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NYPD's Alleged Subway Sodomy Victim Sodomized Himself, Defense Says
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 22, 2010
Modified Jan 22, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 22, 2010
Modified Jan 22, 2010
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The trial of three NYPD officers accused of covering up one officer's alleged sodomy of a drug suspect in the Prospect Park subway station got underway yesterday. In opening arguments, lawyers for the cops portrayed Michael Mineo, 25, as an opportunistic scam artist who inflicted the wounds on himself to sue the city for millions. "He's trying to scam the people of New York City," said John Patten, the lawyer for Officer Richard Kern, who is accused of sodomizing Mineo with his retractable police baton. According to Patten, Mineo injured himself while handcuffed: "He was digging, digging, digging into his backside" and may have caused a "superficial laceration to his rear end."
Kern faces 25 years if convicted; Officers Alex Cruz, 28, and Andrew Morales, 27, could face four years if convicted of helping cover up the incident, which occurred on the afternoon of October 15th, 2008. The officers had observed Mineo smoking marijuana on the sidewalk near the subway station, and as they approached him, he swallowed the joint and ran. James Dallas, 13, who was visiting his subway-worker father at the station, testified yesterday that he saw cops ask Mineo about the drugs. "One of the other officers said, 'He put it in his butt,'" Dallas testified. "The guy said, 'I didn't put it in my butt, I swallowed it.'" Mineo's DNA was later found on Kern's baton.
Dallas did not see Kern violate Mineo, but an officer was blocking his view. He also said he saw Officer Noel Jugraj, who has not been charged, throw Mineo against a wall and kick him in the face. Dallas's mother Andrea also testified yesterday, and though she twice misidentified Officer Kern as Mineo, her testimony also supported the prosecution. She says she was sitting in her car outside the station when cops led Mineo out, and "he was screaming, 'I can't believe you shoved a walkie-talkie up my ass like I'm some kind of faggot. And one of them said, 'You are a faggot.'" She also claims that Jugraj told Mineo, 'You liked it."
Lead prosecutor Charles Guria argued that the cover-up helped prove the crime, because the officers let him walk away with an improperly filled-out summons. "All of a sudden, no one wants to arrest Michael Mineo," Guria said. "They want Michael Mineo to leave. The other officers were trying to make sure Michael Mineo did not go to a hospital, did not go to a police station. I don’t care what kind of law Michael Mineo broke, there’s no explanation, no excuse for what happened here."
But Cruz's lawyer, Stuart London, told jurors there wasn't anything to cover up, and maintained that Mineo had a "preexisting medical condition." And Patten told the jury, "You should send Mr. Mineo packing back to the state of Pennsylvania where he has many [outstanding] warrants." Mineo and James Dallas Sr. are expected to testify Monday.
Tagged
brooklyn
michael mineo
prospect heights
subway sodomy
trial
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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