2 Photos
Joseph Grippo being led to his arraignment in June of 2019. KYRIL BROMLEY
Daniel Russo, seen here leaving court after the man he will be defending in a murder trial repeatedly used obscenities towards the judge, believes that, despite his client’s behavior, he has a strong case. T.E. MCMORROW
Joseph Grippo, the man charged with murdering a fellow Montauk resident in Kirk Park in June 2019, could find himself banned from his own trial, the judge in the case has stated.
Justice Stephen Braslow issued the warning on Monday, April 25, after Grippo unleashed a torrent of obscenities directed at him.
Grippo had scuttled a possible plea deal during his last court appearance on April 13. He is charged with murdering Robert Casado on the morning of June 6, 2019, by striking him repeatedly with a small pickax along a secluded path.
As with his last court appearance, the April 25 session began with Grippo, who has been in custody since his arrest on June 20, 2019, refusing to speak with his own attorneys. Daniel Russo, lead attorney for the defense, told the court that the only person Grippo would talk with was the judge, State Supreme Court Justice Stephen Braslow.
Ankles shackled and hands cuffed behind his back, Grippo was led to the well of the court. Standing next to Russo, Grippo said to Braslow: “I’ve been searching through law books. There’s a lot of stuff that’s been violated.”
“You really need to talk to your attorneys and go over these things,” Braslow responded. He warned that going to trial without communicating with his attorneys would have catastrophic consequences for Grippo.
“I didn’t do nothing wrong. I didn’t do nothing. I’m innocent,” Grippo said.
“Listen, everyone that gets tried here gets tried as an innocent person. You will have a very fair trial,” Braslow promised.
Grippo continued to protest his innocence. “If you are innocent, you will be acquitted,” the judge replied. “Here’s the deal: You need your lawyers to work for you.”
“I’ve been here three years!” Grippo said.
“I know how long you have been here,” Braslow answered.
The judge has repeatedly explained to Grippo during previous court appearances that the COVID pandemic brought much of the judicial system to a halt, and that the court calendars are now extremely backed up.
Grippo became more agitated, interrupting the judge and talking over him: “I’m just stuck here, locked up.”
The judge asked Russo to speak, but Grippo continued. “I’ve been kidnapped under my own freedom. Kidnapped. They came with a warrant and just locked me up in front of my mother,” Grippo said. “Now they want to throw away the f------ key on me. I didn’t do nothing. I was at work.”
“Nobody is asking anybody to throw away the key on you,” Braslow said.
Russo began speaking. “I just want to put on the record that as Mr. Grippo indicated this matter will be three years old in June of this year. In three years, myself, Keith O’Halloran and Angelo Macaluso, three lawyers, have sat with Mr. Grippo many, many times,” he said.
Russo added that lately his team has had problems sharing video information with Grippo due to pandemic-related restrictions at the county jail in Yaphank, where Grippo is being held. Russo then said, “I understand Mr. Grippo’s frustration. He has been waiting for quite some time. But, as you indicated, much of the time was not due to anybody’s fault.”
Grippo became more agitated.
“So that’s my fault? My fault, my delay, because things are going on in the world, I got to suffer? I got to suffer?” he repeated.
“It is not your fault,” Braslow said.
“It’s my fault, and then you are going to say my rights have not been violated? Come on, man,” Grippo said, in what had become a nonstop monologue. “Everything is supposed to be fair. In God we trust. I trust in God. Do I trust you people? No, I don’t. I don’t trust you one bit.”
Braslow told Russo that he was setting a new court date for May 12, saying he would order the jail to facilitate the sharing of information with Grippo, whom he then warned, “I’ve been very lenient with you.”
“I don’t care,” Grippo said.
“Don’t speak over me,” Braslow said.
Grippo continued on: “I’m going to speak when I got to speak. I’m going to talk when I got to talk.”
Braslow reminded Grippo that he was in a court of law.
He replied, “I don’t give a f--- where I am.”
“He’s gone,” Braslow said. He warned Grippo that he would hold him in contempt of court.
As court officers led Grippo away, he continued to rant. “F--- you, too!” Grippo shouted. Out of the courtroom, in the court’s prisoner holding area, he could be heard shouting more obscenities.
Calm restored, the justice told the defense attorneys, as well as Assistant District Attorney Eric Aboulafia, “If he does this again, he is probably going to end up barred from the courtroom. He can’t keep doing this.”
Session over, Braslow turned to one his clerks and said, “Heard it all before.”
Outside the courthouse, Russo said that, despite Grippo’s behavior, he feels his client has a strong defense. Russo said the timing of the trial remains uncertain, due to the restrictions still in place due to the pandemic.
Aboulafia, a principal prosecutor in District Attorney Ray Tierney’s homicide division, will be handling the case for the DA.
If convicted as charged, one count of intentional murder, Grippo would be sentenced to 25 years to life. Due to his violent criminal history, it is likely that he would spend most, if not all, of the rest of his life in state prison.
