The New York Daily News reports that in the trial of an officer accused of sodomizing a New Yorker with his baton, a witness for the defense testified that Mr. Mineo's injuries could not have come from a police baton. John Patten, the accused NYPD officer's New York criminal defense attorney, recently had two expert witnesses testify in support of his client.
In a previous post in the New York Criminal Law Blog, we wrote about how the alleged attack was said to have occurred in a subway platform in Prospect Park. The victim was running from the police officers when they caught up to him, pinned him down, and allegedly sodomized him with a baton. The Huffington Post reports that as a result of those allegations, Officer Richard Kern is being charged with aggravated sexual abuse and sexual assault whereas the other two officers, Cruz and Morales, are being charged with hindering prosecution and official misconduct for allegedly attempting to cover-up the incident.
In the most recent update of the trial by the New York Daily News, Dr. Frank Sconzo testified that the injuries that the victim sustained did not correlate with what the prosecution said happened. Doctor Sconzo explained that the victim's medical report did not note any "bruise marks, fractures, broken bones or other trauma" that he would expect from this type of injury. He told the court, based on the medical evidence, "Do I have an opinion on it? I don't believe it happened."
The New York Daily New reports that another expert witness for the defense stated that the round head of the baton would not produce a square rip in the victim's boxers. Thomas Kubic, the forensic scientist, also testified that two chemicals found in the ripped area of the boxer shorts can come from tattoo equipment, which could help the defense's arguments since the victim worked in a tattoo parlor and the defense is claiming that he created the rip himself. The officer's New York criminal defense attorney claimed that this could be evidence that Mr. Mineo created the rip himself with a tool from his former workplace. However, Mr. Kubic also stated that one of the chemicals could be found on the rubber used on a police baton.
Related Resources:
- Criminal Trial Procedures: An Overview (FindLaw)
- Sexual Assault (FindLaw)
- New York criminal defense attorney (FindLaw)
ShareThis
