Thomas MacMillan File Photo
The man charged with strangling Yale graduate student Annie Le appeared in state court Tuesday morning and entered a long-awaited plea in a case that transfixed the nation.
Ray Clark, a 24-year-old former Yale lab tech, has been in prison since his arrest on Sept. 17 on a murder charge. He is accused of killing Le and stashing her body in a basement wall of the Yale laboratory building where they both worked.
Clark’s appeared for less than five minutes Tuesday morning before Judge Roland Fasano in Superior Court on Church Street. He wore handcuffs, leg shackles and a prison-issued orange jump suit that revealed tattoos on his forearms.
Clark waived his right to a probable cause hearing and entered a pro forma not guilty plea. He said, “Yes, sir, your honor” several times to the judge.
The plea isn’t necessarily permanent. Clark has the option to change his plea to guilty if he negotiates a deal with the state.
By law, defendants have the right to request a probable cause hearing to force the state prosecution to show it has enough evidence to establish probable cause that Clark killed Le.
Clark’s lawyers, public defenders Beth Merkin and Joseph Lopez, said Clark delayed making the plea for so long because they were waiting for boxes of evidence to arrive from six agencies, including state and local police. After court Tuesday, they said they had received all the evidence. They declined to comment further on the case.
The prosecution added a new charge to the case: felony murder. (Click here to read the Register‘s Randall Beach on the significance.)
In court Tuesday, Judge Fasano released a car belonging to Clark’s mother that had been held as evidence. He set a next court date for March 3 at 2 p.m. On that date, Fasano will consider a motion by the defense to continue sealing a search warrant issued after Clark’s arrest.
Previous coverage of the Annie Le case:
Wednesday, Dec. 2
• Annie Le Warrants: Blood Found In Kitchen, Car
Tuesday, Nov. 17
• Seal Extended On Annie Le Warrants
Friday, Nov. 13
• Annie Le Warrant: Bloody Boots Read “Ray‑C”
Friday, Nov. 6
• Annie Le Documents To Be Unsealed
Tuesday, Nov. 3
• Hearing Continued For Annie Le Suspect; Judge Will Rule By Week’s End On Warrants: Live Blog
Tuesday, Oct. 20
• Annie Le Suspect Enters No Plea; Warrants Remain Sealed
Tuesday, Oct. 6
• Live Blog: Lawyer For Annie Le Murder Suspect Wants To See The Evidence
Friday, Sept. 25
• Warrant In Annie Le Murder To Stay Sealed
Thursday, Sept. 24
• Cops Back At Annie Le’s Lab Building
Monday, Sept. 21
• What Annie Le Story?
• Public Defender: I Don’t Want Annie Le Reporters Investigated
Thursday, Sept. 17
• After Annie Le Murder, Union Chief Sends Rallying Call
• Annie Le Suspect Knew Cops Were On His Tail
• Cops Arrest Lab Tech In Annie Le Murder
• Suspect Arraigned (live blog)
Wednesday, Sept. 16:
• Ex-Girlfriend “Shocked” About Annie Le Target
• Cops Stake Out Annie Le Target’s Motel
• Annie Le Case: It’s Coming Down To The DNA
• Annie Le Was Strangled
Tuesday, Sept. 15:
• City, Yale Learned From Jovin In Annie Le Case
• Suspect In Annie Le Case Has Fiancee
• NBC Producer Trampled At Annie Le “Briefing”
• Cops Take DNA From Annie Le Target
• Was That Annie Le’s Killer?
Monday, Sept. 14:
• Body Identified As Annie Le
• “Serious” Suspect In Annie Le Case
• You Can Get In The Wall With A “Butter Knife”
• Lab Building Shuts Down
Sunday, Sept. 13:
• Remains Of Annie Le Believed Found; “A Time For Compassion,” Levin Says
• Annie Le Hunt Extends To Hartford
Saturday, Sept. 12
• Focus In Annie Le Probe Less On “State Lines”
Friday, Sept. 11, 2009
• City Cops Join Search For Annie Le; $10,000 Reward Posted