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Court tosses Crown Heights stabbing convictions

By Phil Hirschkorn
CNN New York Bureau

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A federal appeals court Monday tossed out the convictions of two men in the stabbing death of a man during August 1991 riots in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn.

A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the civil rights convictions of Lemrick Nelson, 25, and Charles Price, 47, citing irregularities with jury selection.

A federal jury convicted the two black men in February 1997 of violating the civil rights of Yankel Rosenbaum, a 29-year-old Hasidic Jew and rabbinical student from Australia.

The jury found Nelson, then 16, violated Rosenbaum's civil rights by "willfully injuring, intimidating, and interfering by force ... because of Rosenbaum's religion and because he was enjoying the use of a Brooklyn city street."

Evidence and testimony showed that Nelson inflicted two of Rosenbaum's four stab wounds. In March 1998, he was sentenced to 19.5 years in prison. The jury found Price guilty of civil rights violations for inciting the attack.

RESOURCES Read the majority opinion: U.S. v. Nelson (FindLaw) (PDF)

Nelson was first tried and found not guilty by a state jury in October 1992, but the acquittal sparked so much community outrage a federal investigation was launched that brought the civil rights charges.

The appeals court ordered a new trial, saying the jury was improperly selected. The 109-page majority opinion cited the trial judge's failure to excuse a biased prospective juror from the jury pool.

The ruling note a second misstep: A black juror later excused due to illness was not replaced with the first alternate, who was white.

Instead, the ruling said, the court removed a second white juror from the panel and seated a black alternate and a Jewish alternate -- the known biased juror -- in their places.

The court was seeking racial balance on the jury, but seating alternates out of order violated the defendants' rights to due process, the appeals court found.

One dissenting judge noted that all parties -- the judge, prosecution, and defendants -- had agreed to the arrangement.

"I am gratified. This is a victory," said James Neuman, Nelson's attorney, who argued the appeal a year-and-a-half ago

The appeals court, however, rejected Neuman's arguments that the government did not prove its case and that the law behind the prosecution is unconstitutional.

The three judges each issued separate opinions, with one affirming the jury's verdict.

The government can now appeal to the entire appeals court or to the Supreme Court or it can prosecute Nelson and Price again.

Alan Vinegrad, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, which covers Brooklyn, said he was reviewing the options.

"I am disappointed that the court has overturned the defendants' convictions on the grounds there were errors in the jury selection process," said Vinegrad, who prosecuted the case.

But, Vinegrad said, he was "pleased" the appeals court found there was "legally sufficient evidence to prove the defendants were guilty

The four days of Crown Heights riots began August 19, 1991, after a station wagon in a motorcade carrying Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, a leader of an international Hasidic sect, ran a red light and struck and killed Gavin Cato, a black 7-year-old. The driver never faced charges in the accident.

Three hours later, an angry crowd of blacks attacked Rosenbaum, a bearded man in orthodox Jewish clothing.

Videotape introduced at trial showed Price telling the crowd: "Let's get the Jews" and "eye for an eye. No justice, no peace."

Nelson was among 10 to 15 people who chased Rosenbaum, tackled him, and beat him. Police caught Nelson trying to flee the scene with a bloody knife.

Rosenbaum identified Nelson in a police line-up before going to the hospital. "Why did you stab me?" he said.

New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, whose district is adjacent to Crown Heights, called Monday's ruling unfortunate. "Now the Rosenbaum family has to start from square one."

In 1998, the city agreed to pay $1.1 million to the Rosenbaum family and Jewish residents of Crown Heights.

This year, the fathers of the two victims, Cato and Rosenbaum, met for the first time and reconciled.

"We felt we put this behind us," Hikind said. "New York does not need this."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the decision "could force all of us to reexamine an episode we thought was part of our history, not our present.

"Although many of us disagree with it, the process will continue and we need to remember that justice, as always, will prevail."