Frank James to Plead Guilty in Brooklyn Subway Shooting - The New York Times

New York|Frank James to Plead Guilty to Terror Counts successful Brooklyn Subway Shooting

Frank R. James, who was accused of carrying retired the worst onslaught connected the New York subway strategy successful years, is expected to plead blameworthy to coercion successful transportation with an April shooting spree connected a bid successful Brooklyn, his lawyers said Wednesday.

Mr. James’s lawyers said successful a missive filed Wednesday successful national tribunal successful Brooklyn that helium would plead blameworthy to an 11-count indictment, which charged Mr. James with 10 counts of violent onslaught for each of the 10 radical changeable successful the assault, arsenic good arsenic with a firearms charge. A justice overseeing the lawsuit acceptable a Jan. 3 change-of-plea hearing.

On April 12, the authorities said, Mr. James unleashed a barrage of gunfire connected an N bid during the greeting unreserved hr successful Brooklyn. No 1 was killed, but the onslaught rattled galore successful the metropolis and acceptable disconnected a 31-hour manhunt that culminated successful Mr. James’s arrest successful Manhattan.

The battle — which came arsenic New Yorkers were starting to easiness backmost into weekday commutes suspended by the pandemic — seemed to crystallize respective New York crises astatine once: the vulnerability of the transit strategy and its riders, gaps successful intelligence wellness attraction and the paradoxical quality of a fishy to vanish into a metropolis of millions with hundreds of thousands of cameras. The metropolis seemed to frost until Mr. James’s arrest.

Mr. James, 63, faces a imaginable beingness sentence. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s bureau successful Brooklyn, which brought the case, declined to comment.

Lawyers for Mr. James declined to comment. In a little missive to the court, they wrote that Mr. James, who had earlier entered a not blameworthy plea, had advised them that helium “wishes to docket a blameworthy plea.”

Just earlier 8:30 a.m. connected Tuesday, April 12, a antheral wearing a disguise and an orangish vest threw 2 fume bombs and opened occurrence connected a bid car successful Sunset Park. Images of smoke-filled bid cars and subway platforms slick with humor flooded societal media.

In the ensuing chaos, the shooter escaped and disappeared into the city, but helium near down an array of belongings connected the bid — including a gun, ammunition, slope cards and a cardinal for a U-Haul — and a way of video surveillance footage crossed Brooklyn, according to tribunal filings.

The authorities soon identified Mr. James, who appeared to person planned an onslaught for days. He had reserved and paid for a U-Haul van successful Philadelphia the week earlier and had driven it into Brooklyn earlier dawn that day. Authorities said helium had parked the van successful Brooklyn and past entered the subway.

There was nary wide motive. Mr. James had successful erstwhile weeks posted combative videos connected societal media, successful which helium aired grievances astir the subway strategy and different metropolis transgression issues. He had a past of arrests successful New York and New Jersey and seemed to person lived an itinerant and unsettled life.

For much than a time after the attack, instrumentality enforcement combed the metropolis and its surroundings for Mr. James.

He was arrested successful the East Village aft respective radical — including Mr. James himself — called the constabulary extremity enactment to study his whereabouts.

Mr. James has been detained since his apprehension astatine a jailhouse successful Brooklyn, conscionable blocks from the subway presumption wherever the onslaught took place.

In tribunal filings, Mr. James’s court-appointed lawyers with the Federal Defenders of New York person noted that helium has a past of intelligence illness.

In November, his lawyers filed a question seeking to person the proceedings moved to different district, perchance successful Illinois, saying it would beryllium intolerable for Mr. James to get a just proceedings successful Brooklyn.

Later that month, Mr. James raised the ire of Judge William F. Kuntz, the justice overseeing the case, erstwhile helium failed to marque a scheduled tribunal appearance. Judge Kuntz authorized U.S. marshals to bring him to tribunal by force, if necessary, telling the court, “This is not a precocious schoolhouse prom invitation. It is not his telephone whether helium quote-unquote elects to beryllium here.”

Mr. James appeared successful tribunal respective hours later.

The announcement of the alteration of plea came 1 time aft Mr. James’s lawyers requested an adjournment of the trial, which had been acceptable for precocious February, citing delays successful the government’s accumulation of evidence. Judge Kuntz denied the motion.