Lione Park murder case inches closer to trial
Defense attorneys object to timeline
STAMFORD — The long-stalled Lione Park murder case inched one step closer to trial Wednesday, despite impassioned objections from both defendants’ attorneys.
DeShawn Hayes, 29, and Jhonel Telemin-Valerio, 26, are scheduled to go to trial on murder charges next month, nearly six years after they were first arrested.
Hayes and Telemin-Valerio have been imprisoned since November 2015 for their alleged connection to the homicide of Maxine Gooden, a 43-year-old mother of five who was killed when she was struck by a stray bullet while hanging out with loved ones at Lione Park.
The trial will be the first murder case — and only the third trial — held at Stamford Superior Court since the COVID-19 pandemic shut it down in April 2020.
Jury selection for the case kicked off with fireworks Wednesday with a shouting match between attorney Darnell Crosland, who represents Hayes, and Judge Gary White, who is presiding over the case.
The heated discussion revolves around Crosland’s claim that White has ignored repeated requests for a continuance on the case due to a time conflict he has with an ongoing federal court case tied to the Bridgeport Courthouse shooting in January 2020, which he was scheduled to also begin on Wednesday.
In a letter sent to the Office of the Chief Court Administrator dated Oct. 11, Crosland said he’s been “vocal” with both White and Judge Janet Bond Atherton, who is presiding over the federal case, and made motions seeking to resolve the scheduling conflict.
But, he claims, his pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
“It is unfair for me to have to listen to one judge speak of what case is older, what court is more powerful or less powerful, and what judge refuses to yield to another judge. I should not have to get in the middle of that behavior. My only obligation is to represent my client and to be respectful to the court,” Crosland said in the letter. “This is more than inappropriate, it is abusive and unacceptable.”
Crosland argued before White on Wednesday that his being double booked for both a state and federal trial has prevented him from adequately prepping for either case.
“This situation has rendered me ineffective assistance of counsel in both matters,” he said.
White responded prior to jury selection Wednesday, saying that Crosland has had “ample time to prepare for the case,” which he called “one of the oldest cases in the courthouse.” The Stamford case, he explained, had been on the docket for trial as early as February of 2020 before getting postponed due to COVID-19 concerns.
“When you say you haven’t had time to prepare for this case, that’s nonsense,” White said. “Your federal case has nothing to do with this.”
Attorney Lindy Urso, who represents TeleminValerio, joined Crosland in asking for a continuance in the case. He agreed with Crosland that it is “pretty much impossible” to prepare for two major cases at one time and expressed concerns about what may happen due to the scheduling conflict.
“Now, I’m worried about my client having spillover prejudice from an ineffective counsel,” Urso said.
Despite the concerns raised, White commenced the jury selection. But that did not stop Crosland from griping over the decision.
Crosland continuously interrupted jury selection proceedings with complaints over the scheduling conflict. At one point, White threatened to hold him in contempt of the court if he continued raising his objections.
“This is totally inappropriate,” White said.
The trial for Hayes and Telemin-Valerio is scheduled to begin on Nov. 1. It is expected to be completed by Nov. 12.
Hayes, Telemin-Valerio and a third man, Morris Joel Moore Jr., 29, were arrested in the wake of the fatal shooting of Gooden, who was well-known for the homemade food she sold at Lione Park.
Police say Gooden, 43, a mother of five who was selling her home-cooked Jamaican food in the West Side park, was an innocent bystander in the shooting.
Gooden’s daughter Andrina Roberts said during a probable cause hearing that she and her younger sister were standing next to their mother when the shooting occurred.
After hearing four blasts from a pistol, Roberts said she turned around and saw her mother facedown on the ground. Gooden suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and died shortly after at the hospital.
Police say a witness followed the two shooters and took pictures of the getaway vehicle’s license plate. The Jeep was pulled over near Strawberry Hill Avenue and the three occupants — Hayes, TeleminValerio and Moore — were arrested.
Police said they later found the gun stashed in the dashboard of the Jeep.
In 2018, Moore accepted a plea deal that saw him plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter with a firearm. He was sentenced to 20 years in jail.
While imprisoned, Moore wrote a letter claiming he was the gunman in the fatal shooting, that the gun that shot Gooden was his and that Telemin and Hayes had no idea he had the gun on him when they went into the park that day.
In addition to the murder charge, both men also face criminal possession of a firearm charges. The firearm charges carry up to 10 years in prison.