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Cop's Testimony in Subway Sodomy Trial Spins the Word "Violate"
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 27, 2010
Modified Jan 27, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 27, 2010
Modified Jan 27, 2010
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Today prosecutors called officer Noel Jugraj to testify in the trial of three other NYPD officers accused of participating in or covering up the sodomy of a Brooklyn man in the Prospect Park subway station in October 2008. Jugraj is not charged in the case, but he is the partner of one of the accused cops, Officer Alex Cruz. It's unclear if his testimony will help the prosecution much, because Jugraj claims he did not see his colleagues pull down Michael Mineo’s pants or sodomize him with a retractable police baton during his arrest. He also thinks that when Mineo screamed that cops violated him, he didn't mean physically.
According to Jugraj's testimony, Mineo used the word "violated" when he was first stopped for smoking marijuana and begged cops not to take him to jail. "Officer, officer, please I don't want to go to jail, I don't want to be violated [by parole]," Jugraj quoted Mineo saying. "I'm on probation, I got to stay out of trouble for six months." Then, when he was led out of the subway, Mineo shouted, "Y'all violated me, y'all violated me. I don't want to go to jail," Jugraj told jurors. Jugraj also confirmed that Officer Cruz replied," You liked it, you liked it." (Mineo testified that Cruz said, "You liked it, you faggot.")
Jugraj also said that he saw either blood or feces on one of Mineo’s hands. According to City Room, Jugraj also testified that he was angry when Officer Kern told him they were going to let Mineo leave with a summons, because he thought Mineo could have been charged with felonies, including "criminal tampering, for eating a marijuana cigarette when he was confronted by police officers, and for reckless endangerment." And surveillance footage has been released which the officers' lawyers used to argue that Mineo is lying. Part of the video (watch below) shows Mineo walking normally without assistance after the arrest, though later he is seen hanging onto a friend for support.
Also paying close attention to the trial is Tatyana Timoshenko, whose son, NYPD officer Russel was fatally shot during a traffic stop in 2007. His mother has been outraged that the city is spending money to prosecute cops, telling the Daily News, "Let me ask you, what are police officers supposed to do? They stop someone and they are either shot or sued. This is ridiculous. Your tax dollars at work. This guy [Mineo] and his friends are criminals. To them, it's OK to break the law and run from the police. It's OK to have guns."
Tagged
cops
michael mineo
Noel Jugraj
nypd
subway sodomy
testimony
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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