Cordaryl Silva had trouble enjoying his right to remain silent while on trial for murder at Superior Court in Milford.
From trying to fire his lawyer moments before the first witness was called to confronting an eyewitness en route to the stand to interrupting the prosecutor’s closing argument, Silva was not shy about showing his feelings.
That had changed by about 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, when six men and six women took fewer than three hours to find him guilty of shooting 22-year-old Javon Zimmerman outside RJ’s bar in Derby May 12, 2012.
Silva stood motionless next to his lawyer after the verdict, remaining so until the jury left and he was taken by marshals into the courthouse lockup.
Tuesday’s quick verdict surprised no one, punctuating a five-day trial during which Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Charles Stango mounted a case against Silva that included:
- two eyewitnesses who identified him as the shooter,
- surveillance video showing him running from the scene immediately afterward,
- two men who said Silva confessed to the crime in jail,
- several hours of recordings of interviews Silva gave to cops in the days after the shooting,
- and police witnesses who painted a picture of a years-long running feud between Silva and Zimmerman that culminated in what Stango called a “cold-blooded,” “drug world killing.”
The prosecutor cited the evidence amassed against Silva and told jurors they had no choice but to agree.
“Do your duty and find him guilty of murder,” Stango said.
Silva’s lawyer, Lawrence Hopkins, pointed to inconsistencies in statements made by prosecution witnesses and said others got preferential treatment in their own criminal cases for pointing the finger at Silva.
“It’s the quality of the evidence that should be the controlling factor in your minds, not the quantity,” Hopkins told the jury.
Click here for a story about the first day of testimony at the trial.
Click here for a story about the second day of testimony.
Click here to a story about the third day of testimony.
Click here for a story about the fourth day of testimony.
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Silva now faces 25 years to life behind bars at a sentencing scheduled for June 24.
His family left the courthouse without comment after the verdict.
Stango said Tuesday’s verdict showed the system works.
“The jury held the evidence up to scrutiny,” Stango said outside the courtroom. “I certainly hope it brings a little bit of solace to Javon’s mother.”
The prosecutor also lauded the work of the Derby police department for putting the case against Silva together.
Derby Police Lt. Justin Stanko, who supervised the investigation into Zimmerman’s killing and was the state’s last witness of the trial, said simply that “justice was served.”
“From the minute that I arrived on scene until today, there has never been any evidence pointing to anyone … other than Cordaryl Silva as the shooter,” Stanko said.
Stanko said cops hadn’t heard the story Silva told from the witness stand Friday — that a person he’d only identify as “my boy” had shot Zimmerman — until hearing it from Silva himself during the trial.
“And it was never heard (during the investigation),” Stanko said. “Nothing, not even a whisper. So in our head there was no doubt.”
‘Read The Notes!’
At one point during closing arguments Tuesday, while Stango was recounting the testimony of one of the men to whom Silva allegedly confessed to while behind bars, Silva spoke up.
“Why was that not recorded?” he asked. “Everything else is recorded.”
The remark was ignored and the prosecutor continued.
After another three minutes of Silva tsk’ing and shaking his head as Stango talked, Judge Markle told him to be quiet.
But as soon as his own lawyer was done presenting his closing argument to the jury, Silva raised his hand and tried to get the judge’s attention, saying Hopkins had ignored a page of hand-written notes Silva wanted related to the jury.
“Read the notes, please!” Silva said to Hopkins at the defense table. “How hard is it to read these notes? Could you please read these notes?”
Judge Markle warned Silva again before excusing the jury and telling him she’d had enough of his antics — and that the jury might feel the same way.
“I can’t stop you from being not in your best interests. I have tried. I have tried many times to warn you,” she said. “You persist in these outbursts in the presence of the jurors.”
“All you are you doing is showing jurors that you won’t abide by any rules,” the judge went on. “That’s all you’re doing, so I’m just giving you that warning.”
“This is his closing argument,” she said when Silva complained more about Hopkins. “He knows the case.”
“It’s my life!” Silva exclaimed. “It’s my life! It’s not his closing argument, it’s my closing argument. He goes home.”
The judge then told marshals to remove Silva from the courtroom before he quickly promised not to act out.
He apologized and remained quiet throughout Stango’s final remarks — and throughout the jury rendering its guilty verdict a few hours later.
