AUBURN — A Brutus man whom the Cayuga County District Attorney's Office said essentially tried to cut off another person's head with a machete maintained his innocence in Cayuga County Court Thursday.
Christopher M. Laframboise, 39, with a previously listed address of 2919 E. Brutus St. Road, was in front of Judge Thomas Leone for arraignment, facing charges of second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault, both class B felonies.
The New York State Police previously alleged Laframboise attacked a person at the victim's residence at Pople Road in the town of Victory Feb. 6, causing serious injury. He was arrested shortly after a traffic stop on Egypt Road in the town of Conquest, troopers said.
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Eric Smith, Laframboise's defense attorney, said Thursday his client has "lived here pretty much all his life," noting he has a lot of family in the area. Smith recommended bail and said Laframboise "maintains his innocence" in this matter.
Cayuga County Chief Assistant District Attorney Chris Valdina argued against bail, noting Laframboise has eight prior criminal convictions. The defendant was at the victim's home Feb. 5 and then came back to the residence the following morning before leaving, Valdina said. Laframboise then came back again around noon and wanted plumbing supplies, Valdina said, noting Laframboise pulled out a machete at one point.
"For all intents and purposes, he attempts to cut the victim's head off," Valdina said.Â
The machete caused a laceration and jaw fracture, Valdina continued, requiring metal plates to be implanted in his jaw. During the confrontation, with Laframboise chasing the victim, the victim pointed an unloaded shotgun at Laframboise, and the defendant fled in his vehicle, got rid of the machete and was later stopped, Valdina said. He noted the machete was recovered.
"This is not someone who should be in our community," Valdina said.
Leone opted to remand Laframboise to the Cayuga County Jail. His next day in court is April 27 for a pretrial conference.
In other news
• An Auburn man previously described by prosecutors as the "catalyst" for a deadly shooting outside of a bar in the city last year was sentenced Thursday.
Junnell Copes, 36, was before Leone in court, originally with a charge of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a class C felony.Â
Cayuga County District Attorney Brittany Grome Antonacci said the defendant "took full responsibility" in his pre-sentence investigation report. As a part of a previous agreement, that weapon count was reduced to second-degree attempted criminal possession of a weapon, a class D felony. He was sentenced to five years in state prison followed by five years of post-release supervision for the attempted weapon possession charge.
Junnell Copes is a relative of Shameek Copes, who was found guilty of shooting and killing John Wesley Smith III outside of Swifty's Tavern in Auburn in March 2022. A jury declared Shameek Copes guilty of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon following a weeklong trial in January.
Adrian Agee, Shameek Copes' uncle by marriage, and Junnell Copes were arraigned in April 2022 on felony counts connected to Smith's death. Junnell Copes did not testify during Shameek's trial. Brittany Grome Antonacci previously called Junnell "the catalyst for this incident," saying he "fired several rounds" into the ground at the area of Swifty's Tavern immediately before Shameek started shooting.
Agee was originally facing charges of criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a firearm, hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence, and later pleaded guilty to the weapon possession and hindering prosecution counts. During his testimony at Shameek Copes' trial, Agee admitted to giving a gun to Shameek on the night of the shooting, hearing gun shots shortly after she left the bar and later put the gun in a storm drain on Steel Street.Â
• Brittani D. Dias, 30, faced a charge of fourth-degree conspiracy in court Thursday. She was sentenced to five years of shock probation, including weekends in the county jail for four months, starting Friday, April 7.
• Malik M. Figgs, 53, of 155 State St., Auburn, was before Leone on charges of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, petit larceny and two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Figgs previously pleaded to the entire indictment against him.
For both third-degree criminal possession charges, Figgs was sentenced to two years in state prison followed by three years of post-release supervision. He was also sentenced to 364 days in the jail for the petit larceny and seventh-degree possession counts, with all of those sentences running concurrently.Â
• Larry W. Hoff, 24, with a previously listed address of 2709 Erie Drive, Weedsport, had charges of first-degree criminal contempt and aggravated family offense in front of him in court Thursday. He was sentenced to 1 1/3 to 4 years of state prison on both counts, running concurrently to one another.
• Kevin M. Vannorstrand, 36, was also in front of Leone, originally facing 17 counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child. As a part of a prior agreement, he was sentenced to 10 years of shock probation, with the first six months in the county jail, for one promoting charge he previously pleaded to.
Staff writer Kelly Rocheleau can be reached at (315) 282-2243 or kelly.rocheleau@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @KellyRocheleau.