Raul Valle gets 45 more days to find attorney in Jimmy McGrath case
Attorney Kevin Smith represented Valle at trial but is no longer on the case.
Raul Valle, 20, of Milford, has 45 more days to find a new private attorney for the latest round of his legal proceedings in the death of 17-year-old Fairfield Prep student, Jimmy McGrath. On Monday, Judge Peter McShane agreed to one more continuance during Valle’s brief appearance in Milford Superior Court.
“I've been calling and meeting with numerous lawyers over the past month. They're asking for large sums of money which me and my family are trying to put together, so I'm asking for a little bit more time to get that done,” Valle stated, requesting 60 days.
McShane instead gave him a new date of Jan. 6.
“At that time, you're going to apply for the public defender, or you better have a lawyer in here representing you, you understand that?” McShane said.
“Yes, Your Honor,” replied Valle.
The two-minute hearing was Valle’s second time in court since July 9 when a trial jury rendered a partial verdict, acquitting Valle of murder, intentional first-degree manslaughter, intentional first-degree assault and intentional second-degree assault in a stabbing at house party in Shelton on May 14, 2022. McGrath, 17, was killed while Ryan Heinz, Tommy Connery and Faison Teele suffered serious injuries. But the jury deadlocked on the lesser included charges of reckless first-degree manslaughter, reckless first-degree assault and reckless second-degree assault, leading the state to file amended charges.
Attorney Kevin Smith represented Valle at trial but is no longer on the case.
During the hearing Monday, Senior Assistant State's Attorney Tatiana Messina asked the judge to have Valle apply for a public defender now so as not to slow down the process any more than it already has, but McShane agreed to give Valle another month and a half before doing that.
Valle first appeared in court on the lesser charges last month, when Judge Kevin Russo granted Valle a continuance to Nov. 17, so he could hire counsel. Russo told Valle he had to return to court whether he was successful or not. Whoever ends up representing Valle will likely dispute whether a second trial can legally move forward.
For McGrath’s family, the latest continuance was yet another delay in their push for justice.
“It's extremely frustrating," said dad Kevin McGrath. "It's just one of those things—we wanted, we hoped that this would all be behind us in July, and it wasn't. But again, we do have faith in the whole system, and we just want it to play out."
Valle had no comment as he left the courthouse.
PRIOR COVERAGE: Raul Valle returns to court on amended charges in Jimmy McGrath’s death, gets more time to hire attorney
Raul Valle found not guilty of murder in fatal stabbing of Fairfield Prep student at party
What’s next after the Raul Valle trial verdict: civil cases and potential future prosecution
State refiles charges against Raul Valle in 2022 death of Jimmy McGrath at Shelton party
