Dec 10, 2008 10:12 am US/Eastern
Officers In Brooklyn Sodomy Case Out On Bail
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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The officers who allegedly sodomized Michael Mineo face charges including aggravated sexual abuse and assault. (file)
CBS
Three police officers were free on bail Wednesday morning, the day after they pleaded not guilty in the sex assault of a tattoo parlor worker.
Prosecutor Charles Guria said during a court appearance that DNA recovered from Officer Richard Kern's baton matches that of the victim, Michael Mineo.
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said Mineo was assaulted with the baton inside a subway station, and when he asked for medical attention, he was denied.
Hynes announced an indictment charging Officer Richard Kern with aggravated sexual abuse and assault for allegedly ramming the baton into the victim's anus. Fellow officers Alex Cruz and Andrew Morales were charged with hindering prosecution and official misconduct for allegedly covering up the crime.
The charges make up one of the most startling police brutality cases against the NYPD in recent memory.
If convicted, Kern could face up to 25 years in prison; the others could face up to four years.
"I'm pleased at, you know, what happened today, but it still don't justify it. I mean, I wish it never happened, period," Mineo said.
Defense attorneys say the officers didn't do anything wrong.
"Money's driving this case and they're looking for a payday. That's fine, that's their job, but that doesn't necessarily mean that my client did any of the charges that are set up against him here," said John Patten, Officer Kern's attorney.
"It's just an allegation," Patten said while arguing against the prosecution's request for $50,000 bail for Kern. "Oftentime allegations fall apart with the test of a trial."
Kern was released after posting $15,000 bail. As the two other officers were released without bail and left the courtroom, accuser Michael Mineo glared at them and clapped sarcastically.
"I relive this every day. I'm still in pain," Mineo said outside court. "No one should go through this."
Cruz's lawyer, Stuart London, called it physically impossible for Mineo, who was handcuffed behind his back, to show blood on his hand while requesting medical assistance.
"They don't even have a paper-thin case. They have no case," said London.
The accused officers approached Mineo on Oct. 15 outside a Brooklyn subway station because they believed he was smoking marijuana, police said. Hynes said Mineo then fled into the station, jumped a turnstile, ran toward the platform, then hurtled another turnstile before he was pinned down and handcuffed near a token booth.
Mineo, a 24-year-old body piercer, claims that during the struggle his pants were pulled down and one of the officers sodomized him as he screamed out in pain.
Mineo was given a ticket for disorderly conduct and released. Hynes said that Mineo was warned by police that if he reported the episode to anyone, he would be arrested and charged with a felony.
Mineo's attorney, Kevin Mosley, said he was encouraged by the charges. "We're pleased that the grand jury has contemplated and given significant weight to very reckless and serious acts that were committed against my client," he said.
Mosley was particularly pleased with the count dealing with hindering prosecution.
"A message has been sent: The police cannot hinder and cover up bad cops."
The attack has rekindled memories of the case of Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant who was sodomized with a broomstick in a police precinct 11 years ago. That case ignited racial tensions in the city and led to convictions against the white officers.
But the reaction to the Mineo case has not been as intense. Mineo is white, and the officers are white, Hispanic and black.
The district attorney's office launched the grand jury investigation in late October when the allegations came to light. The NYPD placed the officers on desk duty as the Internal Affairs Bureau carried out an investigation, subpoenaing medical records, securing the officers' lockers, collecting DNA evidence from police equipment and seeking out eyewitnesses from the subway station.
"These were just some of (Internal Affairs') investigative efforts, on which the District Attorney's office relied to bring its case to the grand jury," the NYPD said in a statement.
The police union stressed that the officers are innocent until proven guilty and that the public should not rush to judgment.
"Police do a tough and dangerous job everyday and we have earned the benefit of a doubt with our blood and sacrifice," the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association said in a statement. "No one should come to any conclusions before all the evidence is heard."
London also denied that he had any role in a cover-up: "He never observed any misconduct nor engaged in any misconduct."
(© 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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