PROVIDENCE - - Under heavy security, the man charged with killing a
Providence police detective last month was brought into court this
morning, the first time he's been seen publicly since family members
disrupted court two weeks ago, complaining about injuries to his face.
Journal photo / Mary Murphy
Esteban Carpio is escorted from the courtroom in District Court, Providence, after his appearance before Judge Elaine Bucci this morning.
Again wearing a plastic spit shield over the bottom part of his face,
Esteban Carpio, 26, was chained at the hands and ankles when he was
brought into District Court, Providence. The swelling and discoloration
evident around his eyes two weeks ago appears to have healed.
Carpio, being held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institutions,
was scheduled to be in court today for a bail hearing on the murder
charge, but Judge Elaine Bucci postponed the hearing.
He was also scheduled for arraignment on assault charges stemming from
an incident last week at the ACI. The state police say that Carpio on
April 26 attacked correctional officers at the ACI when they entered his
cell to stop him from ingesting a blanket.
Carpio faces charges of felony assault, assault on a correctional
officer and assault with bodily fluid. He did not enter a plea on the
assault charges today in District Court because the charges are
felonies, which are typically transferred to Superior Court for trial.
Unlike Carpio's initial court appearance on a charge that he murdered
Providence Detective James Allen on April 17, today's brief court
session had no disruptions, although several of Carpio's family members,
including his mother, Yvonne Carpio, and his girlfriend, Samein Phin,
were in the courtroom.
After shouting in protest about Carpio's injuries during his arraignment
on April 18, Carpio's mother and other family members were escorted from
the courtroom.
The Providence police said that Carpio was being questioned at
headquarters about a stabbing when he suddenly attacked Allen, grabbed
his gun, then shot and killed him before blasting out a third-story
window and jumping through it to escape.
Carpio was caught less than an hour later on a downtown street, after a
violent struggle with Providence police, state troopers, and an FBI
agent working with the police.
Before Carpio was brought into the courtroom today, Judge Bucci told the
audience that she expected everyone to remain quiet and said she planned
to hold in contempt anyone who disrupted the session.
"I know it's emotional for many people on both sides," Judge Bucci said.
"This is a courtroom, and I expect you to act appropriately."
The audience in Judge Bucci's courtroom this morning was checked twice
for weapons. After passing through the metal detectors at the
courthouse's main entrance, people entering the courtroom were checked
again by court officers with hand-held metal detectors.
Carpio's arrival at court was delayed by about an hour after corrections
officers sprayed him with pepper spray because he wouldn't cooperate
with them at the ACI, according to Joy Fox, a department spokeswoman.
Carpio was sprayed through his cell door after he refused to step away
from the door so guards could enter the cell, according to Fox. Carpio
was handcuffed at the time, but officers also wanted to photograph him
and shackle his ankles, Fox said.
Carpio was then taken to a decontamination unit, where his face was
washed and clothes changed before he was handed over to the sheriff's
department for transportation to court.
Two deputy sheriffs handled courtroom security for most of the morning,
but about 10 deputy sheriffs and Executive High Sheriff Gary P. Dias
were in the courtroom for Carpio's case. Several Providence police
officers lined the back wall.
Carpio was again wearing a spit shield like the one that raised a lot of
questions after his arraignment for Allen's slaying. The rarely used
shields are designed to protect guards, sheriffs and others from
defendants spitting on them.
Dias said he decided that Carpio should wear the spit shield into court.
He said corrections officials, in preparing Carpio for his court
appearance, had put a "spit hood" over Carpio's head.
Dias said he concluded that the shield, covering just the lower part of
Carpio's face, was more appropriate than the thin, cloth hood, which
covered his head.
Carpio asked Judge Bucci, "Can I take this mask off my face?"
"I can't let you do it," Judge Bucci replied.
His voice muffled by the plastic shield, Carpio answered Judge Bucci's
questions about his address and date of birth.
Judge Bucci postponed today's bail hearing because Carpio has retained a
new law firm to represent him. The new firm is from Massachusetts, and
Rhode Island state law requires that Rhode Island attorneys assist
out-of-state practioners. Kirsten M. Wenge, from the Law Office of
Robert L. Sheketoff in Boston, told Judge Bucci that she hadn't been
able to find a Rhode Island attorney to work with her today.
Judge Bucci scheduled the case for a status conference on the bail
hearing for May 16.
She scheduled an arraignment date on the assault charges for July 11.
-- With reports from Journal staff writers Michael Corkery and Amanda
Milkovits.
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