Jury acquits Woodlawn man in 2021 stabbing

The jury acquitted James A. Crone after about 75 minutes of deliberations Tuesday and Wednesday, defense attorney Justin Ginter said.

Crone, 35, was charged with first-degree assault for a Jan. 29, 2021, stabbing on Seventh Street.

Crone’s attorneys, Ginter and Herbert Greenman, argued to the jury that Crone was acting in self-defense.

Matthew J. Stebbins, the man who was stabbed and survived, was part of a group of people with whom Crone had gone out that night, Ginter said.

At the end of the night, Stebbins and another woman were back at Crone’s home and he believed they were highly intoxicated, so he offered them a place to stay the night, Ginter said.

Stebbins began acting erratically and at one point walked into Crone’s bedroom. Crone asked him to leave and Stebbins initiated a physical confrontation in which Crone defended himself, the defense attorney said.

Stebbins, Ginter said, was found to have a blood-alcohol content of .23% that night.

“We’re happy to finally give my client a resolution in this matter,” said Ginter, who thanked the jury.

“They saw my client was in his own home and he was forced to defend himself,” he said.

Jury selection in the case began Dec. 4. The trial was before County Judge Kenneth Case.

Crone made statements to Hamburg police the night of the incident, including, “He came into my room and attacked me. I was defending myself,” according to a Hamburg police report.

Stebbins had been in the intensive care unit at Erie County Medical Center after the incident, according to a Facebook post from the Hamburg Sun.