by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE, March 27 – A defendant named Gary Wilson was belatedly scheduled to be sentenced on March 27, 2023, in a case Inner City Press has been covering.
Senior Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York was presiding over the case, and the sentencing. Inner City Press went to his courtroom to cover it, putting on the required COVID mask to enter.
Assistant US Attorney Andrew Rohrback, after introducing his collegue AUSA Ryan B. Finkel, said that his Office disputes the drug quantity in the pre-sentencing report but that it does not impact the sentencing. Judge Hellerstein said that he, too, has an issue with the PSR.
Then defense counsel Donald D. Duboulay asked that the courtroom be sealed, or first, that Inner City Press "identify" itself. It did, adding that to seal a courtroom, a motion should be made in advance, and argument heard.
Judge Hellerstein said, I understand your position, Sir - then conferred with his courtroom deputy and his law clerk.
He then said, There are reasons to close a courtroom and they exist here. I must ask you to leave. Inner City Press did leave, after saying that a motion or some reasoning is the "better practice." Case law would seem to require it.
We will have more on this case - in the docket, the S(3) indictment was put under delayed docketing, and sealed documents docketed on September 20, 2022 and November 9, 2022.
Note: Inner City Press has been willing to not or under-report cooperator cases. But when the press is simply ousted from the courtroom on "mere ipsi dixit," it must and will be reported, and pursued.
This case is US v. Gary Wilson, 20-cr-631 (Hellerstein)
***
Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron.
Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
