Baltimore, MD – Prosecutors are not seeking jail time for a former member of an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood watch group convicted in the beating of a black teenager.
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Twenty-four-year-old Eliyahu Werdesheim faces sentencing Wednesday for second-degree assault and false imprisonment. His 22-year-old brother, Avi, was acquitted. The case drew comparisons to the fatal shooting of Florida teen Trayvon Martin.
Eliyahu Werdesheim faces up to 10 years on the assault count, but prosecutors are asking for a three-year suspended sentence, probation and community service.
The teen told police that Werdesheim struck him in the head and shouted, “You don’t belong around here.” Werdesheim testified he acted in self-defense when the teen attacked him.
Werdesheim’s attorney, who will argue a motion seeking a new trial, says scores of people sent the judge letters of support.
I hope the Judge goes for the NO jail ruling.
Still not out of the woods, but good news.
Why would the prosecutors not want to get at least some jail time for someone convicted of assault? How does this deter others from commiting similiar crimes?
They should prosecute the black youth for racial intimidation and defamation of character.
Don’t we live in the goldene medina?
We have rights also!
No jail time is a good development. And if this is what ultimately happens, I hope Eliyahu will put it all behind him soon (easier said than done).His conviction is very unfair: prosecution’s case fell apart, to the extent that the hoodlum who was presented as a “victim” vociferously demanded to drop charges. But the trial happened shortly after the non-arrest and subsequent arrest of Mr. Zimmerman in Florida; the Baltimore judge (needless to say a woman and a Democrat) was scared that blacks will turn even more violent than usual in Baltimore and decided to convict. I wish Eliyahu the best. I still hope there is a possibility of the fair trial for Mr. Zimmerman. But I am not optimistic.