CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Richardson Dangleben Jr. is still awaiting a trial date in the 2023 murder of Keith Jennings on St. Thomas, after Thursday’s scheduling conference in Virgin Islands Superior Court was delayed to August.
Dangleben is also awaiting trial in federal court in the murder of Virgin Islands Police Detective Delberth Phipps Jr., and his next court date in that case is also set for August.
Dangleben, 52, was arrested in February 2023 and charged with the murder of 68-year-old Keith Jennings. After he was released on bond, Dangleben was arrested again in July and charged with the fatal shooting of Virgin Islands Police Detective Delberth Phipps Jr.
REST IN PEACE: Virgin Islands Police Detective Delberth Phipps Jr
Dangleben has been jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Puerto Rico since July 8, while he awaits trial in both the local and federal murder cases.
His attorney in the Jennings case, Carl Williams, filed a notice asking the court for more time to prepare for a scheduling conference that had been set for yesterday.
Williams wrote that the Virgin Islands Bureau of Prisons is lo longer conducting video conferencing for detainees and their attorneys “as it was solely a federal response to COVID-19 restrictions,” and he now has to request to schedule a phone call with his client at least three days in advance.
Williams wrote that he has not yet had the ability to meet with Dangleben in person since his incarceration, and noted that Supreme Court rules prohibit court-appointed private counsel from seeking reimbursement for travel expenses.
He asked the court not to waive Dangleben’s appearance for the hearing, and Superior Court Judge Denise Francois agreed to reschedule the pretrial conference to August 20 “for the purpose of scheduling dates for jury selection and trial.”
In February, federal prosecutors informed the District Court that they are not seeking the death penalty in the Phipps case, but Dangleben could still be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of the charges against him.
Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Molloy has scheduled a status conference for August 9.
By SUZANNE CARLSON/V.I. Daily News