Re this Kafkaesque storyhow is this even possible? Is this a screw up or does the system work this way?
There is nothing to suggest that he has not faced or facing a trial, quite the opposite in fact. Moreover, he seems to be in detention pending trial and have been unable to meet jail condition.
Nothing extraordinary about this case at all from a general perspective. Need a New York lawyer to say whether this is unusual for New York.
I will say that 33 months behind bars while trial is undergoing is eyebrow raising, most juridictions do permit people to be bailed if the trial keeps dragging on. Makes me think that there is something additional that has not been said, which would explain why.
I agree, especially because he was a minor when he was arrested.
Did you read the article…he has been released.
(My bolding)
There was no trial.
If there was only one witness (the victim) I’m not seeing what all the 3 year delay was in proceeding to trial based on their charge. One would think it would be more speedy not less.
On the flip side with all those relatives I’m kind of surprised they could not somehow scrape enough together to bond him out. What would a bail bond company require on a $ 10,000 bail?
You have the right to a speedy trial. You can give up that right by asking for delays or other actions. We have basically zero info on what happened pre trial (I know there wasn’t a trial - I am using that term for the phase).
It is not unusual for cases to be dropped. The fact that it was dropped does not mean he was wrongfully accused or anything. The state is totally free to arrest people and then drop the charges with zero explanation about dropping the charges. They need to have probable cause to arrest someone and that can be challenged of course - as well as if he wasn’t given a speedy trial.
He is suing - which is why the state says they aren’t commenting. I have a sneaking suspicion that the delays are his fault (as the lawyer talks about the weakness of the states case). Speedy trial stuff is pretty much open and shut.
Was there a delay?
Yep
Was is serious?
Yep
Was is his fault?
My guess is yes - or the attorney would have mentioned it. Then again the lawyer probably wouldn’t take the case unless he thought there was some angle he could exploit (which could be this guy was wrongly arrested/not given a speedy trial).
Not saying it couldn’t have happened - there are plenty of fuck ups. But I find it a little hard to believe in a place like Rikers Island that they are just keeping people around for 3 years awaiting trial through no fault of their own.
If there really was a problem the article should have read something like:
“Case Law in New York states that defendants have a right to a trial within 6 months unless the delay is due to an action by a defendant. According to court records In this case Mr. So and so did not make any motions or requests that would fall under this exemption. He sat in jail without so much as seeing the inside of a courtroom for over two years straight.”
So without any substantive allegations that could easily be verified - I am not putting much faith in this story.
We can not (easily) know if his arrest was bogus. We can EASILY know if he was held for too long without a trial.
I’d like the opinion of a lawyer in NY but 3 years in jail waiting for a trial on the word of someone 2 weeks after the fact seems very odd.
Generally you pay 10% - or if you have equity in real property - you can put that up as well (and if you go the property route - you are out nothing if the person shows up).
Then I’m really surprised. That entire crew of relatives in the picture could not come up with $ 1000 between them to get their 16 year old relative out of a hellhole where he sat for 33 months?
Other thing that strikes me is that he was a juvenile when arrested. Is it commonplace in the US to put kids into adult detention facilities?
No - although this was a serious crime and I’m not sure what the rules are for New York. But my guess is he was held in a juvenile section with other juveniles. When he turned 18 I’m guessing he was transferred to the adult section.
Makes you wonder. I know in general it is 10%. I know in MD it is 10%. I can’t imagine it being that much higher in New York.
If ANY of his relatives had equity in their house they could put it up for no fee at all. I’m not sure how it is in New York, but I have done it in Maryland - and there is no lien or anything on your house. They basically have you sign a piece of paper and look it up on zillow and check to see if you have a mortgage and how much. It is extremely easy and quick.
Plenty of people - especially in New York might only know renters though.
I’m not saying the story is bogus, but it is so poorly constructed that it must have just been a slow news day.
This situation isn’t impossible but it is very unusual. Trials do drag on for prolonged periods - but they’re unusual cases. From what the article said, this should have been an open-and-shut routine trial that would have been held shortly after the arrest. This isn’t some celebrity murder trial or a corporate embezzlement case. So something isn’t being reported at this point.
One possibility is that the state screwed up the paperwork and Browder got lost in scheduling screw-ups. But you’d think he and his lawyers would be highlighting this if that were the case. Same thing is the prosecution had filed motions to delay the trial (and those are harder for the prosecution to get).
So my initial guess is the same as DataX’s - the most likely explanation is that the reason Browder spent such a long period awaiting his trial is because he and his lawyers were pushing for delays.
What color is he?
Well, with a name like “Kalief,” I’d venture a guess. . .
And a cursory stroll thru Google Images shows he looks like an older version of Urkel.
For the actual trial to take a prolonged period is unusual. For a case to take two or three years to get to trial in NYC is not that unusual ( I specify NYC because it may be very different upstate). But something is definitely not being reported here. There are all sorts of delays that result in time not being counted against the speedy trial deadlines and I wouldn’t expect Browder or his family or his attorney to tell the reporter "Three months of the delay was to explore his eligibility for an alternative-to-incarceration and another three months were due to the defense attorney not being available on various proposed adjourned dates. Then of course he was scheduled to appear on the day Hurricane Sandy hit, so that seven day adjournment didn’t count. . . " or any of the many other reasons why a trial might be delayed without the time counting against the deadline.
What I did not see in any of those stories was a statement that the defense filed a motion to dismiss based on the failure to meet the deadline and that motion was denied . And I think that would have been mentioned if it had happened.
BTW, there’s a separate jail on Rikers for those between 16 and 18 or so.
There was a recent expose about delays in the Bronx. They are unusual and extreme. There are more people waiting for trial in the Bronx than in the rest of the city combined, and the Chief judge has called the chronic delays “intolerable” and “entirely unacceptable.”
As noted, there’s a juvenile facility on Rikers, I have a very hard time believing he’s in the regular population. (Riker Island is not one big jail; it’s a complex of numerous separate buildings with different functions.)
Ditto on the agreement. Sounds like the guy is full of shit, and probably did a bunch more, etc…
it works “this way” if you are black and male and poor in this country - ALWAYS has. Did you you think folk are just whining when talking about when they talk about “institutionalized racism/discrimination”?
Any updates on the disposition of this story? In googling there is almost no mention of what’s going on with this beyond the initial story last fall.