These are some complicated instructions and lots of choices. Not great timing for jury to get this case right before long weekend. After listening to these instructions I think it could take a bit of time for them to agree on what exactly he is guilty of.
NOT GUILTY CT - James McGrath, 17, athlete, fatally stabbed at house party fight, Shelton, May 2022 *ARREST*
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I noticed that too, can't figure out why it hasn't gotten much attention or interest. I think it came up in my Youtube feed at the beginning so started to watch it.
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7/3/25
The trial for a 20-year-old man who is accused stabbing and killing a Fairfield Prep student at a Shelton house party in 2022 is headed to the jury after the state and defense presented closing arguments on Thursday.
Court has since been dismissed for the day, and the jury won't be able to formally start deliberations until Monday.
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Closing arguments conclude in teen prep school party murder case
Closing arguments in a prep school party murder trial concluded on Thursday.
7/3/25
You don't think the DA did a good job parsing out pertinent info about the offenses? I would hope that would help in their deliberations. Maybe it's good they have some time to digest everything. I couldn't even stomach watching the defense closing.
This case is very sad. Young lives destroyed and lost. 40-60 years would not sit well with me if I was a juror. I do think he needs legal repercussions, I just don’t think 40 years is it. Glad I am not on that jury.
Very sad!! I can't imagine the McGrath family's grief, Jimmy by all accounts was a great kid. Does the jury decide the sentence? I thought that was up to the judge once a verdict is reached. Maybe CT is different.
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Just my opinion here. If the defendant is old enough to go to a party unescorted by adults, old enough to do so in a car, and old enough to "drag" from one place to another......then he is old enough to bear the absolute maximum penalty. If he could be given life, that would be fine with me. I understand he will change as he matures, but murder means he should not walk among society as a peaceful person. IMO, as I said.
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If convicted of murder or a lesser charge of first-degree manslaughter in McGrath's killing, Valle could face decades in a Connecticut prison. He previously rejected a 40-year plea deal, opting instead to take the case to trial.
"That knife was a tool," Smith said. "It was the only tool that he had available to him to survive that night."
Assistant State’s Attorney Marc Durso argued Valle had a duty to retreat. Valle escalated the confrontation by bringing a knife to a fist fight, Durso said, noting that none of the stabbing victims had a weapon.
"He didn’t punch back, he didn’t kick," Durso said. "He grabbed that knife."
"That knife was a tool," Smith said. "It was the only tool that he had available to him to survive that night."
Assistant State’s Attorney Marc Durso argued Valle had a duty to retreat. Valle escalated the confrontation by bringing a knife to a fist fight, Durso said, noting that none of the stabbing victims had a weapon.
"He didn’t punch back, he didn’t kick," Durso said. "He grabbed that knife."
I didn't listen to the defense closing, but the quote here is incredibly insensitive and disrespectful to Jimmy's family and the other victims. You can see why I didn't tune in for it!
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In CT, the Penalty is left to the Judge.
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I would definitely go for a lesser charge and a lighter sentence.
He is responsible yes but so are those kids with immunity.
The difference is those kids parents knew how to operate within the system better than Lito’s parents.
Lito was just 16 yrs old. A kid.
If there was no knife, and his “friend” had not tossed him the knife, there would be no stabbing.
Also add in the alcohol and its effect on all those less than fully developed teen brains.
Who surrounds a car and creates damage and attacks people ? Drunk boys.
Jimmy McGrath was just a kid too only 17. He should be alive today. But locking up Lito for the rest of his life does not serve justice for anyone. I cannot imagine Lito meant to kill anyone.
If Jimmy McGrath had stabbed Raul ( if shoe was on the other foot) and killed him I think most people would also be supporting a lesser sentence.
JMO.
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I've been watching this trial online and I agree with every word you said here.
I would add that I blame the parents of all these (at the time) minor kids. This is a display of piss-poor parenting on a massive scale. Zero supervision, zero limit-setting, over-indulgence, and this is the end result. I hope the homeowners who hosted the parties get the pants sued off them.
I didn't buy the testimony of either of the dudes who got immunity, especially not the one who owned the knife, got it out of his glove box, displayed it on his lap in the car, and then ultimately gave it RV. He never should have been offered an immunity deal. He basically set RV up to be his patsy.
The DA's clear bias toward the kids with the wealthier, more connected parents really has left a bad taste in my mouth. Not a fan of this prosecution team at all. They barely mentioned the dead victim's name throughout the case, either. It was like JM was just an afterthought to them. It was appalling.
If I were on the jury, I would vote to acquit RV for all the lesser assault charges r/t the other guys who were stabbed. Those other dudes jumped RV, he was seriously outmatched and outnumbered. He was getting stomped by FT, who looks to weigh about 250 pounds, whereas RV is a small guy. I completely buy the self-defense argument against the drunk Shelton dudes who were stabbed but survived. They were all directly involved in fighting with RV.
But I would still vote guilty on JM's murder charge. Because at no point ever did a single person testify that JM was a participant in the fighting that was going on between the parties that night. There was 0 evidence of him having been involved in any of the video that was shown in court.
He was truly an innocent bystander. RV has no reasonable claim to self-defense against JM.
The others, yes. Jimmy, no.
Guilty of 2nd degree murder.
NG of either of the first-degree assault charges.
NG of second-degree assault.
That's where I land.
JMO.
Valle instigated the violence from the beginning at house #1 and chased it down at house #2, ending in an innocent young man's murder. He's guilty and should get the max. He has serious issues which would have continued endangering people if he's not convicted. The community will be safer with him in prison. I suggest anyone thinking "he's just a kid" should watch the DAs closing arguments as it sums up what happened very accurately. Valle was out for vengeance and driven by anger, as his two friends in the car testified. He took a knife to a fist fight, the law says you can't do that without repercussions. Justice for Jimmy.
Thanks, Seattle! In your opinion how can a jury be hopelessly deadlocked when they just started deliberations? Is 2 hours enough time to go over the instructions and the evidence?
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I think the Judge was very diplomatic here in suggesting to them to move on to counts 2-4, and return to count 1 later! Reminded the jurors how there was much evidence to review, and might have missed something-- given it had been less than 3 hours of deliberating, and then sent them to lunch!
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This does not surprise me at all.
The defense attorney's closing argument was one of the best that I've ever heard from a defense.
He made a very persuasive argument for self-defense.
It was a superb close.
Conversely, the prosecution's closing and rebuttal were both lackluster, at best.
The prosecution in this case gets a D+ grade from me.
Case was not well presented, not well-argued, and it was wrong of them to give immunity to not just one, but 2 of those nimrods in the car with RV.
In addition to that, the dead victim was a mere afterthought to them. They rarely even mentioned Jimmy's name. The murder charge is the most serious one by far, and they spent more time talking about the stupid fights at both the houses than the actual random stabbing of JM, who had not participated in any of the fighting, and was an innocent onlooker.
Just a really bad job by the DA in their case presentation and really poor decision-making regarding the immunity deals.
In fact, I'm going to downgrade them to a D- now.
JMO.
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