Bear-Arms
Mentor
Nicholas Minucci, 20, who was convicted last month of a hate crime in the beating and robbery of a black man in Howard Beach, Queens, last year, was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday.
Mr. Minucci's "words and actions and the very nature of the crime send out a deplorable message of intolerance and exclusion which impacts us all," said Justice Richard L. Buchter, who could have sentenced Mr. Minucci to as little as 8 years, or as much as 25 years.
"The fact that the crimes were committed as hate crimes makes them far more repugnant and deserving of an enhanced punishment," Justice Buchter added.
The arrest and trial attracted a great deal of attention, in part because it echoed another attack, in 1986, in which a black man died after being chased onto a parkway by a group of white men in Howard Beach.
The trial was also closely watched because both sides said the attack centered on the use of a racial epithet, referred to in court as the "n" word, that Mr. Minucci admitted using before attacking Glenn Moore with a baseball bat on the night of June 29, 2005.
Prosecutors insisted that the word was evidence that Mr. Minucci selected Mr. Moore, 23, because of his race. The defense maintained that Mr. Minucci, who grew up in Lindenwood, an ethnically diverse neighborhood adjacent to Howard Beach, used the epithet as a form of address, as it is commonly used now in street parlance and rap songs.
In State Supreme Court in Queens yesterday, Justice Buchter said Mr. Minucci "repeatedly used the 'n' word in ways and in a manner that can best be described as an affront to Glenn Moore's worth as a human being."
Then he sentenced Mr. Minucci to 15 years for first-degree robbery as a hate crime, as well as prison terms for additional charges, to be served concurrently. By law, Mr. Minucci must serve more than 12 years of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
During the sentencing, Mr. Moore rose and said the beating "caused me to initially feel anger and uncomfortable around those of the opposite race."
"Only a wretched person could sink to such lows as using a bat to the side of someone's head," he said before addressing Mr. Minucci personally, criticizing him for having "never taken full responsibility for your actions" and for being "arrogant and unremorseful" in statements he gave to the authorities after his arrest.
"You need to look at your actions and see the ignorance in it," Mr. Moore said.
Before being sentenced, Mr. Minucci stood and pleaded for leniency, saying that Queens prosecutors turned him into a "monster" for political purposes.
Mr. Minucci, who during court appearances over the past year has gone from burly and cantankerous to gaunt, looked resigned to his fate. Dressed in slacks, shirt and tie, he said that he did not attack Mr. Moore because of his race, but rather to protect a friend, whom he believed Mr. Moore had threatened minutes earlier.
He blamed prosecutors for charging him with hate crimes just because the attack occurred in a white neighborhood with a racially tinged past.
"This is a hate crime because of Howard Beach," he said. Then he turned to Mr. Moore's mother and said, "For any pain at all, I apologize from the bottom of my heart."
But Justice Buchter said, "For anyone to allege that this crime was prosecuted as a hate crime just because it happened in Howard Beach is simply to ignore the evidence."
Mr. Moore testified at the trial that he and two black friends had set out that June night to steal a car and that he was walking in Howard Beach carrying a bag of tools.
Mr. Minucci, driving in his 2005 Cadillac Escalade with two white friends, came upon the three black men. He hopped out, wielding an aluminum bat, and began chasing Mr. Moore through the empty, darkened residential streets.
Mr. Minucci was found not guilty of a top charge, first-degree assault as a hate crime, but was convicted of first- and second-degree robbery as a hate crime. He used the bat to rob Mr. Moore of his Air Jordan sneakers, a pair of Prada shoes and a blue polo shirt.
Earlier yesterday, the justice denied a motion by Mr. Minucci's lawyer, Albert Gaudelli, to set aside the verdict, claiming that the attack, "an insignificant altercation between two people," was seized upon by Queens prosecutors, who for political reasons created erroneous charges and incomplete evidence.
Outside the courtroom, Mr. Gaudelli said his client was the victim of politically motivated, overblown prosecution of an attack that "happens every day of the week" and brought out politicians and activists eager to get headlines by grandstanding against racism in Howard Beach.
"The term Howard Beach has become synonymous with racism," he said. "The political people in this city use Howard Beach as a rallying cry against racism.
"The mayor jumped five points in the black community the day after this happened," he added.
After the sentencing, the Queens district attorney, Richard A. Brown, called the sentence "an appropriate end to a sad episode in our city's history."
