Centereach man charged in death of fiancee's grandmother chooses trial without jury
A Centereach man decided Friday to go to trial without a jury next month on charges that he beat and stomped his bedridden fiancee's grandmother so badly that he snapped her spine in two places and ripped a hole in her heart.
Robert Waters, 24, is charged with second-degree murder in the June 2011 death of Florence Troiani, 90. His defense has said he suffered a violent seizure and didn't intend to cause her death.
Defense attorney Anthony La Pinta said because of the "technical nature of the defense," he and his client decided it would be best if the case were heard not by jurors but instead by state Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho.
If successful for the defense, the trial would result in a verdict of not guilty by reason of mental defect.
Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Glenn Kurtzrock said Waters has no mental defect.
"He's just an angry, violent person," Kurtzrock said. "He's clearly guilty. A jury would have realized that, and the judge is going to realize that."
In a pretrial hearing last year, police officers said Waters was dazed and distraught when they arrived at the house where both Waters and Troiani lived. They said Waters asked an officer, "Is she OK? Is she OK?"
She wasn't. Police found her on the floor next to the bed to which she was confined, having suffered horrific injuries. In addition to her spine and her heart, the attack also broke her nose, shoulder blade, jaw and most of her ribs, prosecutors have said.
Those injuries were no accident, Kurtzrock said.
"He knew exactly what he was doing, and he intended to cause this woman's death," he said.
Kurtzrock said he didn't know why Waters killed her. During the pretrial hearing, a detective said Troiani had painkillers Waters may have wanted.
Camacho questioned Waters carefully Friday to make sure he knew he had the constitutional right to a trial by jury and that he truly wanted to give up that right.
When Camacho was satisfied Waters knew what he was doing, he scheduled opening arguments for Dec. 3.
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