Zayas

GOSHEN – The man who shot a Middletown police officer in July 2007 pled guilty in Orange County Court on Thursday to eight counts of an indictment charging him with the crime.

Raymond Zayas, who has been in jail since the July 24, 2007 incident at his Middletown residence, pled guilty to first-degree assault and two counts of first degree attempted assault, as well as five other counts. In that incident, Officer Christopher Dolan was wounded. Zayas was also charged with attempting to shoot officers Jamie Johnson and Frank Speranza. They had responded to a report of a domestic incident at that location.

He had been found guilty of the crimes by an Orange County Court jury, but the conviction was reversed by the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court based on the alleged conduct of the trial judge, Jeffrey Berry, in arguments with the defense attorney in front of the jury. There was a concern those “might have affected the outcome” of the case.

The case was re-assigned to a different judge – County Court Judge Nicholas DeRosa – who over the objection of the district attorney’s office promised to sentence Zayas to 17 years in prison, said District Attorney Frank Phillips.

“Zayas, who was sentenced to 40 years, when you have a judge who is going to knock 23 years off your sentence, I think you jump at that kind of an offer and that’s what happened,” Philllips said.

Senior Assistant DA Kelle Grimmer, who prosecuted the original trial, required a plea to all counts and recommended a sentence of 25 years in prison.