As Mr. Minucci was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, he turned to friends and relatives behind him and repeatedly mouthed the words, "Don't cry."
Source: New York Times
Mr. Minucci's "words and actions and the very nature of the crime send out a deplorable message of intolerance and exclusion which impacts us all," said Justice Richard L. Buchter, who could have sentenced Mr. Minucci to as little as 8 years, or as much as 25 years.
"The fact that the crimes were committed as hate crimes makes them far more repugnant and deserving of an enhanced punishment," Justice Buchter added.
The arrest and trial attracted a great deal of attention, in part because it echoed another attack, in 1986, in which a black man died after being chased onto a parkway by a group of white men in Howard Beach.
The trial was also closely watched because both sides said the attack centered on the use of a racial epithet, referred to in court as the "n" word, that Mr. Minucci admitted using before attacking Glenn Moore with a baseball bat on the night of June 29, 2005.
Prosecutors insisted that the word was evidence that Mr. Minucci selected Mr. Moore, 23, because of his race. The defense maintained that Mr. Minucci, who grew up in Lindenwood, an ethnically diverse neighborhood adjacent to Howard Beach, used the epithet as a form of address, as it is commonly used now in street parlance and rap songs.
In State Supreme Court in Queens yesterday, Justice Buchter said Mr. Minucci "repeatedly used the 'n' word in ways and in a manner that can best be described as an affront to Glenn Moore's worth as a human being."
Then he sentenced Mr. Minucci to 15 years for first-degree robbery as a hate crime, as well as prison terms for additional charges, to be served concurrently. By law, Mr. Minucci must serve more than 12 years of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
During the sentencing, Mr. Moore rose and said the beating "caused me to initially feel anger and uncomfortable around those of the opposite race."
"Only a wretched person could sink to such lows as using a bat to the side of someone's head," he said before addressing Mr. Minucci personally, criticizing him for having "never taken full responsibility for your actions" and for being "arrogant and unremorseful" in statements he gave to the authorities after his arrest.
"You need to look at your actions and see the ignorance in it," Mr. Moore said.
Before being sentenced, Mr. Minucci stood and pleaded for leniency, saying that Queens prosecutors turned him into a "monster" for political purposes.
Mr. Minucci, who during court appearances over the past year has gone from burly and cantankerous to gaunt, looked resigned to his fate. Dressed in slacks, shirt and tie, he said that he did not attack Mr. Moore because of his race, but rather to protect a friend, whom he believed Mr. Moore had threatened minutes earlier.
He blamed prosecutors for charging him with hate crimes just because the attack occurred in a white neighborhood with a racially tinged past.
"This is a hate crime because of Howard Beach," he said. Then he turned to Mr. Moore's mother and said, "For any pain at all, I apologize from the bottom of my heart."
But Justice Buchter said, "For anyone to allege that this crime was prosecuted as a hate crime just because it happened in Howard Beach is simply to ignore the evidence."
Mr. Moore testified at the trial that he and two black friends had set out that June night to steal a car and that he was walking in Howard Beach carrying a bag of tools.
Mr. Minucci, driving in his 2005 Cadillac Escalade with two white friends, came upon the three black men. He hopped out, wielding an aluminum bat, and began chasing Mr. Moore through the empty, darkened residential streets.
Mr. Minucci was found not guilty of a top charge, first-degree assault as a hate crime, but was convicted of first- and second-degree robbery as a hate crime. He used the bat to rob Mr. Moore of his Air Jordan sneakers, a pair of Prada shoes and a blue polo shirt.
Earlier yesterday, the justice denied a motion by Mr. Minucci's lawyer, Albert Gaudelli, to set aside the verdict, claiming that the attack, "an insignificant altercation between two people," was seized upon by Queens prosecutors, who for political reasons created erroneous charges and incomplete evidence.
Outside the courtroom, Mr. Gaudelli said his client was the victim of politically motivated, overblown prosecution of an attack that "happens every day of the week" and brought out politicians and activists eager to get headlines by grandstanding against racism in Howard Beach.
"The term Howard Beach has become synonymous with racism," he said. "The political people in this city use Howard Beach as a rallying cry against racism.
"The mayor jumped five points in the black community the day after this happened," he added.
After the sentencing, the Queens district attorney, Richard A. Brown, called the sentence "an appropriate end to a sad episode in our city's history."
As Mr. Minucci was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, he turned to friends and relatives behind him and repeatedly mouthed the words, "Don't cry."
Source: New York Times