UPDATE: Statement from Kweller’s attorney below.
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – NewsChannel 34 was at the Broome County Courthouse yesterday and got the initial reaction from the defendants in the Colonial Restaurant case shortly after a jury found them not guilty of all the charges.
Ron Kweller and Jordan Rindgen had been accused of sexually assaulting a 21-year-old woman in the basement of Kweller’s real estate business Rent Bing on Washington Street in downtown Binghamton on November 27, 2021.
The jury took less than 2 hours to render its verdict.
Afterward, Kweller told NewsChannel 34 that he has maintained his innocence from day one. Rindgen chose not to comment.
At 3:44 p.m. on 11/1/23, Elena Fast, attorney for Ron Kweller, released the following statement:
ON FEBRUARY 22, 2022, THE BROOME COUNTY DISTRICT
ATTORNEY’S OFFICE MADE AN UNFOUNDED AND LEGALLY
UNSUPPORTABLE DECISION TO ARREST YARON KWELLER AND
JORDAN RINDGEN FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS. THE
BROOME COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S DECIDED TO ARREST MR.
KWELLER AND MR. RINDGEN DESPITE THERE BEING NO EVIDENCE
THAT ANY CRIME HAD OCCURRED. THERE WAS ALSO SUBSTANTIAL
EVIDENCE THAT THE COMPLAINANTS HAD IMPROPER FINANCIAL
MOTIVES FOR MAKING THEIR CLAIMS. FROM DAY 1, MR. KWELLER
AND MR. RINDGEN VIGOROUSLY MAINTAINED THEIR INNOCENCE.
ON OCTOBER 31, 2023, JUSTICE PREVAILED AND A JURY
RETURNED A VERDICT OF NOT GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS IN LESS
THAN TWO HOURS OF DELIBERATIONS. WE ARE ETERNALLY
GRATEFUL TO EACH AND EVERY JUROR FOR HONORING THEIR
OATH AND FOLLOWING JUDGE COCCHIOLA’S LEGAL
INSTRUCTIONS.
DESPITE THEIR ETHICAL AND LEGAL OBLIGATIONS, THE
BROOME COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE SOUGHT A
CONVICTION OF INNOCENT MEN AT ALL COSTS. TRIAL TESTIMONY
AND EVIDENCE REVEALED NUMEROUS EXAMPLES OF SHOCKING
PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT INCLUDING:
● SENIOR ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY ALYSSA
CONGDON AND THE BROOME COUNTY DISTRICT
ATTORNEY’S OFFICE INSTRUCTED A COMPLAINANT TO
“DELETE” HER SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS.
● SENIOR ADA CONGDON WITHHELD ONE OF THE
COMPLAINANT’S TEXT MESSAGES THAT STATED THAT
THE ALLEGED ENCOUNTER WAS CONSENSUAL UNTIL
MONTHS AFTER THE GRAND JURY RETURNED AN
INDICTMENT.
● THE BROOME COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
FAILED TO PRESERVE AN HOUR AND A HALF OF
FAVORABLE BODY WORN CAMERA FOOTAGE OF A
RESPONDING TROOPER. PRIOR TO ITS DELETION, THE
DEFENSE HAD REQUESTED THAT THE DISTRICT
ATTORNEY’S OFFICE PRESERVE AND DISCLOSE THIS
EVIDENCE.
“OUR CLIENTS ARE RELIEVED THAT AFTER A TWO YEAR
BATTLE, THEY CAN BEGIN TO REBUILD THEIR LIVES AND
LIVELIHOOD, WHICH WERE DESTROYED BY THIS MALICIOUS
PROSECUTION,” SAID ELENA FAST, ATTORNEY FOR YARON
KWELLER.
MR. KWELLER WAS REPRESENTED BY ELENA FAST, ESQ. OF
THE FAST LAW FIRM, P.C. AND PAUL BATTISTI, ESQ. OF THE
BATTISTI LAW OFFICES, P.C. MR. RINDGEN WAS REPRESENTED BY
THOMAS JACKSON OF JACKSON BERGMAN LLP. THE CASE WAS
PROSECUTED BY SENIOR ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY ALYSSA
CONGDON AND SENIOR ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY AMANDA
CRONIN (NEE CHAFFE) UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF LUCAS
FINLEY, CHIEF ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY AND DISTRICT
ATTORNEY MICHAEL KORCHAK.
