Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Masked Robber of Harlem Deli Dropped His Phone During Struggle For Gun Now Says Not Abandoned


By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Patreon

SDNY COURTHOUSE, June 24 – A masked figure robbing a deli on Fifth Avenue in Harlem back in October 2018 fought with the counter worker who grabbed at his gun, then dropped his phone.
   On June 24 defendant David Holland's lawyer Renato C. Stabile argued that the phone left behind should not have been searched without a warrant, that it was not abandoned.
   U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Sidney Stein asked to see, repeatedly, the videos of the struggle, narrating them for the record. "Woah, he hits him with the gun," Judge Stein said. "He's grabbing him... A little risky there."
  The deli worker, his head bleeding, picked up the robber's cell phone from the sidewalk. But why wasn't a warrant sought for it? We'll have more on this. The case is USA v. Holland, 18-cr-908 (SHS).
   Hector Lebron was sent to the SDNY in April by Northern District of Ohio Judge James G. Carr - and then was forgotten for more than two months in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan. 
  On SDNY Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburnbegan what her Deputy said was the last case of the day by asking when the defendant before her came into SDNY custody. The answer was surprising: Lebron was "writted over" on April 24, from a Federal court in Ohiohad been forgotten since then and now should have a hearing before SDNY District Judge Alison Nathan, date not yet set. 
  Inner City Press was the only media in the Magistrates Court and strained forward to hear the number of the case, but none was given. Only afterward was it able on the PACER terminal in the SDNY Press Room to find a Judge Nathan case involving Hector Lebron. But this once dated back to February 2014, with Lebron on Supervised Release until October 31, 2018, signed by then SDNY Judge Mary M. Lisi and Magistrate Ronald L. Ellis.
   Further research by Inner City Press found an April 6, 2019 order by Judge James G. Carr Sr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio that Lebron by remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshall and transferred to a "facility as close to New York as possible."
  The MCC is right next to the SDNY courthouses and the U.S. Attorney's Office. But no one knew Lebron was there for two months. On June 21 in the empty Mag Court the Assistant U.S. Attorney said his colleague, on trial, had only seen the e-mail the night before.

  Judge Netburn said she would investigate it, and told Mr. Lebron she wasn't sure it was her apology to make...