A New York State Appellate court has rejected an appeal from Dawn Nguyen, the 29 year old Greece woman who was convicted of falsifying business records in connection with the Christmas Eve incident in Webster in 2012 that killed two firefighters.
Nguyen was convicted after authorities said she purchased the guns used by William Spengler when he ambushed first responders who came to his house after he set it on fire. Spengler later killed himself.
The State Appellate Court, Fourth Department, rejected Nguyen’s argument that a state court erred by not giving the jury information from a missing witness. The court also rejected Nguyen’s contention that she was denied a fair trail because the court did not issue a blanket ruling prohibiting trial spectators from wearing firefighter uniforms and other firefighter clothing.
The state court did allow no more than 10 spectators in uniform in the courtroom during the trial and not more than three such spectators seated together, and the appellate court said that was a fair way to deal with the issue of decorum.
Nguyen has already completed her state prison sentence, but she is still in federal prison in Philadelphia. Her current release date is July 30, 2021
