by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 13 – Raul Silva faces a jury trial on May 2 on the charge of causing the death of another with narcotics, conviction on which carries a 20 year mandatory minimum sentence.
Silva was offered and signed a plea agreement to a lesser included offense, but then reputed it.
On April 13, 2023 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge P. Kevin Castel held a proceeding in the case. Inner City Press went and covered it.
The proceeding converted from a change of plea to a final pre-trial conference. Silva's appointed lawyer, after ably arguing to keep out of evidence some of the death scene photographs, then informed Judge Castel that Silva wanted to fire him.
Silva, standing in a yellow prison jumpsuit and speaking through a Spanish language interpreter, told Judge Castel that his lawyer only came to visit offering more and more prison time, not help. He would like another lawyer.
Judge Castel, perusing the docket, said no, trial would proceed on May 2. An Assistant US Attorney, one of the four present - Inner City Press was the only one present in the courtroom gallery - said that plea offers had been extended on May 4, 2022, then October 5, 2022, and finally last week, on April 9.
The AUSA asked that Silva be allocuted on the plea agreements - so that he couldn't, if convicted, claim he hadn't understood.
But it was hard to explain. Under the plea offer, he would still be pleading to the death of Evelyn Vasquez, just not to the statutory mandatory minimum of 20 years.
"It's the death that bother me," Silva said. He asked Judge Castel, "If I am found innocent of the death, how much time would you give me?"
Judge Castel replied, correctly, that he couldn't say. And with that, the proceeding was over. "See you all on May 2," Judge Castel said.
The AUSA said, at the end, that his Office would be asking for a "limited" closure of the courtroom. Inner City Press has opposed these in the past, perhaps even more so in this case.
More including analysis on Substack here
The case is US v. Silva, 20-cr-120 (Castel)
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