Is he Raul too?
NOT GUILTY CT - James McGrath, 17, athlete, fatally stabbed at house party fight, Shelton, May 2022 *ARREST*
- Thread starter Punkramona
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As someone with 40 years of teaching experience, I agree with you. As a college student, I was at a party where 3 people were killed in a drunk driving accident on the way back to school. The driver lived but he's lived with that mistake for 50+ years.
The parents allowing drinking parties in their homes that devolve into violence are wrong, period. Will kids experiment with alcohol and sex? Yes. But adults (parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches) have to instill in them some sense of limits. I'm a 5'5 inch woman and I've helped to break up or prevent a number of fights in school context. But the adults make themselves scarce so they can pretend they don't know the kids are drinking or they are just indifferent and enjoying themselves elsewhere. There's a reason states have a drinking age. It's not that an individual 18-year old can't learn to drink responsibly; it's that drunk kids in packs have turned off their judgment and inhibitions (which after all are what allows us to be in society with other people).
I've been in a hospital with a kid who drank herself into unconsciousness and passed out at a school event. Because there were adults present, she's alive today.
If you want to teach kids to drink responsibly, it would seem to me that a glass of wine at a special occasion dinner at home or a glass of beer at a Super Bowl family party would be how to do that--not to provide a car and turn them loose at drinking parties with no adults present.
"After Raul Valle was found not guilty of murder in the death of 17-year-old James McGrath, prosecutors have filed amended charges and are pursuing those on which a jury could not reach a verdict.
Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Marc R. Durso filed the amended charges Wednesday, charging Valle, 20, with first-degree manslaughter in McGrath’s death, saying Valle “recklessly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death.”
The amended charges also include two counts of first-degree assault in the stabbings of Ryan Heinz and Thomas Connery Jr., and second-degree assault in the stabbing of Faison Teele. The three charges also allege Valle acted recklessly and, in Heinz and Connery’s cases, indicated “an extreme indifference to human life,” the document states."
Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Marc R. Durso filed the amended charges Wednesday, charging Valle, 20, with first-degree manslaughter in McGrath’s death, saying Valle “recklessly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death.”
The amended charges also include two counts of first-degree assault in the stabbings of Ryan Heinz and Thomas Connery Jr., and second-degree assault in the stabbing of Faison Teele. The three charges also allege Valle acted recklessly and, in Heinz and Connery’s cases, indicated “an extreme indifference to human life,” the document states."
Me too!!!! They can learn a lot from the jury, defense attorney, social media....it's all at their disposal.
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Valle rejected two plea deals offering 40 years in prison. If convicted, he faced up to 60 years behind bars.
DAILY TRIAL UPDATES
DAY 13 – 7/9/25
- The jury reached verdicts on the top counts but remained deadlocked on others, forcing the judge to declare a mistrial on those lesser-included charges.
- Count 1: James McGrath
- Murder: Not Guilty
- 1st Degree Manslaughter (lesser included charge): Not Guilty
- 1st Degree Manslaughter Reckless (lesser included charge): Deadlocked
- Count 2: Ryan Heinz
- Assault 1st Degree: Not Guilty
- Assault 1st Degree Reckless (lesser included charge): Deadlocked
- Assault 2nd Degree (lesser included charge): Deadlocked
- Assault 2nd Degree Reckless (lesser included charge): Deadlocked
- Count 3: Thomas Connery
- Assault 1st Degree: Not Guilty
- Assault 1st Degree Reckless (lesser included charge): Deadlocked
- Assault 2nd Degree (lesser included charge): Deadlocked
- Assault 2nd Degree Reckless (lesser included charge): Deadlocked
- Count 2: Faison Teele
- Assault 1st Degree: Not Guilty
- Assault 1st Degree Reckless (lesser included charge): Deadlocked
- Assault 2nd Degree (lesser included charge): Deadlocked
- Assault 2nd Degree Reckless (lesser included charge): Deadlocked
CT v. Raul Valle: Preppy Party Murder Trial
After days of deliberation, the jury cleared Raul Valle of the top charges but failed to reach a unanimous verdict on lessers.www.courttv.com
Bumping the verdict deadlocks
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Just watched the interview with the parents and glad to hear of the intent to retry. I watched about 5 hours of the trial so I'm going by the parents description, but it seems like some of the visuals could have been a lot better so the jurors could have had an easier time of seeing how everything happened. For a kid to aggressively show up at a party then come out with a knife and stab several people, had opportunity to leave safely, then just walk free is crazy.
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Just listened to this interview...the jury foreman....and HE was the 1 holdout that hung the jury on the lesser charges. He's a clown.
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I guess its all about money. His former lawyer, like most of us who do not work in the volunteer sector, does not work for free.
The defendant is not from a wealthy family and indicates they are pretty tapped out financially. Maybe they are exploring the public defender route and in the interest of expediencey the state will apppoint his former lawyer and pay him accordingly.
I am not sure what the rules are in CT about each firm doing a certain amount of cases as a state appointed public defender. Usually if a state has public defenders on their payroll that is who gets appointed first before reaching out to a private lawyer.
JMO
Did you read the tweet? The tweet said that the defendant needs more time to hire a private lawyer, so he’s not asking the court to appoint him a public defender. A private lawyer, aka someone who doesn’t work for free. So if he’s hiring a private lawyer anyway why not the old one was my question? I realize lawyers’ fees vary. But it seems to me that the previous lawyer is already familiar with the case so he doesn’t have to do a whole lot more, whereas a new lawyer would have to start from scratch. Starting from scratch would take more time, which translates to more billable hours. I would think. Hence my question.
JMO
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