NORWICH – A man scheduled to begin his jury trial Monday worked out a deal with the prosecution while 60 potential jurors waited in the Chenango County Court house. 

Jury selection was scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m., and dozens of citizens lined themselves up to pass through security and occupy the pews before the judge’s stand.

Mark Dexter was to go before the court accused of bail jumping. He was found not guilty of driving while intoxicated at an earlier trial and found guilty of driving while ability impaired. He had been wanted for a DWI and did not appear for court.

In the deal worked out by his defense attorney, Jeffrey Leibo, Dexter will serve no jail time. The ruling will suspend sentencing for one year while he attends Cortland County Drug Treatment Court. “If at the end of that year he stays out of trouble then the court will allow him to plea to a misdemeanor,” said Leibo. The prosecution objected to the court’s ruling, said Leibo.

The District Attorney’s Office had brought the additional felony charges against Dexter after failing to convict him of a felony at a prior trial.