A judge dismissed an Auburn man's felony drug case after the Cayuga County District Attorney's Office failed to appear at a hearing to determine whether the defendant's rights to a speedy trial had been denied.

In a letter sent to Cayuga County Judge Thomas Leone the day before the dismissal, Assistant District Attorney Rome Canzano said he would not appear at the hearing because he did not believe there was enough evidence to warrant one. The DA's office has also said it believed Leone was already committed to dismissing the case on procedural grounds.

Simon Moody, a defense attorney representing Steven Scalia, 45, said Canzano listed the DA office's attempt to negotiate a plea deal, the police's attempt to get Scalia to work as a confidential informant and the police's desire to protect the identity of the undercover informant used in Scalia's case, as reasons why there was a legal delay in the proceedings.

But Moody said none of those things happened with his client.

“Had their claims been reasonable when I made the request, they could have presented the evidence at a speedy trial hearing,” Moody said. “Instead, it was just a generic regurgitation of excuses for a delay. They had no proof.

“(The DA) dropped the ball on this one, I don't know why.”

In a letter sent to Canzano the day of the hearing last week, Leone said there were factual issues that needed to be discussed at the hearing before the court could make a decision and that someone from the DA's office was required to attend.

District Attorney Jon Budelmann was not available to speak with a reporter about the case on Wednesday because he was in a trial, but his office issued a statement that said the speedy trial hearing was already over by the time it was aware that Leone had required someone to be there.

The office also maintained it never violated Scalia's rights to a speedy trial, and that it “respectfully opposed” Leone's decision to dismiss the case.

Scalia had faced two felony counts each of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and a misdemeanor charge of driving without a license.

The DA's office said it was prepared to prosecute the case, but as a result of a conference among attorneys last month, believed Leone was going to dismiss the case on procedural grounds.

Moody said Scalia was first charged in December 2007, and that he received an unsolicited settlement offer from Budelmann, who was a chief assistant district attorney at that time under James Vargason. Canzano was not employed with the DA's office when the charges were originally filed.

In the settlement offer letter, Budelmann said the case would proceed to the next Cayuga County grand jury if Scalia did not accept the three-year prison sentence. It would be almost a year before the case was presented to a grand jury, Moody said.

In his letter to the judge, Canzano said Moody ignored the December 2007 letter in an attempt to create the speedy trial issues.

Moody said he was under no obligation to respond to unsolicited plea offers, and that his client wanted to see what happened with the grand jury hearing.

“(The DA) must announce they are ready for trial within six months of filing the original accusatory instrument,” Moody said. “In September 2008, we got our first word from the DA announcing he was going to the grand jury for indictment knowing the speedy trial had already passed at that point.”

Staff writer Nate Robson can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or nathan.robson@lee.net