| After Taylor Pled To
Fentanyl US Said Remand Him Because
Vaccinated, Denied But Changes Coming
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
May 5 –
The issues of COVID-19 and now
the vaccine in the courts are
exemplified by two recent
cases Inner City Press has
reported on.
Clifford
Taylor, charged with
possessing a Ruger firearm in
connection with selling
fentanyl, was released from
prison in the Spring of 2020
due to the COVID-19 pandemic
by U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Katherine Polk Failla.
Judge Failla to her credit
required that "the Court shall
schedule a teleconference,
with press and public access,
within 72 hours of the
Defendant's release from
pretrial custody." This was
held on April 24, 2020 and
Inner City Press covered it.
Taylor asked if he couldn't go
out for walk. Judge Failla
said, Only if it's approved in
advance. For a moment she was
gone, returning saying "I'm
sorry I got thrown out of my
own conference." Inner City
Press can relate.
Despite not being
automatically allowed to go
for an evening stroll, Taylor
repeatedly thanked Failla for
saving his life.
Now on May
5, 2021 Taylor appeared again
before Judge Failla and
pleaded guilty to a lesser
included offense involving
fentanyl. Judge Failla set his
sentencing for September 15.
The
Assistant US Attorney asked
that Taylor be remanded to
jail pending sentencing,
arguing that COVID no longer
presents an extraordinary
circumstance especially for a
person who, like Taylor, has
been vaccinated.
It was an
ironic argument, given that
only the day before a
defendant was said
to have waived his COVID
hardship arguments by NOT
getting vaccinated.
In this
case, Judge Failla declined to
remand Taylor, noting that
many inmates in the MCC have
not been vaccinated. She noted
that Taylor's lawyer's
briefing replied mostly on
"pre-vaccine" cases. She told
Taylor to return for
sentencing or face
bail-jumping charges. The
legal standards, however, are
changing with the vaccine.
The case is
US v. Taylor, 19-cr-410
(Failla).
***
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