Victim objects to sex crime deal
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By MARK DAVIS VALLEY NEWS - Published: November 26, 2009
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — In a plea deal to a sex crime that the victim criticized as too lenient, a Wilder man was sentenced to five years in prison for conduct committed against a woman in the woods outside the Hartford bus station.
Jay S. Handy Sr., 41, was initially charged with aggravated sexual assault, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. But prosecutors amended the charge to lewd and lascivious conduct, a lesser crime that carries a five-year maximum penalty, and Handy pleaded guilty Tuesday.
During a hearing Tuesday in Windsor District Court, Deputy Windsor County State's Attorney Eric Lopez cited "serious difficulties" with the initial case, including the possibility that the defense attorney would argue that the encounter was consensual.
"There is some disagreement about some of the evidence in this matter," Lopez told Judge Theresa DiMauro, who also expressed reservations about the plea deal. "It should not come as a surprise to the court that, on a sex assault allegation, the defense mounted would be one of consent. From the state's point of view, there is going to be an attack on whether these actions were consensual."
Court documents show that public defender Brian Marsicovetere, Handy's lawyer, had lined up several police officers and family members who, during a trial, might have provided damaging testimony about the credibility of the victim, 49-year-old Cathy Kaufman of Springfield.
But during a five-minute address to the court, Kaufman criticized prosecutors for not pursuing a more serious criminal charge and said Handy should serve a much longer sentence.
"I was accused of making it up and that it was consensual," Kaufman said. "Rape is not consensual. I think the 'slut' defense is absurd, but apparently it works. I am not satisfied with the bargain the state has given this criminal. He will re-offend."
Kaufman spoke in open court yesterday and, after the hearing, confirmed that she wished to be identified in this article.
On Oct. 28, 2007, Kaufman arrived at the White River Junction bus station on a bus from Sarasota, Fla., around 10 p.m., with little money. She would later tell authorities that she had come to stay with friends in the Upper Valley, although the friends told police they had repeatedly told Kaufman she was not welcome. She walked to the nearby Mobil gas station to ask where she could stay for the night.
Standing outside the gas station, Handy approached and offered to get her a room for the night at the nearby Comfort Inn. Once inside the hotel room, Handy kissed her. Kaufman told him she would not do anything more and said she wanted to get coffee.
As they walked to the Evans Expressmart near the inn, Kaufman said, Handy dragged her into the woods and accused her of stealing $300 from him, according to court documents. Kaufman said Handy then raped her and choked her. Afterward, Handy left her in the woods and took a cab home. She walked to a pay phone and called 911.
According to court documents, Kaufman gave some inconsistent statements to police. For instance, she told police that she ran to the pay phone, but a surveillance video shows that she walked.
Prosecutors said the case presented other difficulties.
Witnesses from Florida were prepared to offer potentially damaging testimony about Kaufman's alleged mental instability, addiction to pills, erratic behavior and lack of veracity in previous encounters with law enforcement personnel, according to court documents.
In a telephone interview following yesterday's court hearing, Kaufman rebutted those assertions and said that they were irrelevant to the rape charge.
In court, Kaufman said the incident still haunts her.
"I feel skittish around other people," Kaufman said. "I have a fear of being alone. I fear the dark. I fear walks in the woods. I have night terrors often, where I wake up feeling unable to breathe, feeling his hands around my throat."
Kaufman also said in court that she contracted a sexually transmitted disease during the encounter with Handy.
Handy, shackled and wearing prison garb, looked forward and never looked at Kaufman during her remarks.
Handy has prior convictions, including five simple assaults, arson and grand larceny, in several states. Handy will serve his time in Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield. With credit for the time he has already spent behind bars, he will likely be released in three years.
During yesterday's hearing, Handy and Marsicovetere declined an opportunity to speak.
DiMauro expressed displeasure, and told Handy that "given your prior record and your circumstances here, you clearly deserve a longer sentence."
But DiMauro's influence was limited.
Prosecutors, not judges, make decisions about which charges to file, so DiMauro could not reinstate the original aggravated sexual assault charge that prosecutors dropped in the plea deal. And while judges have discretion about the length of a prison sentence, the five years agreed to by lawyers was the maximum for lewd and lascivious conduct.
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