Sal Perrone, of Brooklyn and Staten Island again appeared in a Brooklyn court in front of the former Bronx guy, Criminal Court Judge Alan Marrus ( an ACTING Supreme Court Justice in the Brooklyn Criminal Term) --- yet again, the multiple murder case against Perrone was adjourned a few months --- this time until June 30th
This has to be the strangest pursuit of justice in what most people believe is "an open and shut case" of any that's been held in Brooklyn for a very long time. After a rush to put a suspect named Salvatore Perrone , but referred to by the police as "John Doe - Duffle Bag" --- and sometimes in the press as "Son of Sal" into police custody without making an arrest for days --- there was a rush to convict the man in the court of public opinion after charges had been announced (the actual time in police custody prior to any arrest might yet prove to be a problem in the case). For almost a year and a half, there has been no similar rush to convict that man in court; quite to the contrary, the jury selection and a trial of this case has not yet been scheduled. According to press reports, it is not likely to occur before this fall.
In case you missed it (and it is obvious, that is exactly what all parts of the criminal justice system want right now), Salvatore Perrone again appeared in a Brooklyn Criminal courtroom on March 28th before "the Honorable" Alan Marrus, AJSC, Kings Co. Several things happened that were unusual this time around. First and foremost, the appearance was covered by several of the city-wide papers, several of which had seemed to lose interest during prior court appearances. Second, some of the coverage showed the unprofessional disdain with which the judge presiding over the case treated both the person and the subject matter before him ( See "Accused serial killer 'Son of Sal' Salvatore Perrone files long, bizarre list of witnesses" by Oren Yaniv, 3/29/14, NY Daily News [http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/accused-serial-killer-salvatore-perrone-files-bizarre-list-alibi-witnesses-article-1.1738762]; "‘Serial killer’ needs legal help, judge says" by Laurel Babcock and Josh Saul, 3/29/14, NY Post [http://nypost.com/2014/03/29/serial-killer-salvatore-perrone-needs-legal-help-judge-says/]; Accused killer Salvatore Perrone's turn as lawyer "singularly ineffective," judge scolds by Frank Donnelly, 3/31/14 [http://www.silive.com/northshore/index.ssf/2014/03/judge_scolds_accused_killer_sa.html ; fdonnelly@siadvance.com ]). For the most part, this "news" coverage, by the three papers just cited, fell into line with the persistent narrative that Perrone is only some kind of homicidal nut, who is insisting on defending himself and that he really has no defense worth talking about or looking into.
This passage from the Orin Yaniv article in the Daily News is illustrative:
"His court appearances all featured the defendant launching long-winded complaints about the voluminous evidence he has yet to receive. *** Friday’s was no different, even after the prosecutor noted that most of the discovery has been turned over. *** Among Perrone’s demands was an email address of a woman named Nadia, whom he believed to be living in Russia. *** “You’re not happy with everything,” Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Alan Marrus told him at one point. *** 'Have you considered that you decided to represent yourself and that you’re not doing a very good job?' the judge asked. 'You are being singularly ineffective in representing yourself. Do you understand that?' ”
One of the things that the press has not actually looked into is the quality and the actual quantity of discovery material that the Brooklyn DA's Office has provide to the defendant in discovery --- and perhaps more important, what might not have been turned over.
Something else that has not been reported in any of the coverage of this case thus far is whether the pro se defendant in this capital murder case has been provided with or even offered "legal assistance" after he asked that the court appointed attorney be removed from his case. Judge Marrus has done little more than carry-on at defendant Salvatore Perrone's ability to defend himself whenever Perrone complained about various things, including the repeated failure of prosecutors to turn over discovery material needed by his defense against all the charges. Earlier in the case, Judge Marrus had been quite solicitous to Perrone's "assigned" attorney, a former Bronx Judge who had been thrown off the bench and disbarred --- some commentators had noted that both Marrus and the assigned counsel had some history in the Bronx.
A very illustrative example of the disdain, animus and bias against Mr. Perrone by the Judge sitting on his case for about a year and a half now is a comment the judge made in response to a complaint by the defendant that $78,000 had been taken from his home in Staten Island. According to one of the press reports, Acting Supreme Court Justice Alan Marrus glibly responded, “The IRS might be interested.” It's clear that Judge Marrus' was quite dismissive of the defendant's complaint; and his even clearer implication was that the only way that Perrone might be in possession of that amount of money would necessarily involve some violation of the federal tax laws.
Nonetheless, one of the things that did come through in this round of reporting is that Judge Marrus has repeatedly pointed out how "singularly ineffective" Perrone has been in defending himself in court.
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