Suspected Sch'dy schools rogue denied again in bid for freedom

PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Cook

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Steven Raucci was turned back again this morning in his latest attempt to get bail.

Acting state Supreme Court Justice Richard Giardino found a lower court was proper in denying Raucci bail.

Giardino found that the entire case showed that acting Schenectady County Court Judge Polly Hoye properly ordered Raucci held without bail.

“A review of the entire record fails to establish Judge Hoye abused her discretion in denying bail in this matter,” Giardino ruled.

Giardino noted the three top-level felonies against Raucci and alleged threats made by Raucci to witnesses in making his decision.

Raucci attorney Ronald DeAngelus asked for the review after the lower court ordered bail be denied.

DeAngelus argued that Raucci wasn’t given a proper hearing on the matter to confront key witnesses whose testimony prosecutors used to help keep Raucci behind bars pending trial.

But Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney argued that the issue was a simple one, pointing to the two dozen counts lodged against Raucci , three of them top-level felonies.

The top-level felonies are on the same legal par as murder charges, Carney noted, carrying sentences of up to 25 years to life in state prison upon conviction. The decision is just the latest chapter in the protracted bail saga involving the retired city schools director of facilities. It began shortly after his Feb. 20 arrest in Schenectady on a single arson charge with $200,000 bond being set and posted. He never saw freedom, as he was immediately arrested on charges from other jurisdictions.

Two bail decisions have followed, as the charges piled on, ordering that Raucci be held without bail pending trial. Raucci has been jailed continuously for nearly five months now.

Raucci is accused of placing incendiary devices at four homes around the Capital Region. Two of the devices exploded. He is also accused of damaging the cars and homes of people who disagreed with him, slashing tires, damaging paint or damaging windshields. One couple reported their car being vandalized five times.