by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Jan 4 – Conditions in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn are leading Federal judges to allow convicts free on bond, most recently in a January 4 decision.
On January 2 Moises Disla Ramos pleaded guilty to an armed robbery of victim(s) who came to buy a car and then were shot, one in the leg.
The plea was before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Lewis J. Liman. Inner City Press was there, the only media in the courtroom.
The Federal Defender argued against the presumptive immediate remand, focusing on the conditions in the MDC and citing two cases by fellow SDNY District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer.
Judge Liman said he was not ruling that the conditions in the MDC could never constitute extraordinary circumstances to avoid remand after a plea - but said in this case, he would order remand. Reference was made to having other people's identity information.
Two days later on January 4, fellow SDNY Judge Jesse M. Furman allowed Gustavo Chavez free pending sentencing, in a 19 page ruling largely about the MDC and applicable case law, concluding "continuing the bail of a defendant like Chavez, who has been 100% compliant with the terms of his release to date, does not pose a
danger to anyone, and does not present a risk of flight. Accordingly, and for the reasons
discussed above, the Court finds that there are “exceptional reasons” justifying Chavez’s
continuing release pursuant to Section 3145(c) and thus grants his motion to continue his
conditions of release through the date of his sentencing."
The Judge Liman case is listed as US v. Ramos, 22-cr-431 (Liman)
The January 4 Judge Furman decision is in US v. Chavez, 22-cr-303 (Furman)
More analysis and comparison, including Epstein echo, on Substack here
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