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Village Hate Crime Murder Defendant, Acting As His Own Lawyer, Grills Victim's Friend
By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 24, 2016
Modified Feb 26, 2016
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 24, 2016
Modified Feb 26, 2016
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In May 2013, a 32-year-old man was fatally shot in Greenwich Village in what police said was "clearly a hate crime." Suspect Elliot Morales, 36, is acting as his own attorney while on trial for the murder of 32-year-old Mark Carson, whom prosecutors say was killed by Morales solely because he was gay. Morales got to cross-examine Carson's best friend, 34-year-old Danny Robinson, in court this week, and tried to blame Robinson and Carson for instigating the fatal altercation.
"You could have avoided all of this from escalating to the level it did, if you and Mr. Carson just went along with your own business?" Morales asked Robinson, who was walking with Carson at the time of the fatal encounter, which occurred on West 8th Street. Robinson, who called that question "so offensive" and repeatedly had to compose himself on the stand in front of his friend's alleged murderer, told the court that a drunken Morales had initiated hostilities by saying to them, "What are you, gay wrestlers?" and calling them "fa-----" and "queers."
The Post has surveillance video (with no audio) of the initial confrontation. Carson is wearing shorts and a black tank top, and Morales is the man wearing a gray sweatshirt on the left:
The Post has the rest of the rundown of the bizarre, painful testimony:
“Wouldn’t you agree, seeing this firearm and telling me to put it down, wouldn’t you consider that to be more instigating the whole situation?” Morales questioned Robinson.
“Instigating?” asked Robinson, incredulously. “Not at all.”
“You could have kept going?” asked Morales, wearing glasses and a gray cardigan.
“Yeah, we could have easily kept going while we see a guy standing there with a gun,” Robinson said incredulously. “That doesn’t make sense.”
Morales then played the 911 call where a blast can be clearly heard in the background, then Robinson saying, “Some guy just shot my friend!” “I didn’t hear it,” Morales said in court of the gunshot, cueing the tape again. “Point it out to me.”
Robinson bowed his head and muttered, “Oh my God” before complying.
Morales then tried to suggest that he only pulled the trigger when Robinson reached into his pocket for his phone. “Is it possible what happened was a reaction to the threat that was put on my own life?” the defendant asked. “[When] you reached into your pocket and removed what I believed was a black gun at the time.”
As Robinson exited the courtroom, he wiped tears from his eyes.
Other witnesses testified that Morales was running amok earlier in the evening before the fatal confrontation. Annisa general manager Michael Cherry said that Morales had urinated on the front window of his restaurant, hurled gay slurs at his staff, and threatened a bartender with his gun.
Morales has been charged with murder as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon. After his arrest, he allegedly told cops, "Yeah, I shot him in the head," while laughing.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said after the murder, "It's clear that the victim here was killed only because and just because he was thought to be gay — there's no question about that. There were derogatory remarks. The victim did nothing to antagonize or instigate the shooter. It was only done because the shooter believed him to be gay."
Several hundred people mourned and marched through the Village after Carson's death, and the city started offering free self defense classes to help the LGBT community protect themselves.
Tagged
elliot morales
greenwich village
hate crime
mark carson
murder
trial
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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