Dec 8, 2008 11:53 pm US/Eastern
NYPD Cops In Sodomy Case To Surrender
Lawyers Say Officers To Each Plead Not Guilty
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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The officers who allegedly sodomized Michael Mineo will face criminal charges. (file)
CBS
On Oct. 15, body piercer Michael Mineo claimed he was sodomized by police -- a painful story that is now resulting in the criminal charges against three New York City Police officers.
On Monday night, one of his co-workers at Jiggaman Tattoo in downtown Brooklyn, would not comment on the indictments, but Mineo thanked his supporters Sunday on The Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show.
"Because, you know, at first a lot of people weren't believing me, but you know, I left it in God's hands," Mineo said.
Prosecutors say officers Richard Kern, Alex Cruz and Andrew Morales sodomized Mineo with a piece of police equipment after attempting to arrest him for marijuana possession at a Brooklyn subway station. Police officials say they tracked down civilian witnesses and a transit worker who said Mineo's story wasn't true.
But investigators say incriminating forensic evidence, combined with the eyewitness account of a fellow officer, lead to the indictments.
"What happened to him should happen to no one and it's the beginning of his struggle," attorney Kevin Mosley said.
Officers Kern, Cruz and Morales are expected to surrender at the Kings County District Attorney's Office at 6 a.m. Tuesday.
The exact charges against them are in a sealed indictment to be revealed during their arraignment. The officers' lawyers say their clients will plead not guilty.
The three officers had all been placed on desk duty while the Internal Affairs bureau conducted their investigation. The accused officers have all maintained their innocence.
Police critics have compared the case to that of Abner Louima, who was beaten and sodomized with a broomstick in the bathroom of a police precinct by officers in one of the worst cases of brutality in NYPD history.
But there are many differences between the two cases. The 1997 case stoked racial tensions in the city, with Louima being black and the officers white. Mineo is white, and the officers are black, white and Hispanic.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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