New delay for murder case faceoff
A convicted murderer seeking to have his case overturned had his day in court delayed yet again Thursday after his lawyer asked the judge to recuse herself over comments made in an article in the Daily News.
Ronnie Wright, 43, will have to wait two more weeks after having his court appearances botched on Tuesday and again Wednesday, when he mysteriously was not delivered by corrections officers to the courtroom for his long-scheduled hearing, The News reported. The massive mixup led to an Inspector General investigation by the state’s Corrections Department.
The judge reported to Wright’s concerned lawyers Tuesday that she was told he had suffered a head injury on the way to court. Wright later told The News that was not true. Meanwhile, city and state corrections dodged responsibility for the prisoner not making it to the courtroom.
But Wright’s lawyer Dennis Kelly Thursday asked the judge to take herself out of the case due to a statement from the state Corrections Department claiming that “the court” turned Wright (photo) away on Tuesday.
“Mr. Wright did not suffer any injury this morning. [State Corrections Department] security took him, by van, to the courthouse this morning and were turned away by the court,” a spokesman for the department said in a statement to The News. The department later clarified that claim was not correct.
“The allegation is that the court, meaning Your Honor, sent Ronnie Wright back and that appears to be or will be the subject of an investigation,” Kelly said Thursday in court. “It shows that there is an appearance of impropriety . ... I think it reflects that you would have some type of interest that could be detrimental to my client.”
The judge said she would rule on the request for recusal by Oct. 12 and the hearing did not move forward Thursday.
A jury found Wright guilty of the gang-related shooting in 2006 of Andrell Napper outside the Sumner Houses, but he argues that the prosecutors on the case — including the current high-ranking deputy chief of homicide for the Brooklyn DA, Howard Jackson — withheld key exculpatory evidence at his 2008 trial.