This Friday, Frank James, the 62-year-old suspect accused of detonating a smoke grenade and firing a firearm 33 times at passengers at this Sunset Park N train station over the past month, appeared before U.S. Judge William Kuntz, who qualified him as competent for the legal process.
Despite hours of eyewitness video circulating around the world, James said he feels fine and pleaded not guilty.
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The reactions among New Yorkers were immediate: “If they see evidence, the video and everything, that will depend on the judge. The population can no longer do anything, simply complain that we are not safe anywhere and it is already scary to go out until to work,” said Ruth Jerez, a passenger on the N.
Ruth is not alone. Most public transport users feel even less safe with the defendant behind bars without bail: “It is better that he is behind bars today, but that justice be done because I live near here and we all feel very at risk,” said Jessenia Solis, a resident of Sunset Park.
The legal process of Frank James.
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What follows for this individual born in the Bronx and with strong resentments towards the authorities, the presentation of evidence and complaints.
And according to the lawyer Manuel Portela, who is an expert in Criminal Justice: “From here, the case will be postponed so that the Prosecutor’s Office presents what is known as discovery, What is the evidence in the case? Advocates will also have an opportunity to present motions. There were defense statements stating that the FBI took certain evidence without notifying the defense and that this violated the defendant’s constitutional rights.”
Given his documented past as a psychiatric patient, attorneys for the Federal Defenders of New York could argue that their client was not in control of his actions at the time of the attack.
“It is always something that the defense has an obligation to investigate and explore, to determine the person’s mental condition when they committed the crime,” says Portela.
If found guilty, James faces a possible life sentence. His next appointment in Federal Court in Brooklyn will be on July 25.
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