"My client is undergoing some medical treatment," said general practice attorney Andrew Quinn in White Plains this afternoon, explaining why George Tanner could not appear for his scheduled county court date this morning.
After a letter from Quinn was read by the judge presiding, the case was adjourned until March 29 by the consent of both sides.
George Tanner, 60, was accused of trying, over the course of a month in online chatrooms, to arrange a sexual encounter with an underage girl, really an undercover detective with the Westchester District Attorney's Office. He was arrested at his home in Sleepy Hollow Manor on March 7 and has since resigned his post at Chair of the Planning Board.
"As soon as he is ready, he will appear in court," Quinn said. "He will be there in two weeks depending on his physical condition. If he is released, he will be there; if not, we will ask for another adjournment. Honestly, I don't know if he'll be released in two weeks."
Quinn could not disclose the nature or location of Tanner's treatment or the case itself and the strategy behind the defense. He himself had not seen the evidence from the DA's office, "other than what I've read online," Quinn said.
"People are under the impression that it works the way it does on TV, that they turn over a box of evidence," Quinn said, "but typically we have a conference between the prosecutor, the defendant's attorney, and maybe the judge, and they'll discuss the level and quantity of evidence they've got. The evidence is not typically provided until much later in the proceedings."
When asked how Tanner found his way to this particular firm, Quinn said he's represented a "number of Sleepy Hollow residents."
Perhaps the most notable one: Quinn was the defense attorney for Sleepy Hollow police officer Jose Quinoy, in court in 2010 for charges of two civil rights allegations and intimidating a witness. The case was based on separate events that occurred approximately four years prior, when .
The jurors found the in August, 2010. Ultimately all three federal charges were dropped. This was followed by a by the Village board, and the news shortly after that Quinoy had .
In terms of how the Planning Board is operating without a chair, Mayor Ken Wray said the group is on its regular schedule and will have a temporary chair to lead this month's meeting. "The Village is blessed with an abundance of talented people," Wray said. "I am carefully considering possible candidates for this vacancy."
