Lawyer conflict delays murder case
Earl Edwards, charged with murdering the lover of his estranged wife, will have to wait until June 2 to learn whether he will be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea.
Ulster County Judge Donald A. Williams on Wednesday appointed attorney Paul Gruner to represent Edwards after the county Public Defender’s Office said it could not represent the Saugerties man due to a conflict of interest.
Edwards, 27, pleaded guilty Feb. 28 to second-degree murder for the May 26, 2016, stabbing death of Esopus resident Rameen L. Perry, 40. But on April 28, Edwards told Williams he wanted to fire his attorney, Cappy Weiner, withdraw his guilty plea and stand trial. He asked Williams to appoint the Public Defender’s Office to represent him.
Chief Assistant Public Defender Majer Gold said Wednesday that because the office had represented Shanelle Edwards in a separate proceeding in Family Court related to the same incident, it had a conflict of interest in representing Earl Edwards.
Authorities have said Earl and Shanelle Edwards had been separated for “the better part of the year” at the time of the killing and that Edwards was upset because he believed she was seeing someone else.
Prosecutors said Edwards broke into the Malden Avenue home of his estranged wife and went to the bedroom, where he saw Perry sleeping naked next to Shanelle Edwards. Authorities said Edwards stabbed Perry and beat him with a chair and a table. Prosecutors said Edwards also kicked his wife, ripped her hair weave out of her head and threatened her.
Edwards was arrested later the same day on an Amtrak train in Washington, D.C.
Gold said Shanelle Edwards filed a family offense charge against her estranged husband for that attack and was represented in Family Court by the Public Defender’s Office.
Williams on Wednesday adjourned the murder case until June 2 to give Gruner time to file legal papers asking to vacate the guilty plea. Williams previously said, though, that he was not inclined to grant the request.
The maximum sentence for second-degree murder is 25 years to life in state prison. Williams has said that in exchange for the guilty plea, he will sentence Edwards to “something less than the maximum.”