A Massachusetts lawyer for Esteban Carpio says her firm has contacted about 30 Rhode Island lawyers, but has found no one to represent him.

09:44 AM EDT on Tuesday, May 17, 2005

BY GREGORY SMITH and AMANDA MILKOVITS
Journal Staff Writers

PROVIDENCE -- The case of accused killer Esteban Carpio seems to be too hot to handle for some Rhode Island lawyers.

Journal photo / Mary Murphy

Esteban Carpio, charged in the death of Providence Detective Sgt. James Allen, appears for a District Court hearing yesterday over a video/audio link from the ACI. He's wearing a mask to prevent him from spitting at guards.

Kirsten M. Wenge, one of Carpio's Massachusetts lawyers, said that her office has been unable to find a Rhode Island lawyer to act as a required in-state counsel due to "the notoriety of the case." Carpio is charged with killing Providence police Detective Sgt. James L. Allen at police headquarters on April 17.

The case cannot proceed, Judge Elaine Bucci declared at an unproductive District Court hearing yesterday, because Carpio lacks a Rhode Island lawyer.

Carpio's family has retained Boston lawyer Robert L. Sheketoff, in whose office Wenge works. She told reporters that her office has contacted about 30 lawyers admitted to practice in Rhode Island, directly and through other lawyers acting as intermediaries, and found only one who was willing to tackle the Carpio case.

She said their reluctance surprised her, and, in answer to a question, added, "It's not a matter of money."

The one lawyer who is prepared to help lacks a Rhode Island office and so is ineligible under Rhode Island court rules, Wenge explained.

With Carpio participating via an audio/video link from the Adult Correctional Institutions, Bucci held a brief hearing. She engaged Carpio in a question-and-answer session in which he declined the use of a public defender and said he would rely on his family's judgment regarding legal representation.

Under rules set by the Rhode Island Supreme Court, an out-of-state lawyer who wants to represent a client in a Rhode Island court or certain other legal proceedings must team up with a Rhode Island lawyer and get court approval. Until that is done, Bucci told Carpio, he is not represented by counsel.

Carpio, 26, of 70 Nashua St., Providence, is being held at the ACI on a murder charge in connection with Allen's death. He also is charged with assaulting three ACI guards.

Yesterday's hearing was called to officially establish the identity of Carpio's lawyer. Bucci decided to try again on June 20, and scheduled a hearing for that date.

"We're hoping within the next four weeks we can dig a little deeper and find a defense attorney willing to do it," Wenge said later.

Two prominent Rhode Island lawyers insisted in interviews that there are capable lawyers who would take the case.

"It does seem remarkable to me" that there has been trouble finding a lawyer, said John M. Roney, immediate past president of the Rhode Island Bar Association. "Rhode Island lawyers have never been shy in taking controversial cases."

"We've had people accused of things every bit as grisly . . . and there have always been lawyers who were willing to take those cases."

Roney suggested that the Massachusetts lawyers ask for help from the lawyer referral service of the bar association or from the Rhode Island Trial Lawyers Association.

Joyce Faraone, president of the Rhode Island Trial Lawyers Association, said members of organized crime and other controversial figures historically have not had difficulty lining up Rhode Island criminal-defense lawyers.

Journal photo / Mary Murphy

Kristen M. Wenge, one of Esteban Carpio's Boston lawyers, speaks to reporters yesterday outside the J. Joseph Garrahy Judicial Complex, in Providence.

If Carpio is unable to secure a local lawyer and does not want or is ineligible to have a public defender, the court can appoint a seasoned criminal lawyer to represent him, Faraone pointed out.

The hearing in a small auxiliary courtroom at the J. Joseph Garrahy Judicial Complex downtown went ahead with a handcuffed Carpio, a guard at each elbow, on television from the ACI. The judge decided not to have Carpio brought to the courthouse, primarily for security reasons, according to court spokeswoman Dyana Koelsch.

The ACI has used videoconferencing for seven years and with increasing frequency in the past year and a half, said Joy Fox, spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections. The technology is used for minor hearings in District and Superior courts and for public defenders to confer with clients outside of court.

Speaking coherently, but hesitantly, Carpio discussed his options with the judge.

"I'd like to get some kind of bail as soon as possible," Carpio said. Offered a public defender, he replied, "I will go with my family's decision."

Carpio asked to visit with his family -- he was said to be able to see them in the courtroom through the video link -- but Bucci said no.

As the hearing was concluded and Carpio was about to be led away, he said, "I love you."

His girlfriend, Samein Phin, who sat in the courtroom with Carpio's relatives, responded quietly, "I love you, too."

Wenge, who said she has visited Carpio at the ACI about 10 times, declined substantive comment on his physical and psychological condition.

"He's doing all right" at the prison, "not great," she said. Wenge said she intended to visit him again yesterday.

Journal photo / Mary Murphy

Samein Phin, Esteban Carpio's girlfriend, right, and members of his family watch as Carpio appears in District Court via video link from the Adult Corrections Institutions.

ACI officials continue to describe Carpio as a troublesome inmate who has spit at guards and tried to eat the fibers of his blanket and to plug the toilet in his cell with blanket strips or the torn-off sleeve of his prison jumpsuit.

Recently, Carpio has eaten little food and has self-induced vomiting, according to Fox.

The public has yet to get an unobstructed look at Carpio's face other than in a dated mug shot.

In two previous court appearances, he wore an unusual white plastic spit shield that covered his nose and mouth and muffled his voice.

This time Carpio was outfitted in a different but still unusual manner, wearing a piece of apparel made of mesh and a soft material that fits on the head like a cap and attaches under the chin.

Meant to prevent the wearer from spitting, the apparel leaves the head and the upper part of the face visible while loosely covering the mouth with a band of thick material. Carpio nevertheless could be heard clearly.