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SDNY COURTHOUSE, April 27 – Robert Lee Miles, detained amid Coronavirus in the lower Manhattan Metropolitan Correctional Center, on April 22 argued to be released, before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge John F. Keenan. Inner City Press covered it.  

  And this, on April 27: Judge Keenan in a nuanced ruling continued to detain Miles, with the possibility he can re-apply if he has a plan not including the homeless shelter. See below.

On April 22, Miles' lawyer said his client is with more than 40 inmates on the 11th floor of the MCC, that they are given masks but that many "don't wear them."   

Assistant US Attorney Daniel C. Richenthal opposed release.

Judge Keenan said, Rikers Island & the MCC are 2 totally different facilities... If I grant release, how long would quarantine be? 14 more days on the 11th floor in the same conditions? I'm going to ask Mr. Richenthal that.   

Miles' lawyer said, 14 days or less if BOP says so.  

 AUSA Richenthal began with a "couple of small points... Mr Miles is only 56. He's on the high risk list because of asthma as well as age."

He relayed that the MCC warden told the EDNY yesterday, 7 inmates have been tested and 5 positive. So most on the 11th floor have not been tested.

   Judge Keenan asked for the letter, which AUSA Richenthal pointed out is on the EDNY website.

   Richenthal said, Exhaustion is mandatory. Our concern is Mr. Miles' troubled history, criminal history and history of supervision. If you release him, it should be to a halfway house.

    Judge Keenan assured, A homeless shelter is more likely to infect him than any other place. I'm not going to rule that way.  

  AUSA Richenthal intoned, In light of developments on Wards Island    [Here is Inner City Press story the day before about Wards Island, here.]

    Judge Keenan asked, The 46 inmates on the 11th floor of the MCC, do they really share the same shower and call that quarantine?

     AUSA Richenthal answered, Yes. It is not isolation.    Judge Keenan said, I'm going to reserve decision.

 Now on April 27, Judge Keenan in a nuanced ruling continued to detain Miles, with the possibility he can re-apply if he has a plan not including the homeless shelter: "ORDER as to Robert Lee Miles. Before the Court is an emergency motion by Robert Lee Miles for a sentence reduction to time served and his immediate release from the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York ("the MCC") due to Miles's advanced age, compromised health, and his status as a medically "high-risk" inmate who is especially vulnerable to contracting the Coronavirus, COVID-19 ("COVID-19"). The Government opposes Miles's motion as untimely because he did not first fully exhaust his administrative rights under the applicable statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), before seeking judicial intervention.(See Footnote 1 on this Order). To its credit, however, the Government requests that, if the Court were to grant Miles's motion, the Court order (1) that Miles either be quarantined for at least 14 days or he be otherwise determined by the Federal Bureau of Prisons ("the BOP") to not have COVID-19, so as to protect the public; and (2) that the conditions of Miles's supervised release be modified to add a special condition that he reside in a residential reentry center--commonly known as a halfway house--so as to protect Miles, because allowing him to return to a homeless shelter, as Miles's release plan initially proposed, may increase his risk of exposure to COVID-19, given that many cases of the virus are reported to exist in such shelters. For the reasons set forth below, Miles's motion is DENIED....[See this Order]... Nevertheless, after considering the 3553(a) factors, given the kinds of sentences available, 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(3), and Miless history and characteristics, id. § 3553(a)(1), including the significant behavioral issues that arose during Miles's recent stints in inpatient substance abuse programs and his prior and seemingly willful refusal to fully comply with the conditions of his supervised release, the Court is decidedly concerned that Miles's release plan will in fact place him at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19, effectively undoing the very reason for his compassionate release. Accordingly, the Court is not convinced that Miles has set forth the requisite "extraordinary and compelling reasons" to justify release pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i), and his motion must be denied. If, however, Miles is able to propose a release plan that is acceptable to the U.S. Probation Department for the Southern District of New York, the Court will readily revisit this decision. Under those circumstances, the Court would urge the Government to consider whether waiver of the 30-day exhaustion requirement is warranted should its opposition either (1) not contest that extraordinary and compelling reasons may exist for immediate release; or (2) request a quarantine period that, when satisfied, would permit the defendant's release on a date more than 30-days after the defendant's initial request to the warden of the defendant's facility.SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge John F. Keenan on 4/25/2020)(bw)." We'll have more on this. The case is US v. Miles, 11-cr-581 (Keenan).

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