Saratoga County District Attorney Karen A. Heggen announces that yesterday, September 21, 2015, just after 5:00 pm, a Saratoga County Court Jury delivered a verdict to Saratoga County Court Judge James A. Murphy, III that they had found Daniel K. Hahn guilty of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Third Degree, in violation of Penal Law Section 165.50. Defendant Hahn, of Fort Edward, was found to have possessed a stolen 2011 Haul Mark 6’ x 12’ enclosed trailer and its contents of tools, on November 19, 2014 in the Town of Moreau.
Evidence presented at the trial showed that the trailer had been stolen the day before it was recovered, from a construction site on Route 32 in the Town of Saratoga. The trailer was owned by a construction company that was in the process of building a new highway garage for the Town of Saratoga Highway Department. The trailer had been locked and secured at that location the previous day, and was found missing the morning of November 19, 2014. Through the diligent efforts of the New York State Police, along with assistance from the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, the trailer was located later that day in the Town of Moreau. The testimony of witnesses at the trial placed Hahn with the trailer in the Town of Moreau, where he was observed actively displaying the trailer, its contents and features to prospective buyers. The police subsequently apprehended both the purchaser of the trailer, as well as Hahn, a quarter of a mile from where the prospective buyer purchased the trailer. Hahn had in his possession the cash paid by the prospective purchaser. Also located inside the trailer were thousands of dollars of tools owned by the construction company.
The five day trial was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Daniel J. Kopach, assisted by Assistant District Attorney Jesse L. Ashdown. DA Heggen praised the efforts of Kopach and Ashdown: “ADA Kopach laid out a methodical, complete case detailing the events from the time the trailer was left secured in the Town of Saratoga to the time the next day it was located by the police in the Town of Moreau. Over 15 witnesses provided the jury with a step by step account of what occurred. ADA Kopach presented the jury with overwhelming evidence to demonstrate Hahn’s knowledge that the trailer and its contents were stolen, and that he sought to benefit from possessing the stolen property by selling it to a third party”.
Hahn was defended by Michael Martin, Esq. of Glens Falls, NY. This trial marked the first trial Saratoga County Court Judge James A. Murphy, III has presided over in Saratoga County. Judge Murphy has been assigned by the Fourth Judicial District Administrative Judge Vito Caruso to Schenectady County since taking office in January, 2015. This was done to avoid any conflict concerning cases Murphy was previously involved in when he served as the Saratoga County District Attorney.