NYPD Officers Accused of Sodomizing Michael Mineo in Brooklyn Subway Station Acquitted on All Charges

NYPD officers accused of sodomizing Michael Mineo in Brooklyn subway station acquitted on all charges.

Three cops with the New York Police Department were acquitted of sodomizing Michael Mineo and covering  up the incident. Officer Richard Kern was accused of assaulting the man inside Brooklyn's Prospect Park subway station on October 15, 2008, while Officers Andrews Morales and Alex Cruz were charged with covering up the attack, after they caught the accused smoking marijuana. The incident flew under the mainstream media's radar for a while until Mineo's lawyers and Rev. Al Sharpton went public with the accusations against the police. This certainly doesn't rise to the same level as the Tawana Brawley case, but many will make the argument that Rev. Al jumped the gun and went to bat for this man.

Kern faced as many as 25 years in prison on a charge of aggravated sexual abuse. Morales and Cruz faced up to four years in prison on charges of hindering prosecution. During the trial in Brooklyn Supreme Court, a defense expert testified that Mineo could not have been sodomized.

"Do I have an opinion on it?" asked Dr. Frank Sconzo, a colorectal surgeon. "Yeah, I don't believe it happened." Sconzo testified that Mineo should have had severe bruising, muscle damage and even a fractured tailbone, if he was, as prosecutors claim, sodomized by Kern.

The defense also argued that DNA found on the baton did not conclusively belong to Mineo. At first, the NYPD questioned Mineo’s account and allowed the officers to stay on duty. Source: NY Daily News

It should be noted that the officers did not arrest Mineo. According to the NY Daily News, Kern said the officers decided  not to arrest him because collars for marijuana possession were a low priority for the department. I find that troublesome since there was an open warrant for this man's arrest. Still, one's past transgressions shouldn't be used to disqualify him on the spot. He, too, can be the victim of police brutality, which was not proven in this case. The officers were acquitted by a jury comprised of six women and six men.