PROVIDENCE -- A lawyer with Rhode Island credentials has been found for
the suspect in the killing of a Providence police detective last April,
paving the way for a bail hearing next month.
Journal photo / Mary Murphy
Suspect Esteban Carpio appears in District Court, Providence, from the ACI by videoconference for a status hearing today. It was the first time he was seen in court without any facial covering since the April 17 slaying.
Kirsten M. Wenge, who is a member of the Boston law office representing
Esteban Carpio, said today that she recently passed the Rhode Island bar
exam and can now serve as his local lawyer.
Wenge's representation of Carpio was announced at a brief status
conference for Carpio in District Court this morning. The state Supreme
Court requires defendants with out-of-state counsel to also have a local
attorney.
Judge Elaine Bucci also scheduled a July 25 bail hearing for Carpio.
Carpio appeared by videoconference -- and for the first time without any
kind of mask covering his face, which had appeared bruised and bloody in
his first court appearance in April.
Today, his eyes looked discolored and almost swollen shut.
Carpio suffered those injuries banging his head against a prison wall
last week, according to a spokeswoman for the Adult Correctional
Institutions, where Carpio is being held without bail.
Judge Bucci had postponed a bail hearing May 16 and scheduled today's
status conference after Wenge said she could not find a Rhode Island
lawyer to help with the case. Boston lawyer Robert L. Sheketoff is also
serving as Carpio's lawyer.
Carpio, of Providence, is accused of fatally shooting Police Det. Sgt.
James L. Allen on April 17 as he was being interviewed at police
headquarters about a stabbing. He jumped through a third-floor window
after the shooting, and was captured soon after by law-enforcement
officers.
His bruised face, partly covered by a "spit shield," at his arraignment
the day after his arrest drew cries from the audience and led to an
investigation into his treatment by police. An FBI-led probe found that
no excessive force had been used.
Carpio was not brought to court for a May 16 bail hearing but
communicated with Bucci through videoconference because of security
concerns. He has been punished for unruly behavior and charged with
assaulting three ACI guards since his arrest.
Last month, Carpio's face was covered by a mesh and cloth hood as he
stood before a camera and microphone talking to Judge Bucci. His image
and words were broadcast over two television sets.
Again today, Carpio's image was broadcast into the courtroom via
television sets as Carpio's mother, Yvonne Carpio, his girlfriend,
Samein Phin, and others watched, some of them crying.
Wearing a light-blue shirt, Carpio stood between two guards, his hands
apparently shackled at his sides. Carpio spoke only briefly, telling
Judge Bucci that he wants a bail hearing.
After this morning's hearing, in brief exchanges with reporters, members
of Carpio's family charged that he'd been beaten up.
Ann Fortin, a spokeswoman for the ACI, said Carpio's injuries "are a
result of his own self-injurious behavior a couple of days ago."
Carpio was brought to the hospital Thursday after he repeatedly banged
his head against a prison wall, an ACI spokeswoman said last week, then
returned to prison.
Family members also expressed disappointment that the bail hearing won't
be held sooner. Family and friends have been prohibited from visiting
and calling Carpio, who has had a troubled tenure at the ACI. During his
first month he was disciplined for 16 separate offenses, including
assaulting corrections officers, spitting at staff and disobeying an
order.
Wenge said she would have preferred an earlier date for the bail
hearing, too, but it couldn't be scheduled sooner because of the
schedules of the attorneys and the court.
At the urging of her boss, Wenge said she took the Rhode Island bar
examination in February. Wenge said Sheketoff wanted her admitted to the
bar in Rhode Island because he is sometimes asked to handle Rhode Island
cases.
Before Wenge was admitted to the Rhode Island bar, her office contacted
about 30 Rhode Island lawyers directly or indirectly for help with the
case, but most turned them down.
However, she said, several called to offer their services after she went
to court May 16 and told Bucci she couldn't find local counsel to help
with Carpio's defense.
Wenge said her ability to act as local counsel "makes it easier" for her
and Sheketoff in handling the case.
About a half-hour before the hearing's scheduled 11 a.m. start, the
Rhode Island Capitol Police barred people from entering the courthouse
for about 45 minutes because of a bomb threat, Capitol Police Chief
Stephen G. Tocco said.
In a call placed to the emergency number 911, nothing was mentioned that
would link it to the Carpio case, according to Tocco.
The courthouse was not evacuated, and court sessions continued while the
courthouse was searched, Tocco said. People were again allowed into the
courthouse at about 11:15 a.m., and Carpio's hearing went on.
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