Published: November 07, 2009 02:37 am      

NIAGARA COUNTY COURT: Doxey, Nigro case back in court

The defense questioned a lack of information from a prosecution witness Friday in the Niagara County Court case of a Lockport couple charged in their baby daughter’s death.

Nicholas Doxey and Sara Nigro are each charged with two counts of criminally negligent homicide in the March 4, 2008, death of their 13-month-old daughter, Sierra Doxey.

The objective of the Huntley hearing held Friday afternoon before Judge Matthew Murphy III was to determine admissibility of statements made by Nicholas Doxey. The hearing will resume Nov. 20.

Doxey’s attorney, Earl Key, expressed disbelief after a prosecution witness failed to give all documented reports to Assistant District Attorney Claudette Caldwell at the hearing.

In turn, because Caldwell did not have the documents, she never gave them to Key until the documents were found by a witness during a court recess Friday.

The prosecution called three witnesses to the stand, including Deborah Stevenson, senior caseworker for the Niagara County Department of Social Services, and Det. Lts. John Yotter and Scott Seekins of the Lockport Police Department.

Caldwell said to Murphy and Key that the documents in question would not be relevant to either side of the case. “I trust Ms. Caldwell and her opinion,” Murphy said when Key demanded the papers.

Key argued that the papers would be useful to document what the police said to Stevenson in her records and compare that to what police say on the stand. Murphy accepted Key’s request.

All three witnesses described their version of events the day Sierra Doxey died from a morphine overdose at Eastern Niagara Hospital-Lockport.

Murphy agreed with Caldwell’s objections to relevance on three different occasions when asking the detectives if they remembered and how they were told that Key was defending both parents.

Defense attorneys Key and Michelle Bergevin, who is representing Nigro, refused to comment to the US&J about their use of a surprise private investigator who was present Friday or their main expert, Dr. Charles Wetli, and how they think he will contribute to their case at trial Jan. 19.

The Huntley hearing will be continued at 3 p.m. Nov. 20.