Northport Court Report

Barbara L. Tilton
A warrant was issued for the arrest of Barbara L. Tilton, who was previously sentenced to 45 days in jail and three years probation on Nov. 29, 2010. The Suffolk County probation office informed Judge Senzer that Tilton violated her probation upon being arrested on Saturday, Jan. 22. She was charged with criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation and criminal contempt following an incident where she placed a woman in a chokehold. Tilton also violated an order of protection issued against her by the woman on Dec. 4 of last year.

Robert C. Sterner
Northport resident Robert C. Sterner was arraigned on Monday at Northport Village court on a charge of contempt of court. The 45-year-old's felony charge was issued following the violation of a temporary order of protection issued by an unidentified woman. Sterner reportedly sent four text messages to the woman. Two were threatening and two were apologetic.

The attorney representing Sterner issued two requests to the judge, based on the defendant's lack of a prior record. He asked that bail be reduced from the assigned figure of $2,500. He first suggested that the defendant be released on his own recognizance; when that was denied, he asked that the bail be reduced to $500. The district attorney told the judge that the bail was already reduced in Suffolk court to the $2,500 figure. Taking this into account, Judge Paul Senzer denied the request.

Sterner's attorney also requested that the felony charge be reduced to a misdemeanor. He stated that the content of the messages didn't contain a threat of violence, and added that the accuser couldn't reproduce the messages (as she had deleted them off her phone). This request was also denied by Judge Senzer based on his current knowledge of the case.

Sterner's attorney told the judge that he and his client would be back in front of him during next week's court session, Monday, Feb. 14.

Colleen McManus
Northport resident Colleen McManus appeared in court on charges of aggravated DWI, a blood alcohol content of over .08, a first-offense DWI, a one-way violation, and disobeying of a traffic device. McManus was pulled over in her 2009 Nissan Murano by an officer at approximately 12:15 a.m. on Sunday,  Jan. 2. She estimated that she drank a bottle of champagne before driving, saying that she and her friend consumed two bottles that night. A brethalyzer test taken at the scene revealed a blood alcohol content level of .209.

The district attorney offered a guilty plea to a reduced form of the first charge and to the second charge, with the subsequent charges dismissed. The sentencing was adjourned to April 4 so the Suffolk County probation office could conduct a pre-sentencing investigation to determine if Judge Senzer's recommendation for no jail time would be acceptable. McManus was told that her failure to cooperate with the investigation would cause that conditional 'no-jail' agreement to be waived.

Miscellaneous
A 17-year-old East Northpoort male was arraigned on a charge of unauthorized use of village property stemming from an incident where he drove a vehicle across a soccer field in Steers Park. The case was temporarily adjourned while the judge told James to debate with his father whether or not they wanted to plead guilty that night or if they wanted to hire a lawyer. Ultimately, the case was adjourned until Aug. 8, with the understanding that the case would be dismissed on that date as long as the defendant commits no other crimes in the interim.

A 21-year-old Northport resident was tried on charges of third-degree assault, second-degree menacing, and disorderly conduct stemming from an incident that took place last July 24. The defendant previously had an temporary order of protection issued against him by another man; that order of protection was extended to Feb. 6, 2012. Judge Senzer also adjourned the case until that date, with the understanding that the case would be dismissed and sealed if he appeared in court on that date and if he did not violate the order of protection. Failure to do so would lead to his arrest, charges of contempt of court, and potential jail time of up to seven years.

The same resident also had a traffic conference over an infraction for failure to obey a stop sign. The defendant previously had his license suspended after picking up three speeding tickets in eighteen months (he had four speeding infractions on his record in total). The district attorney suggested a fine of $75, but Judge Senzer said he couldn't issue a fine less than $100 based on the defendant's prior driving record. The fine came with an $85 surcharge. Both the fine and surcharge were paid immediately.

There were several traffic arraignments. The most notable was of a Centerport resident who was being charged with two separate stop sign infractions committed in his 1996 Eagle Talon on Sunday, Jan. 16. One was at the corner of Summit Avenue and Lewis Road at 7:20 a.m. and and another at the corner of Highland Avenue and Douglas Avenue six minutes later. The defendant pleaded not guilty and requested a trial date of April 11. He was also informed that he could schedule a traffic conference for 6:30 p.m. that day if he wanted to resolve the charges then; if he found the results of the traffic conference to be inadequate, he could still continue with the trial.

Numerous adjournments were issued by the judge on the night. The charges included marijuana possession, DWI, forgery, menacing, and aggravated operation of an unlicensed vehicle, among others.

One of the DWI cases involved the sentencing of a prisoner; the prisoner was not produced and the sentencing was adjourned for a week since the prisoner will have nearly 90 days of jail time accumulated by then.