CANTON — Charges against a Hopkinton man for felony weapons possession all stem from an “elaborate hoax,” his attorney said Wednesday afternoon during opening statements in St. Lawrence County.
The trial of Christopher A. Molella began Wednesday following the completion of jury selection.
Mr. Molella, also known as Christopher Pinczes, 46, of 19 Elliott Road, is charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of first-degree reckless endangerment, all felonies. He also is charged with a misdemeanor count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Mr. Molella was illegally in possession of firearms because he is a convicted felon. On May 7, 2002, he was convicted in St. Lawrence County Court of felony third-degree criminal sale of marijuana.
But during his opening statements, Lake Placid defense attorney Brian P. Barrett told the jury of five men and seven women, with three men and one woman sitting as alternates, that Mr. Molella’s estranged wife, Martha R. Molella, was responsible for the charges lodged against his client.
“The evidence will show that this is an elaborate hoax, a hoax that was pulled on him once before and charges were brought and they had to be dropped,” Mr. Barrett told the jury. “And they were brought as a result of someone who is not even going to come here, we are going to hear her name: Martha Molella.”
Mr. Barrett said Mrs. Molella had access to all of the buildings on Mr. Molella’s property, including his home.
According to the indictment, on Aug. 16 in the town of Hopkinton, Mr. Molella was in possession of loaded firearms including a Maadi 7.62x39 caliber rifle, which meets the definition of an assault weapon under state penal law, and a Kel-Tec .380 caliber pistol.
He is also accused of possessing a high-capacity ammunition feeding device that had a capacity of more than 10 rounds and a Westpoint 12-gauge shotgun.
The charge of reckless endangerment stems from Mr. Molella’s allegedly setting up a trap using the shotgun that would discharge at the back door of his residence if the door were opened, creating a grave risk of death to anyone who attempted to open the door.
St. Lawrence County Chief Assistant District Attorney Keith S. Massey Jr. told the jury that police received information from Mrs. Molella which led to their executing the search warrant to the house.
“They sent a bomb squad robot in, disabled a trap and they followed in afterward and searched,” Mr. Massey said. “Downstairs, in the laundry room, they found a shotgun attached to a board, loaded, pointed at the rear door with a string attached, so that if anyone attempted to open the rear door, that shotgun would discharge, firing at the door.”
Police also found Mr. Molella’s DNA on the trigger of the loaded Kel-Tec pistol, which also had the serial number filed off to prevent its identification, Mr. Massey said.
Mr. Bartlett said the DNA found doesn’t prove anything and that no fingerprints were found.
“You are going to hear about transference of DNA, if an object is placed in somebody’s home, DNA could transfer to the area the object was left in.” Mr. Barrett said. “Nobody is going to come in to this courtroom and say that they sold guns to Chris, that they sold ammunition to Chris, that they saw Chris with guns, that they saw Chris with ammunition, nobody. So how is the prosecutor to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt that the guns are his?”