New York Man Charged With 2nd-Degree Manslaughter, Released Without Bail

An upstate New York man charged with second-degree manslaughter was released without bail Wednesday as the charge is not a bail-eligible offense in New York state.

In a release Thursday, the Gouverneur Police Department (GPD) announced that 30-year-old Libson man Brian K. Hale turned himself over to the police and was charged with second-degree manslaughter in connection to the February 13 death of 39-year-old Andrew Johnston. Justice Stacey H. Young oversaw Hale’s arraignment in the Town of Gouverneur Justice Court. He entered a not guilty plea and “was released without bail under the supervision of the St. Lawrence County probation department,” WWNY reported.

In 2019, disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed bail reform measures into law that “allow suspects accused of second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, child sex crimes, and making threats of terrorism to walk free from jail without ever having to post bail,” as Breitbart News reported.

“He’s concerned obviously. He’s charged with a C-felony,” Hale’s lawyer Edward Narrow told WWNY. “He could go to prison for up to 15 years. So that weighs on every individual.”

The GPD and the Gouverneur Volunteer Rescue Squad were called to a Johnstown Street apartment on February 13 at 1:03 p.m. for a report of a man who was neither conscious nor breathing, the GPD said. Johnston was determined dead, and a subsequent autopsy at Lourdes Hospital in Binghampton found his manner of death was a homicide. An official cause of death has not been released. However, Danyelle Gerstel, who shared three children with Johnston, “said in late February that she was told an autopsy revealed that Mr. Johnston died of a lacerated spleen due to a fractured rib,” the Watertown Daily Times reported.

“The investigation determined Hale and Johnston were involved in a physical altercation earlier that day at approximately 1:36 a.m. at the Serendipity Bar,” the release said. 

John “Scooter” Wetmore, the owner of Serendipity Bar, provided surveillance footage to authorities but decided not to release them to the media, the Watertown Daily Times reported. Wetmore, however, did show the outlet footage to the outlet, which displayed Johnston and his friend, Jonathon Blair, near the bar’s pool tables.

The Times continues: 

There are at least 20 people in several groups around the pool table, the footage shows. In one of those groups, Mr. Wetmore pointed out the assailant. The man, who is clearly identifiable, had been in the bar since 8:15 that night. Mr. Wetmore said.

At 1:35 a.m. he walked over to Mr. Blair, exchanged a few words and then pushed Mr. Blair with one hand to the shoulder. The two exchanged a few more words and then the assailant launched a roundhouse right hand and hit Mr. Blair on the cheek. Mr. Blair was falling away from the punch and did not appear to be hit too hard. He was knocked back but did not fall down.

Mr. Johnston stepped forward and pushed the assailant back with both hands. The assailant then tackled Mr. Johnston who fell straight backward landing hard on his back. Several people jumped in and pulled the assailant off Mr. Johnston and restrained him. Mr. Johnston got up almost immediately and stood with his hands in his pockets observing the scrum that was moving the assailant toward the door.