NORTHAMPTON — Judge Richard Carey refused Tuesday to hear a proposed plea deal — the same deal rejected by a different judge last month — for a man accused of suffocating his mother and assaulting another man with a knife.
Kevin J. McDonald, 44, of Northampton, returned to Hampshire Superior Court for the second time in less than a month in an attempt to plead guilty to charges of assault and battery on an elderly person, suffocation and assault with a dangerous weapon.
When the attorneys came to court Tuesday with the same plea agreement that was previously rejected at a hearing June 28, Carey did not allow Tuesday’s scheduled hearing to proceed.
The deal previously struck by McDonald, his attorney Rachel Weber, of Northampton, and Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Jennifer Suhl, would have imposed a three-year state prison sentence and two years of probation.
“Why should I entertain it?” Carey asked Weber in court.
“Your honor, it’s a disposition both parties feel is a fair disposition,” Weber replied.
The judge disagreed.
“I don’t see the sense of entertaining the exact same disposition,” Carey said. “I’m not going to entertain the guilty plea.”
Weber declined comment outside of court Tuesday.
The charges result from two separate incidents. In the first case, prosecutors allege that McDonald, on April 28, 2015, held a knife to a 59-year-old man’s throat at the Northampton Lodging House on Pleasant Street, demanded money and threatened to kill him.
In the second case on May 27, 2015, McDonald allegedly assaulted his mother — strangling her and threatening to kill her — during an argument.
While there is still a chance the case could go to trial this month, no date had been set as of Tuesday afternoon, according to court officials.
Michael Majchrowicz can be reached at mmajchrowicz@gazettenet.com or 413-585-5234.