Stabbing suspect released by judge

KINGSTON, N.Y. » The man charged in connection with a Monday stabbing in Midtown Kingston has been released without bail over objections by the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office, a DA’s investigator said Wednesday.

Christopher D. Torres, 30, was charged with felony assault, as well as a felony and misdemeanor counts of criminal possession of a weapon, police said Tuesday. He was released on his own recognizance by Kingston City Judge Philip Kirschner at his arraignment on Tuesday, according to Chief Court Clerk Nicole Murphy.

Scott T. Fiordaliso, a criminal investigator with the District Attorney’s Office, said Wednesday that his office recommended the judge jail Torres on $20,000 cash bail, $40,000 secured bond or $100,000 unsecured bond because of the violent nature of the assault, but that Kirschner declined.

Bail in criminal matters is set at the discretion of the presiding judge.

Bail reform legislation in New York, which was signed into law in July 2019 and became effective in January 2020, has faced scrutiny and some revision since its enactment. Opponents say the law is overly lenient, while proponents believe bail never was intended to be punitive and should be imposed only when needed to ensure a defendant will return to court.

Torres is accused of stabbing a 39-year-old man in the abdomen about 6 p.m. Monday in the vicinity of Foxhall and Flatbush avenues in Kingston. Police said they administered first aid to the victim until emergency medical personnel arrived. Around the same time, other officers located Torres and took him into custody, police said.

The stabbing victim, whose name has not been provided, was taken to Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie for further treatment, city police said.

On Tuesday, Kingston Police Detective Sgt. Brian Robertson said he believes Torres and the victim were familiar with each other, but he said the motive for the stabbing still was under investigation.