SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (WNYT) — A state appellate court on Wednesday affirmed the decision to throw out the indictment against Vito Caselnova, the Queensbury man prosecutors had accused of attempted murder in the November 2022 early morning shootout on Broadway in Saratoga Springs that sent three people to the hospital.
The Supreme Court Appellate Division, Third Department, agreed with then-Saratoga County Court Judge Jim Murphy’s decision to dismiss the indictment against Caselnova, who was not on duty as a part-time Rutland County sheriff’s deputy when he exchanged gunfire with men from Utica.
“The People failed to provide the necessary instructions with respect to justification,” the higher court stated in its decision. They pointed out in their decision that it was up to prosecutors to let grand jurors know that Caselnova’s actions might have been “justified” under the law, and failing to properly instruct them of their options “prejudiced” the defendant…