Is a DA Railroad of "John Doe Duffel Bag" - "Son of Sal" getting Express-ed Service on a Home-court in Brooklyn ?

In spite of what Judge Alan Marrus and a few newspaper guys might think, it’s not very nutty for a criminal defendant, like Salvatore Parrone, to try very hard have some communications with his closest family members, and for Perrone to ask for a lawyer in whom he can trust to try very hard to do that and everything else

For those of you who lost track of the 2012  “John Doe Duffel Bag” –  “Son of Sal” murder cases, like I have, let me bring you up to speed. In December, Salvatore Perrone pleaded “Not Guilty” to the three charges of murder and three charges of attempted murder three charges of first degree murder and three charges of second degree murder that the Brooklyn DA has brought against him (“‘Son of Sal’ accused serial killer Salvatore Perrone grins as he pleads not guilty to three Brooklyn shopkeeper slays ...” by Oren Yaniv & Ginger Adams Otis, 12/12/12,  NY Daily News  [http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/son-sal-grins-pleads-guilty-murders-article-1.1218589#ixzz2ORJoDuR8].). At the start of that arraignment hearing, Perrone, supposedly initiated a tirade against the judge the moment that he took the bench. Parrone is reported to have said, “I have not been given any access to the outside world....  Are we in the United States of America?” Dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit with his hands cuffed in front of him, it was reported that Mr. Perrone  repeatedly interrupted the arraignment with his rambling; and that William Martin, Sal Perrone’s court-appointed attorney, had asked the court to order a psychiatric evaluation of his client. In response, the judge noted, “I’m going to check off the box that says ‘disruptive, confused or bizarre’ behavior....”; then the judge referred the matter for psychiatric evaluation and adjourned the case until February 22, 2013 for a hearing.

About a month ago, a competency hearing was conducted by the same judge, Alan Marrus. According to a Wall Street Journal reporter, Sal Perrone “...spent more than 10 minutes sparring with [Supreme Court Justice Alan] Marrus, rejecting advice from the judge not to speak and to listen to his attorney” ( “Suspect in Shopkeeper Slayings Fit to Stand Trial” by Pervaiz Shallwani, 2/22/13, WSJ – Metropolis Blogs [http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2013/02/22/suspect-in-shopkeeper-slayings-fit-to-stand-trial/]). However, if you had listened to and watched the video clip of the February 22, 2013 competency hearing conducted by Judge Marcus, you might just as easily have said, “Judge Marrus spent more than 10 minutes sparring with the defendant Salvatore Perrone, refusing to really listen to what Perrone was saying about his lawyer William Martin’s lack of work on the case and inability to get in touch with Perrone’s family members.”

In the courtroom drama that played out on February 22nd, everybody had a part to play and Alan Marrus was playing the part of “Dispatcher” on the Brooklyn DA-Supreme Court Railroad of Bensonhurst Sal Perrone, most recently of Clove Lake, SI.  Judge Marcus isn’t letting the prosecution and trial of “Son of Sal” Perrone get sidetracked by issues like the diligence of defense counsel and the cooperation between a criminal defendant and his lawyer. As far as Judge Marrus was concerned, February 22, 2013 was scheduled in order to get a couple of psychiatric reports completed and admitted into the record, and then to determine that Sal Perrone was competent to participate in his own defense; on February 22nd that part on  Judge Marrus’ Dispatcher’s schedule was checked-off with dispatch.

As a result, Sal Perrone must now defend himself with an attorney, William Martin, a man in whom Sal Perrone has no faith; and one of the reasons for that is that Martin had not been able to reach certain members of Perrone’s family. Even though it really looks like the police and prosecutors had been able to do that early on in the case, and that there have been some other specific communications with those family members by the DA's office since then.

Since his arrest, Salvatore Perrone, 64, has repeatedly asked to see his daughter. According to the accused killer, “She’s the only person I trust who can clear me in this matter.”  However, people in the Brooklyn DA’s office have said that just won’t happen. “It’s my understanding that his ex-wife and his daughter do not want any contact with him,” said Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Melissa Carvajal.  On February 22nd, when Perrone again made his pitch to the judge to get in touch with his family, Prosecutor Melissa Carvajal told the judge that she had communicated with Perrone’s family members and that "they don't want to have any contact with Mr. Perrone." After much back and forth, between the defendant and the judge, Judge Marrus accepted the representations of the Brooklyn DA’s office at face value and  told Perrone, "Apparently, your family members are not interested in coming to court or to assist you.” ( “Accused serial killer ‘Son of Sal’ Salvatore Perrone mentally fit to stand trial....” by Oren Yaniv, 2/22/13, NY Daily News [http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/son-sal-salvatore-perrone-mentally-fit-stand-trial-article-1.1270861#ixzz2OR8OBp6k]). For some reason, it didn't occur to the judge, or anybody else in court on February 22nd, to see if Perrone's relations would at least talk to Perrone's lawyer.

As to the questions raised by Perrone in his application to obtain new defense counsel – mostly about his counsel’s not diligently pursuing Perrone’s interests in the case, a video clip that is part of the Daily News article of 2/22/13 above shows Judge Marrus telling Salvatore Perrone that the judge knows that Perrone’s attorney, Mr. Williams, is diligently working because Williams  had filed an “Omnibus Discovery Motion that the DA had to answer” and that Williams had called the DA's office for contact information about Mr. Perrone’s family members, which was not available.

By these remarks, the court is showing that it is obviously intent on making a fool out of the defendant.  The first item, about the “...Omnibus Motion...” is literally one of the meanings of  “...going through the motions...”,  which implies routine and perfunctory treatment. The second, about attempting to obtain contact information for Perrone’s family from the DA’s office was specifically contradicted by ADA Melissa Carvajal’s statements on February 22nd. On the main matter before the court on February 22nd, Perrone’s competency, which had been established on the record by the psychiatric reports and confirmed by the court’s decision, William T. Martin who is still Perrone’s court-appointed defense attorney said this about his client’s fitness:  “He’s been found fit to proceed.... Based upon my investigation, he’ll likely be found competent even by an independent examiner.”

One can only guess what that “investigation” might have uncovered that makes Mr. Martin so certain, since he hasn’t even reached Perrone’s family.

According to the papers, Perrone’s next scheduled court appearance is set for April 12, 2013.

A major part of the prosecution strategy going forward has already been accomplished thanks to Judge Marrus  —  Perrone has been made to look like both a  nut and a fool, but as a matter of law, he has been ruled fully competent to “proceed with his defense” with a lawyer that he doesn’t trust and doesn’t want representing him. That’s a great formula to get a guilty plea out of Perrone, which avoids all the troublesome evidentiary questions, like those mentioned back in 2012, that can be swept under the rug with a plea.

If you were in the same situation, how would you feel at this stage of the criminal case  —  probably a lot like Sal Perrone.