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By Blanca M. Quintanilla A Queens teenager accused of stabbing a 16-year-old boy to death in an Elmhurst hangout known as “The Maze” was acquitted of murder charges last night., 17, of Maspeth, lowered his head and cried softly when the jury’s verdict was announced. His family and friends in the courtroom embraced and many also cried. The verdict stunned family members of , who was stabbed 18 times in the graffiti-scarred series of alleys behind warehouses near the Elmhurst gas tanks. “A young man is dead, but my client pleaded innocent from the beginning and the verdict showed that,” said attorney, Todd Greenberg. Assistant District Attorney Debra Lynn Pomodore said only, “The jury has spoken and I accept the verdict.” Jurors were unavailable for comment last night. Greenberg did not call a single defense witness during the trial. He attacked the credibility of the graffiti vandals who testified they saw repeatedly stab on Dec. 6, 1992. The Maze is a series of alleys formed by the walls of warehouses at 52d Court and 74th St. At the time of the slaying, police said it was a hangout for teens who often scrawled graffiti and set fires.

By Janet Tarpey The fate of the Queens College student accused for stabbing 16-year-old to death in “the Maze,” now lies in the hands of six men and six women. Jury deliberations began last Monday night, bringing the two-month long trial nearer to an end. At press time, the jury was still out. In his closing arguments in a Jamaica courtroom, defense attorney Todd Greenberg told the jury that the lack of physical evidence presented by the prosecution warranted an acquittal for his client, . The state is trying him for intentional murder. However, Greenberg has repeatedly questioned the testimony of the medical examiner, suggesting that died from a kick to the head, not the 18 stab wounds inflicted on his body. If this is the case, the state’s charge of intentional murder would prove untenable. Of the four teenagers who testified to being in the maze, a series of alleyways in Maspeth that have since been sealed, three said they saw repeatedly plunge a knife into body on Dec. 6, 1992. While Assistant District Attorney Debra Lynn Pomodore’s case appears fairly convincing, Greenberg has challenged the credibility of her teen-age witnesses. He pointed out that they were all members of the same graffiti gang, a gang that did not belong to. “Does that preclude them from being truthful witnesses?” Pomodore asked the jury, adding that the medical examiner found the testimony of those witnesses to be accurate. did not testify in the case. Greenberg did not call any witnesses, claiming that the state’s case did not warrant a rebuttal. should not be convicted of intentional murder according to Greenberg, because may already have been dead when he was stabbed. Witnesses’ accounts said that kicked in the face while he was kneeling down and bending over to ignite a pile of leaves. The kick allegedly caused to convulse on the ground before he stopped moving. Blood found in the chest cavities and abdomen prove that theory false, argued Pomodore. “He was alive at the time of the stabbing,” she said. The medical examiner found no injury to the brain or the skull, Pomodore continued. Greenberg suggested that because his client didn’t have a “tag” (a graffiti name) and wasn’t part of “the crew,” that he was singled out by gang members. “Let’s give the defendant a tag,” Pomodore told the jury. “The only tag appropriate is murderer,” she said as she asked the jury to find , 18, guilty of intentional murder. If convicted, faces 25 years to life in prison.

