| Amid COVID Sammy Ortiz in
Homeless Shelter Is Summoned For Drug Test in
500 Pearl Street
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
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SDNY COURTHOUSE,
April 21 – Amid the
Coronavirus pandemic, Sammy
Ortiz called in on April 21
from the Wards Island shelter
to a proceeding before U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Richard M. Berman.
He said, "Hey
Mister Berman." His CJA lawyer
Stephanie Carvlin told him to
say Judge Berman. The issue
was Ortiz not having shown up
when summoned for a random
drug test.
But if he is in
the Wards Island shelter
across the 103rd Street
footbridge from Manhattan, how
was he supposed to make it
down to the test in 500 Pearl
Street?
Ortiz offered to
test the drug test in the
shelter and fax the result.
No, was
Probation's answer, there
would be no chain of custody.
Ortiz let it be known that
while it was 1:46 pm he was
still waiting for lunch,
required to stand 10 feet away
from other shelter residents,
wearing a mask. It's hard, he
said. Yes, it is. The case is
US v. Ortiz, 13-cr-686
(Berman).
***
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