‘Prime Mover’ in Assault as Hate Crime Could Get 25-Year Sentence Today

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The New York Sun

A judge is expected today to sentence the young white man who bludgeoned a black man with a baseball bat last year in Howard Beach.

Nicholas Minucci, 20, faces between eight and 25 years in prison, a spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney’s office, Meris Campbell, said.

A Queens jury convicted Minucci last month of a long list of crimes that include second-degree assault as a hate crime and first-degree robbery as a hate crime. Prosecutors have called him “the prime mover” in the three-person attack on Glenn Moore, 23, who suffered a fractured skull.

Minucci’s lawyer, Albert Gaudelli, has said that he does not expect the judge, Richard Buchter, to hand down a lenient sentence.

The June 29, 2005, attack drew Mayor Bloomberg’s condemnation and prompted an unusual trial, which largely turned on the jury’s ultimate rejection of Mr. Gaudelli’s argument that a certain racial epithet was no longer a hateful word.

Prosecutors had pointed to Minucci’s use of the epithet – which they called the n-word – during the attack as evidence that Mr. Moore, who is black, was assaulted because of the color of his skin.

But Mr. Gaudelli put forward a novel defense, arguing that listeners of hip-hop music often use the word as a greeting. The state’s hate crime statute has been on the books since 2000, and lawyers described Mr. Gaudelli’s decision to call expert witnesses forward to testify about the meaning of the epithet as unprecedented in New York City. Although the testimony drew widespread interest, legal observers say Mr. Gaudelli’s efforts showcased an ultimately losing trial strategy that lawyers will likely avoid.

“The case itself was most interesting because the defense focused on the use of the n-word,” said a hate crimes expert at Northeastern University, Jack Levin. “Which turned out to be almost irrelevant. If he was in touch with hiphop culture, so what?”

“If anything this will cause defense attorneys in the future to pause before raising the defense again,” one criminal defense attorney, Robert Gottlieb, said.

A second of Mr. Moore’s assailants, Frank Agostini, received immunity from prosecutors to testify against Minucci. A third man, Anthony Ench, was sentenced last year to two years in prison for his role in the attack.

Minucci, who is from the Queens neighborhood of Lindenwood, has a long arrest record and was sentenced to five years probation in a stabbing assault while a juvenile, according to news reports. He also was reportedly arrested for shooting a paintball gun at Sikhs following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

That criminal history, which a judge can consider during sentencing, may factor against Minucci today. Another factor, defense lawyers say, is the defendant’s conduct during the trial. Minucci’s courtroom demeanor seemed to offend both Mr. Gaudelli – who repeatedly told him to “shut-up” – and Judge Buchter, who told Minucci to sit quietly without any more outbursts.

A spokesman for the Queens district attorney, Kevin Ryan, said the sentencing memorandum his office submitted to the judge was not public prior to the sentencing.

Although the jury did not convict Minucci on the charge that topped the indictment – first degree assault as a hate crime – Mr. Gaudelli said he expected a strict sentence.

“If the court were as lenient as it should be under these circumstances I would be surprised,” he said in an interview following the trial.

Mr. Gaudelli has accused the prosecution of “playing the Howard Beach race card.” He said that the recurring references to the neighborhood – site of a notorious 1986 racial attack – prejudiced the jury.


The New York Sun

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