| SDNY
Detention For Murder of Joshua Flores Now
Pushed To March With Execution On Table
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Oct 20 – Christopher Nelson,
also known as Hype, was
indicted in December 2019 as
part of the Black Mob gang. On
May 27 he argued for release
from prison amid COVID-19
before U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York Judge Valerie E. Caproni.
Inner City Press covered it,
below.
On October
1, 2021, a co-defendant was
brought into the SDNY
Magistrates Court and Inner
City Press was there. He had
face tattoos and was referred
to as "Garcia." Inner City
Press was told, in a whisper,
that the case is death penalty
eligible. Garcia was detained
on consent; later this:
"unsealing of a five-count
Superseding Indictment
charging JONATHAN GARCIA,
a/k/a “Jayo,” with
racketeering, murder in aid of
racketeering, firearms, and
narcotics offenses, in
connection with GARCIA’s
involvement in the 2017 murder
of Joshua Flores, a/k/a
“Monster,” and offenses
committed by GARCIA as a
member of the Latin Kings,
including the Black Mob tribe
of the Latin Kings.
GARCIA was arrested today and
will be presented before U.S.
Magistrate Judge Gabriel W.
Gorenstein in Manhattan
federal court." Inner City
Press was there, as the only
media in the Mag Court, and
said it would stay on the
case.
It was. On
October 20 Judge Caproni held
another proceeding on Garcia,
whose CJA lawyer said he was
reaching out to the Federal
Defenders. Judge Caproni
referred to the Department of
Justice making up its mind -
that is, whether or not to
seek the death penalty. After
the mention of 6 gigabytes of
discovery, the matter was
pushed back to March 10, 2022
at 3 pm. Inner City Press will
stay on the case.
From May 27,
2021: Assistant US Attorney
Adam Hobson quoted from social
media video, about shooting
people.
Nelson's defense lawyer argued
that "Mr Nelson did not stab
anyone. The government asserts
that 'the defendant and two
junior Black Mob members
chased and stabbed a 17 year
old boy in Port Jefferson, New
Jersey.' This is untrue. The
government knows very well
that the video shows that it
was an entirely different
person - it was a black man
(Mr. Nelson is white) believed
to be 'Jo Jo' Joseph
Garcia."
Judge Caproni
noted that Nelson is not even
prescribed an asthma medicine,
and is a risk of flight. She
denied the motion to release
him.
Jump-cut to July
1, 2021, when Judge Caproni
had a telephone proceeding
with two more defendants in
the case. The AUSA spoke of
offering a plea deal to at
least one of them. Judge
Caproni said the trial, if
there is one, will be in the
first quarter of 2022.
On July 6,
another co-defendant Mark
Woods was to have been
presented by Zoom from the
MDC. But the MDC had an
"encryption problem."
Judge
Caproni said this would be the
last virtual proceeding, since
the MDC no longer requires
quarantine after in-person
court appearances. She said
defendants who are not
vaccinated will face trial
masked - but the trials will
not be delayed for
vaccination. She urged
defendants to get vaccinated.
The overall
case is US v. Velez, et al.,
19-cr-862 (Caproni).
***
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