MILFORD — When Raul Valle appears in a courtroom for the first time since a jury acquitted him of murder and deadlocked on other charges in the stabbing death of Fairfield Prep student James McGrath, he will be without the attorney who was at his side through the trial, according to people with knowledge of the case.
The lawyer, Kevin Smith, informed court officials he no longer represented Valle weeks after the 20-year-old walked out of state Superior Court a free man after Judge Shari A. Murphy accepted the jury’s not guilty verdicts and declared a mistrial on other charges.
After the Milford jury found Valle not guilty of murder, intentional manslaughter and assault in connection to the death of McGrath and stabbings of three others at a 2022 Shelton house party — and deadlocked trying to reach verdicts on “lesser included” charges of reckless manslaughter and assault — prosecutors filed amended charges.
But the matter was never officially continued to another court date, and no public record of the case exists under the docket number on the Judicial Branch’s website.
In the weeks after the verdicts, Smith and prosecutors met behind closed doors to discuss the case at meetings that did not involve Valle. After Smith’s representation in the matter concluded, Valle has been without representation, prompting the court to summon him directly in a three-paragraph later dated Sept. 23 signed by the Milford Judicial District Clerk’s Office.
“Like any individual with an assigned court date, you may represent yourself, or you have have a private attorney present to act on your behalf,” the letter says. “With or without any attorney, you are required to be in court on October 15, 2025. If you do not appear in court on your designated date and time, the court may issue a rearrest warrant for your failure to appear.”
A man answering the door at the address listed on the letter Friday afternoon declined to comment.
Valle is charged with reckless first-degree manslaughter in the death of McGrath, two counts of reckless first-degree assault in the stabbings of Ryan Heinz and Thomas Connery Jr., and one count of reckless second-degree assault in the stabbing of Faison Teele.
There were no bond conditions associated with the amended charges.
Valle was 16 years old and a student at St. Joseph High School in Trumbull when police said he stabbed four people — Heinz, Connery, Teele and McGrath — during a fight at a house party on Laurel Glen Drive in Shelton on the night of May 14, 2022. McGrath was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly afterward.
Valle testified that he acted in self-defense, saying he was “terrified,” “scared and surrounded.”
A 12-person jury returned verdicts on July 9, finding Valle not guilty of murder in the death of McGrath, two counts of first-degree assault in the stabbings of Heinz and Connery and one count of second-degree assault in the stabbing of Teele.
The jury could not reach verdicts on the charges of first-degree reckless manslaughter in McGrath’s death, reckless first-degree assault in the stabbings of Heinz and Connery and second-degree reckless assault in Teele’s stabbing.
Murphy then declared a mistrial for the lesser charges in which the jury could not reach a verdict.
The jury’s foreman said in an interview two days after the verdict that self-defense never came up during the two days of deliberations because they never convicted Valle of any of the charges he faced. He also said the jurors were voting 11-1 to convict Valle of the reckless manslaughter and assault charges when they were dismissed.
