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Expert: Square Hole in Mineo's Boxers Doesn't Match Baton
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 5, 2010
Modified Feb 5, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 5, 2010
Modified Feb 5, 2010
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The hole in alleged NYPD sodomy victim Michael Mineo's underwear was not caused by a police baton, an NYPD fiber expert testified yesterday during the trial of three officers. Yesterday defense lawyers summoned expert Nicholas Petraco, who told jurors, "They could not have possibly made the hole in this underwear. This is a square hole." Petraco also testified that the hole must have been "cut out" or "punched," because it's a clean hole with no flap of material left. Lawyers for the three officers are claiming that Mineo, a body piercer, used one of his own tools to make the hole after the fact.
Earlier this week, transit cop Kevin Maloney testified that he witnessed a half inch or an inch of Officer Richard Kern's retractable baton disappear in "Mineo’s butt crack," and a DNA expert testified that blood on the underwear matched Mineo. But the defense is portraying Mineo as a tattooed degenerate who inflicted his own injuries to sue the city for millions. Prosecutors argue that the officers let Mineo go with an erroneous summons after he resisted arrest because they wanted to cover up the assault.
According to the Daily News, defense lawyers also summoned Deputy Inspector Peter Simonetti, who testified that Mineo was released that day because Officers Kern and Andrew Morales "were part of a unit that was under orders not to arrest marijuana smokers but seek out more serious crime."
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expert
hole
michael mineo
nyc
subway
trial
underwear
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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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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