Suspect In Deadly NYC Subway Fire Indicted On Murder & Arson Charges. Analysis With David Schwartz, NY Trial Attorney, Lobbyist, & President of Gotham Government Relations ‪@livenowfox‬

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reporting the illegal migrant
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accused of burning a New
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York City. subway Rider to
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death on Sunday. that
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migrant has been indicted
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on murder charges.
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Sebastian, zapeta indicted
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on 1, count of Murder
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in the first degree. 3
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counts of murder in the
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Second degree and 1 count
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of arson, this after a
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woman was lit on fire. and
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burned to death on a
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subway train in Brooklyn
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New York. Now, the
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indictment was filed
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Thursday and was unsealed
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at an arraignment hearing
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that will actually happen
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on January. 7th. Sea's
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attorney telling the judge,
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he spoke with his client
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Friday, in Acts
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for permission to wave his
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client's appearance. So a
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lot going on, the judge did
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Grant that request. as we
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further discuss. uh, this
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topic we want to bring an
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expert
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into the conversation. None
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other than David Schwarz,
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New York, attorney. Uh, David
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good morning to you. Thank
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you so much for joining us
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again to discuss this
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topic. Good morning. So
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David, I know you've
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worked closely
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with uh, the Brooklyn
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da, Eric Gonzalez. I set the
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stage for us. What happened
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yesterday? how did we get
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to this point? sure, this
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is my former Office of
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the Brooklyn DA's office.
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and so what happened? and
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this is what happens in
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every case, That's in the
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grand jury. That's awaiting
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felony charges. So you
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have the grand jury that
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works separate from the
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court and on Thursday
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night. um, evidence was
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presented all week to the
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grand jury and on Thursday
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night the grand jury voted
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to indict on Murder
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in the first degree. Murder
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in the second degree. and
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for arson. Nothing
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unexpected whatsoever. The
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fact that the attorney
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waived the client's
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appearance, in court is is
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completely normal In a
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case like this and all
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that. happened was that the
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case got extracted. from
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Criminal Court, which is
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where they where they would
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decide in this court part.
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where to send the case, and
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now it's going to Supreme
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Court, which is where all
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the felonies are handled.
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in New York. And in Supreme
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Court. the the defendant
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will have a Felony,
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arraignment. David, a lot
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of eyes on this case. as
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this isn't something you
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hear or see. uh, every
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day, especially there in
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the Big Apple. a lot of
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eyes looking ahead to the
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new year. Uh, January 7th,
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when that arraignment
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hearing, uh, will be held
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a lot of terminology that
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many people might not
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understand. So, could you
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break that down? What is
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an arraignment hearing? And
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what is expected to
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happen, then? Sure. So the
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uh, arraignment is where the
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the charges are read to the
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defendant and people are
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probably wondering well
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he just had an arraignment
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right, Didn't he get an
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arraignment? already? He
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had an arraignment on the
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complaints and that was
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pre-grand jury. pre-. The
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grand jury voting out
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Felony charges, which has
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to happen in every single
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case. So then the case was
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presented and now he's
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going to be arraigned on a
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new accusatory instrument,
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which is called an
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indictment And so the
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indictment will be read
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to the defendant in court,
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of course, the defendant
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could waive the reading
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of the entire indictment,
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the judge will ask the
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defendant. Uh, how does he
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plead? He's going to say
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not guilty. and then the
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judge is going to set a a
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various schedules. motion.
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schedules. uh, discovery
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schedules. and the case
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will start and it will
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move down the process. And
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we'll see a lot of motions
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A lot of hearings. A lot of
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um, items that the defense
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attorney will try to do
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to protect His client's
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rights in the case. And uh,
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and then of course, we're
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gonna have all the pre-trial
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hearings and then it's
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going to lead to a trial
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or a plea bargain. Uh,
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with this specific case, uh,
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the person the suspect
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they're on the screen being
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referred to as an illegal
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migrant. Do you think that
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plays a role in how this
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will play out? Uh, the
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viewers have been talking?
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Uh this has been top of
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mind. They're saying, okay
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with him not being uh, of
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legal status here in
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America, Does that play a
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part in? how this judicial
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process will play out?
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Even if he, uh, doesn't
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speak English? Well. plenty
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of defendants don't speak
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English and that's why they
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have interpreters. So
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there's an interpreter in
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the picture that you just
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showed at defense table.
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So, the defendant will be
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entitled to an interpreter
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throughout all the
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proceedings of this case.
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And, and everything will
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be interpreted. as far as
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the migrant status goes.
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the, on the criminal case.
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it's not going to have
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much an effect whatsoever.
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The only time that has an
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effect is after the
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defendant is released from
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jail. the defendant would
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then be deported for a
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felony. but in this type of
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case, if he's convicted of
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Murder in the first degree
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and he's going to serve a
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life sentence without
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parole. the migrant status.
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really uh, won't play any
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type of role in this case,
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whatsoever. Uh, David.
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Lastly, I wanted to ask you
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about Bond and how that
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relates to this case uh,
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viewers wanting to know uh
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the possibility of that, Uh
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it being revoked, how that
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plays a role. uh Flight
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Risk. We've heard those uh
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terms being used. Could you
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provide all of those
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scenarios? The there. There
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is no bond in the case.
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the the defendant has been
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remanded and the defendant
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will remain. on remand.
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status based on the
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seriousness and the the
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penis. act that he
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committed, Uh there's no
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way any judge in Brooklyn.
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is going to allow this
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defendant to obtain any
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kind of bond, I think that's
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a non-issue in this case.
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Davis Schwarz. Always a
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pleasure. Thank you so much
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for joining us a second day
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to further. Dissect this
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case again our viewers have
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been keeping
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a close eye on the And
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you can see why I mean, uh,
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it's very emotional for
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many And then, of course,
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uh, of course, how low an
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order. uh works out with
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the judicial system.
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Thank you so much for joining
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us and happy holidays