Stephen B. Flash, a Tompkins County high school student, supposedly punched another kid in the face and fractured the latter's jaw.
Soon after that incident, officers found Flash in a car carrying "prepackaged bags of cocaine and drug-selling paraphernalia," and holding over $1,700 in cash.
Two different Family Courts chimed in on the matter. The Tompkins County Family Court found the first incident equivalent to third degree assault, while the Seneca County Family Court found the second incident akin to third degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Flash was later adjudicated a juvenile delinquent and placed in a special residence until July 2008.
While Flash claimed the evidence didn't support the outcome, the Appellate Division, Third Department, was of the view there was "ample evidence" of his misconduct. (Since the victim was walking away when Flash attacked him, the AD3 didn't buy a "self-defense" argument. And, since he was found with "1.4 grams of crack cocaine, a hand-held digital weighing scale and glassine envelopes," the AD3 saw the possession charge as appropriately supported.)
Would a flash-back have prevented this?
To view a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Matter of Clifton NN