| Horge
Got Severance From Scales in SDNY Then
Pled Guilty Now Sentenced Consecutive
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Song
https://soundcloud.com/innercitypress/into-the-ether-of-the-bop-by-matthew-russell-lee
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Dec 7 – Defendant Ernest Horge
back on February 27, 2020 said
in open court that it is
unfair he is in the same case
as a man now set to be charged
with capital murder.
Horge's
court appointed lawyer Matthew
D. Myers said he might soon
make a motion for severance of
the cased, but he had a trial
on the other side of the
country first.
Soon Horge
had a new lawyer, and on
August 26 he pleaded guilty to
reduced charges, two telephone
calls to sell crack in The
Bronx, on November 29, 2018
and February 7, 2019. But the
projected sentencing guideline
is 96 months. The sentencing
is set for December 3 at 4 pm.
On November
18, this: " as to Ernest Horge
held on 11/18/2021. Frank
Balsamello, AUSA, was present
for the government, and Megan
Wall-Wolff and Steve Lynch
were present for Mr. Horge.
The Court grants the unopposed
motion for defense counsel to
file portions of its
sentencing submission and
certain exhibits under seal,
and for the government to file
a supplemental submission
under seal."
On November 26,
the day after Thanksgiving,
the sentencing submission went
in, with redactions. It says
Ernest Horge dropped a stable
and productive life in
Winston-Salem NC to care for
his dying mother in The Bronx.
It further says his mother
stabbed his father when he was
five years old. There are
redacted letters from
children.
In December this:
"FILED JUDGMENT IN A CRIMINAL
CASE as to Ernest Horge (2),
Count(s) 1, 1s, 2, 6s, 9s-10s
are dismissed on the motion of
the US. Pleaded guilty to
Count(s) 1ss-2ss, Imprisonment
for a total term of Count 1:
Thirty Six (36) Months; Count
2: Thirty Six (36) months, to
run consecutive to the
sentence on Count 1.
Supervised release for a term
of Counts 1 and 2: One Year on
each count to run concurrent.
The court makes the following
recommendations to the Bureau
of Prisons: Incarceration as
close to the New York
metropolitan area as possible.
Special Assessment of $200
which is due immediately
(Signed by Judge Jed S. Rakoff
on 12/6/21)."
On May 28,
2020 amid the COVID-19
pandemic, Horge and Myers and
others appeared virtually
before U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York Judge Laura Taylor Swain.
Inner City Press again covered
it, below.
On November 11,
Veterans Day, the US
Attorney's Office announced a
superseding indictment that
formally charges Scales with
murder, and keeps Horge linked
to him: "In the Superseding
Indictment, SCALES is charged
with causing another person to
shoot at rival drug dealers on
June 9, 2017, in the vicinity
of 1135 East Tremont Avenue in
the Bronx, New York, causing
the death of Joshua
Lopez. SCALES and HORGE
are also charged in the
Superseding Indictment with
engaging in multiple specific
drug sales between November
2018 and February 2019, in
addition to the narcotics
conspiracy charged in the
initial indictment." The case
was reassigned to Judge Jed S.
Rakoff, the docket said.
On March
17, 2021 Judge Rakoff held a 4
pm proceeding, after presiding
for the whole day over the
Eaze trial, in the same large
courtroom. Scales was present,
but Horge was not. He was
unceremoniously moved out, for
evaluation. Some of those
close to him have reached out
with question.
There has
been, from the beginning of
this case, some lack of
transparency. But what will
Judge Rakoff's recent order
that the US Attorney's Office
should make trial exhibits
available publicly by midnight
of the trial day they are
introduced, that may change.
In May
2021, after Horge in essence
disappeared into the BOP fog
to be evaluated, he has
written from the MDC that he,
with a condition that would
react badly to it, has been
placed in a cell with a man
with tuberculosis. Inner City
Press has been asked to help
and for now, this
song.
https://soundcloud.com/innercitypress/into-the-ether-of-the-bop-by-matthew-russell-lee
Watch this site.
On May 12,
Judge Rakoff held a Curcio
hearing with Ernest Horge
present in person. Inner City
Press went as well. The
possible conflict of interest
was a former client of Myers.
AUSA Frank Balsamello said the
government would not be using
that person in any way.
Judge Rakoff
asked Horge if he waives the
conflict and accepts Myers.
For now, Horge
said.
Judge Rakoff
explained that a future bid to
change counsel might not be
approved, if it interfered or
conflicted with the July 7
trial.
Judge Rakoff
asked Horge if there was
anything more he wished to
say.
Maybe when I get
back into the holding cell,
Horge said. Then it was over.
But on June 28
there was another change of
counsel proceeding listed.
Inner City Press went to the
14th floor and found the AUSA
in the hallway, but the
courtroom door apparently
locked. Afterward, this:
"Attorney update in case as to
Ernest Horge. Attorney Megan
Elizabeth Wall-Wolff for
Ernest Horge added. Attorney
Matthew Daniel Myers
terminated."
On July 2, this:
"ORDER as to Sydney Scales,
Ernest Horge: The telephonic
requests of defendant Ernest
Horge's new counsel, made
earlier today, to sever his
trial from that of
co-defendant Sydney Scales and
to adjourn his trial so that
new counsel can adequately
prepare for trial is hereby
granted. The trial of
co-defendant Scales will
proceed as scheduled starting
July 20, 2021. Mr. Horge's
trial will commence on October
4, 2021. With respect to Mr.
Horge, the Court finds
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §3161
(H) ( 7) (A) that the
interests of justice served by
an exclusion of the time from
today's date through October
4, 2021 outweigh the best
interests of the public and
the defendant in a speedy
trial, as Mr. Horge's decision
to substitute counsel less
than a month before trial
requires an adjournment to
enable new counsel to
adequately prepare for trial.
SO ORDERED. (Time excluded
from 7/2/2021 until 10/4/2021)
(Signed by Judge Jed S. Rakoff
on 7/2/2021)."
Inner City Press
will remain on this case.
Previously Horge
and Myers described
non-functional computers to
review discovery in the MCC,
requiring him to print out
nine inches of documents from
a hard drive the US Attorney's
Office provided him.
U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Laura Taylor Swain, who
has also received handwritten
letters from Horge's family
members and filed them in the
docket after redacting
children's names, patiently
asked Horge about his
medication. On February 27 she
urged him to speak less.
But
Horge had more to say. He
insisted that the gun was
found in someone else's room,
in someone else's apartment.
He said the prosecutors, here
represented by AUSA Frank
Balsamello, were just "using
924(c) as a bargaining tool."
He said everybody loves him,
he has a great sense of humor.
He rhymed Prosecutors lying
and kids crying, and called
the whole situation a "Star
Spangled Banner blueprint for
genocide."
The case is US v.
Horge, 19-cr-96 (Rakoff).
***
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