By ELIZABETH ZUCKERMAN
Associated Press Writer
Esteban Carpio, 26, did not enter a plea to charges that he assaulted three prison guards last week.
His appearance was delayed for more than an hour because prison guards pepper-sprayed him when he refused to allow them to shackle his legs and photograph him before bringing him to court, a corrections spokeswoman said.
During the appearance, Carpio asked Judge Elaine Bucci to allow him to remove the mask. She said she could not do that. Muffled by the mask, he responded to questions about his address, birth date and whether he wanted a public defender.
Carpio is accused of grabbing detective Sgt. James Allen’s weapon and fatally shooting him during questioning about a stabbing at the police station last month. Carpio then jumped out a third-story window but was captured about an hour later.
He is charged with murder, assault and battery, assault with bodily fluids and assault on a correctional officer, all felonies. He allegedly fractured one guard’s jaw, injured another’s thumb and spit on another last week after guards entered his cell to take away a blanket he had been trying to eat.
Carpio had been scheduled for a bail hearing on the murder charge, but Bucci delayed it because his out-of-state lawyers did not yet have the cooperation of an in-state attorney, which they need for the hearing.
Monday’s hearing was far more subdued than Carpio’s last hearing April 18, the day after he allegedly shot and killed Allen. Carpio’s mother and other relatives became upset and had to be removed from the courtroom after Carpio appeared with a badly bruised and swollen face, still bleeding and wearing the spit shield.
His family and friends alleged that he was a victim of police brutality. The FBI is leading an investigation Carpio’s treatment during and after his arrest.
On Monday, more than a dozen Carpio supporters were back in the courtroom, some wearing T-shirts with a picture of a smiling Carpio with a child.