| In SDNY Video Sentencing Of
Devante Joseph To 90 Months Has Hiccups CARES
Act Work In Progress
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
April 23 – The CARES Act
responding to the Coronavirus
pandemic provides among other
things for video Federal
criminal sentencings.
There have been
hiccups, and the issue of
press and public access to
these proceedings is a work in
progress. More on
Patreon
here.
On April 23
Devante Joseph was to be
re-sentenced in light of the
U.S. Supreme Court's US v.
Davis decision, 139 S.
Ct. 2319 (2019).
With Count 4 vacated, he now
faced a sentencing guideline
of 57 to 71 months rather that
the 102 month he initially
received from U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York Judge
Alison J. Nathan.
The
re-sentencing was set for
10:30 am, with Joseph to
appear by video from the
Metropolitan Detention Center
in Brooklyn. Judge Nathan, to
her credit, has ensured that a
telephone number for press and
public access was published in
the case's docket on
PACER.
But the video and
audio were not able to work
together.
This is
apparently the second such
attempted video proceeding in
the SDNY and for now, both
have failed. (Even so, Inner
City Press has asked once the
system does work, how the
press and public will have
video and not just audio
access - watch this site).
Judge Nathan said things could
proceed and for Joseph's
Criminal Justice Act lawyer
Richard Palma to confer with
him as he wanted to go forward
by phone.
If so,
Judge Nathan said, her
chambers would email the
parties a phone number to
call. But what
about the press and public,
since this would be a new
line, not published on PACER?
Inner City Press, which covers
as many cases as it can in the
SDNY and sometimes EDNY,
requested and was quickly
given the phone number to
call. But it is not clear if
others could have done that.
(Perhaps a back-up number
should be published for video
proceedings until the system
works better - and until the
press and public can have not
only audio but also video
access.)
There was a second break when
Judge Nathan asked Palma to
speak privately with his
client about the possibility
of a sentence about the 71
month new
guideline.
Ultimately, after
hearing both about Devante
Joseph's classes taken as well
as reported displinary
incidents, Judge Nathan
imposed a new sentence of 90
months - a year less than the
initial 102 months, in light
of Davis, but above
the new 71 month guideline.
She ascribed going above 71
months to the disciplinary
issues.
Then Assistant
US Attorney Jessica K.
Feinstein who has argued for
the same 102 month sentence
now to her credit put on the
record that the way the
proceeding had switched from
the video proceeding published
on PACER to a telephone
proceeding on the other line,
the press and public might
have been excluded.
Judge Nathan noted that a
"media reporter" -- Inner City
Press -- had requested and
obtained and used the new
phone number.
But obviously new
procedures are needed, in the
interim the pre-proceeding
publication of a back-up phone
number, and as soon as
possible (once it works) press
and public video access to
video proceedings.
Inner City Press
will continue on these cases.
This case is US v. Joseph,
15-cr-95 (Nathan).
***
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