| Man
Arrived
Legless in
SDNY Via
Oklahoma in
Gun Case Now
Evaluation
Without
Counsel
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Jan 31 – Ira
Booker was
charged with
conspiracy to
traffic in
narcotics and
automatic
weapons, with
the Sinaloa
Cartel and
even Al
Shabaab. He
was arrested
in California
on February
24, 2023.
Two
months later,
on April 25,
2023 U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York
Magistrate
Judge Ona T.
Wang arraigned
Booker, who
was in a
wheelchair.
His
lawyer said
that while
being
transferred
from
California to
New York via
the hub in
Oklahoma, he
was left in a
place in
shackles, got
blood clots
and ended up
having a leg
amputated.
Upon arrival
in New York,
rather than
the MDC in
Brooklyn, he
was placed in
a
rehabilitation
center in the
Bronx named
Gold Crest.
After
arraignment he
was to be
taken back
there.
On
April 27
District Judge
Jennifer H.
Rearden to her
credit ordered
records,
albeit under
seal.
On
May 9,
2023Judge
Rearden held a
status
conference,
with Booker
still in Gold
Crest: "Minute
Entry for
proceedings
held before
Judge Jennifer
H. Rearden:
Status
Conference as
to Ira Booker
held on
5/4/2023.
Defendant Ira
Booker present
by telephone
from Gold
Crest Care
center with
Federal
Defender by
video... The
Court
requested a
status
letter."
Jump
cut nearly a
year to May 3,
2024 -
Booker's
medical
condition
still
unresolved:
"As soon as a
medical
evaluation of
Defendant
Booker has
taken place,
the Government
is directed to
submit a
status
report."
Jump
cut to January
30, 2025 when
after Federal
Defenders
confirmed they
won't insist
on being
present, a
mental
evaluation was
ordered up:
"ORDER as to
Ira Booker. it
is hereby
ORDERED as
follows: Dr.
Cheryl Paradis
is appointed
by the Court
to conduct a
psychological
examination of
Defendant
Booker
pursuant to
Title 18,
United States
Code, Section
4241(b), in
order to
assist the
Court in
determining
whether the
Defendant
presently is
suffering from
a mental
disease or
defect which
renders him
mentally
incompetent to
the extent
that he is
unable to
understand the
nature and
consequences
of the
proceedings
against him or
to assist
properly in
his defense.
The
psychological
examination
shall be
conducted at
East Orange
General
Hospital. A
status
conference
will be
scheduled to
take place
promptly after
Dr. Paradis's
report is
submitted to
the Court and
disclosed to
the parties
(Signed by
Judge Jennifer
H. Rearden on
1/30/25)
The
case is
USA v. Booker,
1:23-cr-120
(Rearden /
Wang)
***
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