MAN WHO SHOT 2 NY COPS GOES ON TRIAL
Ken (NY)
Albany, NY - 6/19/2001
Albany Times-Union
By CAROL DeMARE
Both sides plan to use Tracy Grady's familiarity with police in
attempted murder case
Nineteen months after he allegedly grabbed a cop's gun and in the
pre-dawn darkness of an Arbor Hill street repeatedly shot two
officers, Tracy Grady goes on trial today attempted murder charges.
A pool of more than 200 prospective jurors is expected to report to
the Albany County Courthouse for the trial, the first in more than two
decades that will involve city officers shot in the line of duty.
The 34-year-old Grady, who grew up in Arbor Hill, is well known to
Albany Police. That familiarity will be used by both sides in the
trial before Albany County Judge Thomas A. Breslin.
Special Prosecutor Cheryl F. Coleman will portray Grady as a career
criminal who disliked cops, repeatedly resisted arrest, and on Nov.
13, 1999, deliberately shot officers Stanley Nadoraski and Thomas Shea
on North Swan Street.
"I'm confident that when the jury sees all the evidence, Mr. Grady
will be found guilty of all the charges,'' Coleman said. She was
tapped by Breslin to handle the case after District Attorney Paul A.
Clyne was disqualified due to a conflict. William A. Carter, Clyne's
chief assistant, represented Grady in an earlier incident involving
both Shea and Nadoraski.
That 1997 incident, in which the officers charged Grady with assault
and resisting arrest after a traffic stop, is at the heart of the case
to be presented by defense lawyers Kathryn M. Kase of Albany and
Isaiah "Skip'' Gant, a Missouri native who has spent a career working
to save accused murderers from the death penalty.
Grady claimed Nadoraski hit him in the head with a flashlight,
requiring six stitches. He subsequently pleaded guilty to resisting
arrest.
Neither Kase nor Gant would comment for this story, but during
pre-trial hearings, they outlined a strategy that will attempt to show
that because of that incident, Grady feared for his life and acted in
self-defense when he shot the two officers.
"Ethically, I don't think it's appropriate for me to discuss Mr.
Grady's case in the media,'' Kase said. "Everything that we have to
say about his case, we're going to say in court and to the jury.''
Grady faces a six-count indictment -- two counts of attempted
first-degree murder, first-degree assault, involving Nadoraski,
first-degree criminal use of a firearm, criminal possession of a
weapon with intent to use it; and second-degree assault, involving
Shea. If convicted of attempted murder, Grady faces 25 years to life.
The partners, assigned to the North Station in Arbor Hill, were on
routine patrol, working an 11 p.m.-to-7 a.m. shift when they spotted
Grady at 1:45 a.m. walking on North Swan Street.
They got out of their squad car and called to him. There were two
outstanding warrants against Grady, and he was wanted for questioning
on a domestic violence complaint filed by a former girlfriend who
alleged that two days earlier at a home on Ten Broeck Street, he
damaged the door of an apartment.
The officers approached Grady, and he allegedly fought to avoid
arrest. During the scuffle, he wrested Shea's gun away and fired at
both. Shea was hit in the shoulder but grabbed the fallen Nadoraski's
gun and returned fire. Police officials believe that move may have
saved both of their lives. Nadoraski was struck in the face, shoulder
and abdomen. Both returned to work after six months and were promoted
to the rank of detective.
Grady ran off, allegedly stole a 1991 Ford van and drove to a friend's
home in Troy where he allegedly got rid of the Smith & Wesson
.40-caliber semiautomatic weapon he had taken from Shea. A nationwide
manhunt ensued. Twice, America's Most Wanted broadcast fugitive
segments.
Meanwhile, an elite SWAT-type force of heavily armed city officers
turned Arbor Hill inside out looking for Grady and anyone with
information on his whereabouts. Community leaders cried for relief
from what they termed heavy-handed tactics. Officials downplayed
trouble with the residents, but the gulf between police and the
minority community deepened. Calls for a civilian police review board
were renewed.
On Jan. 18, Grady was arrested in Atlanta near a homeless shelter by
Albany Detective Sgt. Charles Arsenault and Detective Kenneth Wilcox
and U.S. marshals. Grady told police he had been living on the streets
of Atlanta for several weeks, eating at soup kitchens, washing cars
for money and sleeping on the ground.
Despite widespread interest in the trial, expected to draw scores of
cops and community activists, Breslin denied a request by the Times
Union to have a camera in the courtroom.
Detective Tom McGraw, president of the Albany Police Officers Union,
said cops will show up.
"We're encouraging our officers to come and support their brothers,
Tom and Stosh (Nadoraski's nickname), because what Tracy Grady did in
November 1999 was not only an attack on the two of them but an attack
on the Albany Police Department and an attack on law enforcement in
general. We are the people who put a uniform on and go out every day
and serve the citizens of Albany.''
Alice Green, executive director of the Center for Law and Justice, was
the first visitor Grady requested at the Albany County jail after his
capture in Atlanta nine weeks after the shooting. The volunteer staff
works to aid prisoners with their legal defense.
Grady went to the center for help after the 1997 incident. Green was
instrumental in helping Grady's family retain Kase. Gant is assisting
in a pro bono capacity, or free of charge. They know each other
through criminal defense lawyer organizations, Kase said.
"I think the trial will probably answer a lot of questions people have
about this particular incident,'' Green said. "I certainly want to
know more about it. I'm not just going to accept what I've heard, and
I think this trial is going to certainly help the community understand
what really happened.''
Breslin has set aside three days for jury selection. The trial could
run at least two weeks.
Ken (NY)
--
Chairperson,
Department of Redundancy Department
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