” Green said.

Because both convictions in Graves’ case occurred on the same day, Green had the opportunity to consider bail or other non-monetary release options.

When a judge releases a defendant on parole, no preliminary hearing is scheduled, but a defense attorney and an assistant district attorney must have a say in the decision.

According to CPL 530.20 2. (B), “a local criminal court shall not order release on parole, release on financial conditions, or bail with respect to a defendant charged with a serious crime unless and until: (i) the district attorney has been heard in the matter or, after being informed of or notified of the motion and having had a reasonable opportunity to be heard, has failed to appear at the hearing or has otherwise waived his right to do so.”

When asked if the ADA was present at the arraignment or if it was contacted, the Colonie Municipal Court responded in an email that there was “no indication of this in the docket notes.”

Spotlight News then asked the Albany County District Attorney’s Office if they had been contacted.

“This defendant was acquitted by the prosecution after his off-calendar arraignment. The attorney on duty this weekend has not been contacted regarding this case. No one from our office has been contacted to make a bail recommendation,” the office said in a statement. “The defendant was acquitted by the prosecution, so there would be no preliminary hearing in this matter.”

The arraignment took place at 6:45 p.m. when the court was not in session.

Green said it is common practice to contact a representative of the prosecutor’s office whenever a felony is charged. Judges have several options for contacting the ADA and getting a recommendation. However, the judge does not always have to follow the recommendation, he said.

Green also issued a temporary restraining order of protection between Graves and the victim, which provided for “no illegal contact.”