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Lead defense attorney in the upcoming murder trial if Joseph Grippo of Montauk, Daniel Russo, left, leaves court with fellow attorney Keith O’Halloran after agreeing to July 18 as the first day of jury selection. T. E. McMORROW
Lead prosecutor in the upcoming trial of Joseph Grippo leaves the courtroom with fellow assistant district attorney Emma Henry, who will join him at the prosecution’s table July 18. T. E. McMORROW
It will have been more than three years since Robert Casado of Montauk was murdered in Kirk Park when jury selection begins July 18 in the trial of Joseph Grippo.
Grippo, 50, a fellow Montauk resident who has been incarcerated in the Suffolk County Jail in Yaphank since his arrest in late June 2019, is facing 25 years to life if convicted of killing Casado, who was 38.
He is charged with murdering Casado the morning of June 6, 2019, by striking him repeatedly with a small pickax along a secluded path off Second House Road.
State Supreme Court Justice Stephen Braslow warned Grippo at a hearing on Thursday, May 12, that once jury selection begins, any potential plea bargain deals will be off the table.
Lead prosecutor Eric Aboulafia doubled down on that statement, saying that the prosecution had withdrawn a previous offer of allowing a guilty plea to manslaughter in the first degree, which would have carried a fixed term of over 15 years in state prison, adding that Grippo was refusing “to take responsibility for this murder.” He said that there would be no more offers to be had.
“I’m innocent. I didn’t do nothing wrong,” Grippo then told the judge.
“Well, if you think you are innocent, on 7/18, we are going to start seeing that,” Braslow responded.
Grippo had blown up a plea deal between his attorneys and the prosecution during a court session on April 13, when he refused to speak to anyone except the judge, including his own attorneys.
“Are you calm today? Everything good?” Braslow asked Grippo on Thursday.
“Yes, sir,” Grippo answered.
At the end of the most recent court session, on April 25, Grippo unleashed a stream of obscenities directed at the judge, starting with “F--- you, too.” Braslow ordered Grippo removed from the courtroom that day, warning his attorneys, led by Daniel Russo, that he would bar Grippo from being present during his own trial if there was a repeat performance.
But on Thursday, Grippo was as calm as he has ever been during his numerous court appearances over the past three years: “I’m sorry, sir, for that outbreak. I was just a little frustrated.”
Russo, who has met with his client several times since that incident, said Thursday that he believed Grippo will remain calm during the trial, and will be able to sit at his side to assist in his team’s defense.
Russo would not comment on the nature of that defense. Grippo has repeatedly stated in court that he was at work at his landscaping job at Seaside Landscaping at the time of the murder, which happened at about 7:30 in the morning, according to the police. That company is located on South Euclid Avenue, off South Essex, about three-quarters of a mile from the murder scene. Workers for the company are frequently seen shaping up on South Euclid Avenue at that time of the morning.
Two other attorneys, Keith O’Halloran and Angelo Macaluso, will fill out the defense team. Aboulafia, a lead prosecutor in District Attorney Ray Tierney’s homicide division, will be joined by another assistant district attorney, Emma Henry, at the prosecution’s table.
