Brooklyn, NY – The first and only trial in the 2013 beating of a black man in Williamsburg opened today with a bang, as prosecutors announced that they have DNA evidence that establishes a clear link between the defendant and the plaintiff.
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As previously reported on VIN News (http://goo.gl/ET9ySw), 24 year old Mayer Herskovic is the only one of five men arrested in the attack to stand trial. All charges were previously dropped against two men, while two others accepted a plea deal that left them with three years parole, paying restitution and performing 150 hours of community service.
Herskovic refused the plea deal, electing instead to take his chances in a non-jury trial for gang assault.
Assistant District Attorney Timothy Gough delivered opening statements today in Brooklyn Supreme Court, announcing that Herskovic’s DNA had been identified on Patterson’s sneakers.
Gough showed video surveillance footage taken from three Flushing Avenue residences showing several men chasing someone down the street in the darkness and said that once the men caught up with Patterson, Herskovic removed Patterson’s Nike sneakers and threw them on the roof of 475 Flushing Avenue, a one story brick building. Gough said that the prosecution would prove that Herskovic’s DNA was on Patterson’s sneaker.
The prosecution said that it also intends to call two witnesses.
“You’ll hear from Jose Guzman who saw a group of individuals, it was the Hanukah season, thought they were celebrating, jumping up and down,” said Gough. “When he got closer, he saw they were stomping on a person.”
The second prosecution witness will be an MTA bus driver who stopped and took photos of the scene, prompting those involved to leave the scene. Despite undergoing multiple surgeries, Patterson, an aspiring fashion designer, was left virtually blind in one eye.
Herskovic’s attorney, Israel Fried, did not present opening arguments in the trial which continues tomorrow.
If serious pedophiles can get only probation after pleading guilty this will be a walk in the park for the accused.
DNA evidence is hard to dispute. Weberman and rubashkin refused to take a plea deal against legal advice. Herscovic should have followed his attorney’s advice.
In the dark of the night, it is difficult to identify anyone and the witnesses will be inconclusive evidence.
If they have DNA that is real problem. Why didn’t he plea bargain like the others?
Proving he was present and threw the sneakers does not prove he beat him up. In fact he can claim that he wasn’t there during the beating as he was busy throwing the sneakers on the roof.
All of those who participated in the unprovoked beating, and blinding of that person, are the scum of the earth; they are the lowest of the lowest. I know that there are many on this site who will come to their defense, because they are ostensibly frum. However, it again will illustrate the hypocrisy which exists; for example, if it was the other way around, those same pundits would be screaming for justice. Yet, when those vigilante miscreants go on a rampage, there is no outrage! A shanda!!