The trial of Antwan Odom is set to begin on Tuesday morning after Jury selection was completed on Monday. Several possible jurors were excused after claiming to be racist, but by the end of the day 12 jurors were in place along with alternates.
Odom, 19, was indicted in December of 2018 on the charges of assault 1st, a class B violent felony and criminal possession of a weapon 4th, a misdemeanor, in an incident that occurred on August 4, 2018 in the area of 153 Ross street in the City of Batavia.
According to the indictment, Odom is accused of causing serious physical injury to another person, Raymond L. Leach III, by means of a dangerous instrument, that being a knife.
Odom is accused of possessing a dagger, dangerous knife, dirk, stiletto, imitation pistol or other dangerous instrument with intent to use unlawfully against another person.
However, no weapon was found by police.
Leach told police the altercation came after he accused Odom of stealing personal property. Leach was transported to Strong Memorial Hospital by ambulance for non-life threatening injuries after the incident and was released a short while later after receiving treatment.
“That’s true the victim had cuts, they say they were cuts with a knife, we have no knife, they have no testimony other than the alleged victim in this case. The only medical records we have are 2-3 pages of records from the emergency room, we don’t have any idea if he was injured as a result of those cuts, aside from Ray Leach’s bald assertion, we have no reason to believe that my client did anything. All we have is Ray Leach’s testimony about everything, that’s their proof,” Housh explained after speaking with the media in May.
In May, Odom declined to accept the plea offer in the case.
According to Odom’s Attorney Frank Housh, the plea offer was declined due to no guarantee as to what the sentence will be. Housh also says his client feels he shouldn’t plead guilty to something he didn’t do.
Odom is currently out on $30,000 bail.
The trial will begin tomorrow morning about 10:30.