Lawyer for Acquitted Connecticut Teen Files Double Jeopardy Motion in Prep School Stabbing Case

The lawyer for a Connecticut teenager acquitted of first-degree murder in a drunken brawl among prep school students has filed a motion to block new charges against his client.

Raul Valle, now 19, won acquittal last July on murder and intentional manslaughter counts in the May 14, 2022, stabbing death of James "Jimmy" McGrath. Valle was 16 at the time, while McGrath, a 17-year-old junior and star lacrosse player at Fairfield Prep, died in the incident. Valle attended nearby St. Joseph High School in Trumbull.

Both teens had attended a house party with underage drinking before a fight broke out. The group moved to a second home, where tempers flared again. About 25 people joined a brawl on the front lawn as the owners watched, witnesses told police. Valle stabbed McGrath during the melee. He admitted the act but claimed self-defense and defense of a friend.

The jury deadlocked on lesser reckless manslaughter charges, resulting in a partial mistrial.

The day after Valle's July 9, 2025, acquittal on the top charges, prosecutors filed new counts of reckless manslaughter and reckless assault.

Valle's attorney, Darnell Crosland, now argues those charges amount to double jeopardy and violate the Constitution. In the motion, Crosland wrote that the jury's acquittal on first-degree murder could only mean it accepted Valle's self-defense claim. "No other theory explains the acquittals," he said. "The jury has spoken. The law is clear. The court must dismiss these charges with prejudice — immediately."

The Connecticut Post reported that the jury foreperson said after the acquittal that self-defense never came up in deliberations.

Prosecutors rejected Crosland's logic in their response. They called self-defense a "justification defense" unrelated to the elements of the reckless charges. Their filing stated that the split verdict showed only that jurors found Valle lacked specific intent to kill or cause serious injury, but could not agree unanimously on the reckless counts.

McGrath's family expressed shock at the trial outcome. "I'm astonished at the results, but, you know, it's due process," Kevin McGrath said outside state Superior Court in Milford, Connecticut. He called his son a "wonderful person" and added, "He's entitled to it. And at the end of the day, the jury made their verdict. I'm not sure if, you know, they were in the same courtroom as we all were together, but that's the verdict. And we'll live with it."