BUFFALO, NY - Testimony is over in the murder trial of former Molly's Pub manager Jeffrey Basil, who is charged with murder and manslaughter in connection with the 2104 death of William Sager Jr.
Prosecutors accuse Basil of shoving Sager down a flight of stairs inside the bar in May 2014, which caused Sager to suffer a severe head injury which lead to his death the following August.
Jurors heard from the final two prosecution witnesses: the doctor who performed emergency brain surgery on Sager the night he was injured and Erie County's chief medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on him 82 days later. The sole defense witness was called to the stand outside the jury's presence, due to legal reasons.
Erie County Medical Center Neurosurgeon Dr. Gregory Bennett testified that upon opening Sager's skull he found his brain injuries to be "massive" - to the point that, despite doctors' efforts, Sager's prognosis for a recovery rated nearly impossible, and poor even for survival.
Dr. Tara Mahar, who conducted Sager's autopsy, testified that she was surprised Sager survived in a coma for the 82 days he did. She said by the time he expired, the former Air National Guard sergeant had withered to 107 pounds, and his brain had shriveled to about half its normal size.
Outside the presence of jurors, the defense called one witness, but wasn't successful in getting any testimony from him.
Facing potential charges himself, Buffalo police officer Robert Eloff, working while off duty at Molly's the night in question, carefully read from a card invoking his 5th amendment right against self incrimination to every question he was asked; about what he saw, if he handcuffed Sager after the incident as alleged, if he called 911, and whether he helped Basil attempt to destroy videotaped evidence of the incident.
Eloff wouldn't even confirm he was a police officer.
As is generally the case when it is known witnesses plan to invoke their 5th amendment privilege for the entirety of their testimony, Eloff was called to the stand outside the presence of jurors.
Defense Lawyer Joel Daniels asked the judge to grant Eloff immunity so that he might be free to testify, or, at the very least, allow him to refuse to answer questions while in the presence of jurors. The judge denied both requests.
In rendering her decisions, Justice Penny Wolfgang noted that under state law, judges can't grant immunity to witnesses unless asked to by prosecutors, and they weren't making that request.
She also agreed with prosecutors that having Eloff invoke his 5th amendment rights in front of jurors might only lead to speculation on their part as to why he wouldn't answer questions, and she noted that jurors are not supposed to speculate.
The case will go to those jurors next week, after the Martin Luther King holiday.
