Accused murderer Oral ‘Nick’ Hillary remains in jail without bail after second hearing

June 20CANTON -- Oral "Nick" Hillary will remain in jail on no bail for another three weeks after his second bail hearing at St. Lawrence County Court was adjourned Friday.

The continued bail hearing in the case against Hillary, the man charged with the 2011 murder of 12-year-old Garrett J. Phillips, is bringing into question the sufficiency of the combined value of three properties secured by Empire Bail Bonds to cover Hillary's $150,000 bond, and the company's legitimacy.

County Judge Jerome J. Richards adjourned the May 31 hearing until Hillary's attorney, Patrick Foster of Renfroe, Driscoll & Foster, New York, could produce a license for Empire Bail Bonds and gather other documentation showing the company is legitimate.

In court Friday, Judge Richards said the county district attorney's office received a memorandum of law from Mr. Foster's firm Thursday that sought to prove Empire Bail Bonds was licensed in the state and able to do business as a legitimate bondsman.

"Based upon the people being served yesterday, they were not provided with sufficient time to investigate the truth in the documents," Judge Richards said.

Mr. Foster objected to the adjournment and told the judge he believed the request was an "obstructionist tactic."

"Mr. Hillary has the entire weight of the St. Lawrence County government on him," Mr. Foster said. "If by some weight they can prove that Empire Bail Bonds is not qualified, they have the right to do that."

Mr. Foster said the proof of the bond company's legitimacy has been available through the state Department of Financial Services.

But District Attorney Mary E. Rain said she contacted the Fraud Bureau of the Departmentof Insurance and was told Empire Bail Bonds was not licensed.

"We dispute the legitimacy of the bond company," Ms. Rain said. "We don't believe they are licensed. They keep throwing out different bond company names and that concerns us. They are not consistently providing one name."

In the memorandum of law submitted Thursday, Ms. Rain said Jawam Inc. was the name provided while in the bond documents Empire Bail Bonding Co. was listed.

"They are two separate and distinct companies owned by separate and distinct individuals and they are each incorporated, and that concerns us," Ms. Rain said.

Additionally, Chief Assistant District Attorney David A. Haggard told Judge Richards that while the original Internet appraisal of a Brooklyn property alleged to belong to Hillary's sister Pauline Winters was listed at $442,000, a second appraisal made by Jhairan B. Persaud that was submitted in the new memorandum of law upped the value of the home to $600,000, a 38 percent increase, he said.

"The first appraisal they provided was an Internet appraisal and that said the property was worth $442,000, and that the bonding company said that they were satisfied with that appraisal," Ms. Rain said after the hearing. "Then they came back with a certified appraiser indicating that the property was worth $600,000. Ironically, it is just $4,000 more than what the payoff is which gets them over the threshold. That, for me, is too close."

Ms. Rain said during the three-week adjournment she will be seeking to subpoena any documentation that will help her office rebut the evidence the defense counsel provided, including the testimony of appraiser Jhairan B. Persaud, as Judge Richards denied her office approval to conduct its own appraisal of the property.

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