By Blanca M. Quintanilla The attorney for a teenager charged with brutally stabbing a 16-year-old boy to death in an Elmhurst teen hangout told a jury during closing arguments yesterday that his client was charged with a crime he did not commit. Todd Greenberg, a Forest Hills attorney representing , 17, also said that the victim, , may have already been dead — from a severe blow to the head — before his client allegedly stabbed him. “The stabbing was not the cause of death,” Greenberg said in front of a crowded Jamaica courtroom. “What’s the motive? Why would 17-year-old , a Queens College student, want to murder ? Assistant District Attorney Debra Lynn Pomodore rejected Greenberg’s theory. Telling the jury she did not need to prove a motive for the killing, she said “savagely” stabbed 18 times., 16, of Maspeth, was found dead on Dec. 6, 1992 in the graffiti-scarred series of alleyways in Elmhurst teens call The Maze. If convicted of murder, faces 25 years to life in prison. Greenberg attacked the testimony of Dr. Aglae Charlot, the medical examiner who performed an autopsy on , saying she failed to do a complete autopsy. “The people’s witnesses lack credibility,” said Greenberg. He did not call one witness on behalf of his client, saying the people’s case didn’t merit a rebuttal. He also blasted the three prosecution witnesses who said they saw stab repeatedly. He told the jury that members of a graffiti drawing group had pinned the murder on his client because he was not a member of the crew, did not have a “tag,” and was the only outsider in a closely knit group. Pomodore urged the jury to give a tag name. “The only appropriate tag is murderer,” she told the jury. She noted that first kicked to render him helpless. Pomodore rejected any suggestion that was dead when he was stabbed. “The only issue presented to you at this time is what is the identity of the person who stabbed to death on Dec. 6, 1992,” Pomodore said. The jury began deliberations last night.

By Susan Forrest, Staff Writer A Queens man, described by Nassau police as a “primary player” in the smuggling of Guyanese people into the United States, surrendered to detectives in Elmont yesterday and was charged in connection with the kidnapping of a Guyanese woman, authorities said. Taxi driver , 44, of 111-43 127 th St., South Ozone Park, became the third suspect to be charged with the second-degree kidnapping of Parbattie Baichu, 26, of Guyana, said Fifth Squad Det. Lt. Ronald Mueller. Baichu, abducted June 30 when she arrived at Kennedy Airport from Guyana, was rescued by Nassau police on July 2 in a parking lot of a West Hempstead restaurant. The first of the three alleged kidnappers, all of whom are Guyanese, was arrested there. pleaded not guilty yesterday in First District Court, Hempstead, and was ordered held on $250,000 bail by Judge John Galasso. Also a primary player in the illegal transportation of Guyanese people into the U.S.,” Mueller said. “It appears to be a pretty widespread smuggling operation and our information is that there may be many more people involved. Mueller added that Nassau police are turning over all their information to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization service in Manhattan. Queens lawyer, Todd Greenberg, yesterday said his client denies the kidnapping charge and added that had been negotiating to surrender to Nassau police for a week and that prosecutors agreed to ask for only $25,000 bail. The prosecutor did in fact request $25,000 at the arraignment yesterday but the judge set bail at $250,000.00. Two other men have been at the Nassau jail since their arrests in the kidnapping of Baichu, whose family, police said, paid smugglers $2,000 to have her smuggled into the United States to join her sister on Long Island. The smugglers then held her for an additional $8,500, police said.

Timothy Grimes, one of three black victims in the Howard Beach racial attack, exploded in anger yesterday while testifying against five white teenagers in the case, just as he did in another trial last fall. Grimes, testifying despite concerns over his emotional stability, spat at defense attorney Todd Greenberg, muttered an obscenity and swatted a court microphone out of the way before Criminal Court Justice Thomas Demakos hastily called a recess. Grimes had been undergoing cross examination about events leading up to the attack by a dozen white youths on Grimes and two companions in the Howard Beach section of Queens. He was testifying over the objections of a Legal Aid attorney, Stephen B. Grundstein, who said a psychiatrist who evaluated Grimes earlier in the day had determined that he was under too much pressure and was “unpredictable.” But prosecutor Edward Boyar said he was assured by the psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Weidenbacher, that testifying “will not damage him permanently.” The 20-year-old Brooklyn man was arrested in Coney Island on Monday on a Virginia warrant charging him with shooting one of his brothers, Tommy Grimes, last month. Tommy Grimes’ wounds cost him his sight in one eye. Another brother, Charles Grimes, said yesterday that Timothy “hasn’t been right” mentally since the Howard Beach incident on Dec. 20, 1986. Under questioning by Boyar, Grimes appeared dejected and vacant, but was answering questions calmly and without incident. He lost his composure after a series of questions about a sports car Grimes said the three black men encountered shortly before the attack. Grimes testified that he yelled to two women in the car, asking them for a ride. “Was it a two-seater?” Greenberg asked. “Yes,” Grimes answered. “So the three of you were going to fit in the back seat?” the lawyer demanded. It was at that point, even as Demakos admonished Greenberg about the tone of the question, that Grimes erupted. In the incident at issue, a dozen white youths allegedly attacked Grimes and two other black men outside a pizzeria, chasing one of the blacks to his death on a nearby highway. Three of four whites youths tried last fall were convicted of manslaughter and assault. The defense rested yesterday in the trial of five other youths charged with lesser crimes. The prosecution had rested last week, but reserved the option of calling Grimes to testify, as he did in the first trial. However, prosecutors said they had been unable to find Grimes before his arrest in the June 20 shooting of his brother outside an aunt’s home in Winchester, Va.

