Thread by @KlasfeldReports

Just received word that Judge Torres and the attorneys are returning from their tour of #MDCBrooklyn and will reconvene here shortly.

So, instead of watching the #SOTU, I will be live-tweeting the court hearing - if there's overlap.

ICYMI, earlier today: courthousenews.com/inmates-offer-…

On that subject: My colleague @BBuchman_CNS will be live-tweeting #SOTU, if you're following that.

Watch both of our feeds tonight, to see two very different states of our union.

(General bustle in the gallery of an otherwise empty courtroom, save for spectators.)

When I said the hearing would reconvene "shortly," it's understood that time is relative.

Standby.

"All rise."

Judge Torres returns to the bench and calls a witness back: Von Dornum.

Von Dornum describes what's different from the tour today from her last visit.

She says it's "far warmer" and "more bright" now.

When she was there on Feb. 1, she says, "It was dark and cold."

Von Dornum's giving a floor-by-floor accounting of the lights and heat. Now, it's getting "even a little uncomfortably warm at times," she says.

Reminder: Von Dornum's the attorney-in-charge of the Federal Defenders of New York for EDNY.

Other than light and heat, she notes that the floors had "clearly been scrubbed."

"Before, they were quite dirty," she says.

The leaks from the ceiling remained the same, she says, currently dripping water and showing evidence of water damage.

"It was much warmer, much brighter, but it was clear that the medical situation had not been rectified," she said.

The inmates singled out "CO Webster" as providing very good care, unlike the other COs, she testifies.

"The phones were clearly up," she continues. "We saw the inmates making social calls."

Von Dornum said that the denial of medical care is still a concern, and water's largely improved now, except in the SHU, where the water's still cold in those showers.

"I did not see any legal visits taking place," she said, but she did see social differences.

Torres: Any questions from counsel?

The attorneys confer.

Kunstler: Did this visit change your opinion any way that a special master was needed?

Objection.

Von Dornum: It did not.

She said that what "struck me" was the inability to get reliable information.

Von Dornum's testimony ends.

Judge Torres calls special agent Ross at DOJ back to the witness stand.

Same question from Torres: What changed between his Feb. 1 visit and his visit today?

Ross agrees that it's warmer and brighter now.

Torres: Anything else?
Ross: The inmates are out... Out and about, the normal routine.

Ross's testimony concludes.

Torres recites the background of today's hearing: "I felt it imperative that I conduct a full evidentiary hearing and an inspection at MDC."

She says a court stenographer and her law clerks accompanied her along with the attorneys, @TishJames, warden Herman Quay and some of the witnesses.

She spoke to the inmates, some in the common area and some in their cells.

She said that defendant Segura-Genao in this case requested a transfer, claiming that he would be retaliated against because of speaking up. Another defendant requested a transfer to a hospital.

Torres doesn't seem to buy it: "Not a shred of evidence" supporting their requests.

Neither of them testified during today's hearing. Their attorneys offered to bring the defendants into court now, but Torres said they're late: There was already a more than 4-hour hearing.

(The current and former inmate who testified today were other incarcerated people at MDC.)

Kunstler presses on to seek other relief: the appointment of a special master.

"Frankly, your honor there's a crisis of confidence here," she said.

"It's too much, your honor. I'm overwhelmed by my experiences at the jail."

Torres on the special master: "So that specific relief is requested in the complaint filed by the Federal Defenders in the (EDNY)."

She does not believe it's an appropriate remedy in the criminal context.

Spilke presses on with an attempt for a special master: "This is bigger than one CO. One captain. One warden."

Torres doesn't budge: the special master application is denied.

She gives them another opportunity to request their clients' transfer.

If they do, the attorneys will need to explain why they didn't provide more evidence to support their specific requests earlier.

That's it for today.

At least for the SDNY channel of the #MDCBrooklyn litigation, the state of the union is the status quo, with more sunlight.

(Both literally - inside the now-brighter jail - and figuratively in terms of public disclosure of the conditions there.)

My colleagues at @CourthouseNews and I will keep following this as it develops in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Small postscript for folks perplexed about that anti-climactic conclusion:

My analysis - There is litigation over the #MDCBrooklyn fallout before multiple judges. For now, heat and power are essentially restored, and there's a federal order mandating access to counsel. (cont'd)

Judge Torres pressed the attorneys on what relief she could grant. The major request, a special master overseeing MDC, is the subject of a newly filed lawsuit. She punted that issue to that case.

On the transfer, she found that specific record under-developed for two inmates.

The upshot: Judge Torres declining to rule in the Federal Defenders' favor here does not signal a clean bill of health to MDC.