By Wendy Lin Howard Beach attack victim Cedric Sandiford returned to the witness stand yesterday and admitted he had mainlined heroin and cocaine, and that he was too ashamed to admit it under oath last week. “I lied,” Sandiford told jurors in State Supreme Court in Kew Gardens, Queens. “I lied because I was ashamed. I lied to protect my family and my kids.” The 38-year-old Sandiford is living in a Westchester County hospital where he is undergoing treatment for drug and alcohol dependency. In court last Thursday, after he identified as one of his alleged attackers, defense attorneys attempted to discredit Sandiford by questioning him on his drug problems. In testimony, he admitted he had a drug problem, but insisted he had never used a needle. His testimony yesterday brought tears to the eyes of his supporters. Jean Griffith, his fiancee, wept bitterly in the courtroom as she clutched her teenage daughter, Odette. Jean Griffith is the mother of attack victim Michael Griffith, who was struck and killed by a car as he was fleeing a gang of white teenagers. Five white men are on trial on charges stemming from the Dec. 20, 1986, racial attack in which three black men were chased through the streets of Howard Beach. The five are charged first-degree riot, a crime punishable by up to four years in prison. One defendant, , also is charged with the attempted murder of Sandiford. The cases are being tried simultaneously, although there is a separate jury deciding the fate of . Last year, three Howard Beach youths were found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Griffith. Sandiford said he decided to admit to using drugs intravenously after agonizing over the issue this past weekend. “I wouldn’t discuss my medical record with anybody,” he said emphatically. “It was personal, it was private, and it was a violation of my rights. I was upset about it. I didn’t want to talk about it . . . I lay in my room and I thought about it and I called my kids and explained the situation.” Then, he said, “I decided to tell the truth about it and release myself from that burden. I made that choice.” Defense attorneys, however, tried to show that Sandiford made the admission only after it became apparent that medical records would show his intravenous drug use. Bert Koehler, who represents , challenged Sandiford by asking, “Isn’t it true that you knew that we know the truth and you decided to make yourself more credible in the eyes of the jury?” Sandiford responded evenly, “I lied because I was ashamed, sir.” Defense attorney Todd Greenberg, who represents , asked, “How many other things did you lie about?” Sandiford replied, “I told the truth about everything that happened.” He added, “My drug record had nothing to do with what happened on December 19 and December 20, 1986 . . . My memory about the event could never leave my memory.” 06-28-1988

By Wendy Lin The December, 1986, attack on three black men in Howard Beach was “a race riot in every ugly sense of the word,” a prosecutor charged yesterday in opening statements at the second trial in the case. Five Howard Beach residents are on trial in State Supreme Court in Queens on charges of rioting that night. One defendant, 19, is also charged with attempted murder in the attack, in which a black man was killed after he was chased into the path of an oncoming car. Assistant State Special Prosecutor James Kohler flatly announced in his opening statements, “I have apologized for the obscene language used at this trial, but the greatest obscenity was this: That the actions of this group of 12 young men were based on racial hatred, and that what took place in Howard Beach on Dec. 20, 1986, was a race riot in every ugly sense of the word.” Each of the five defense attorneys denied the racism charge in their opening remarks. “Don’t fall prey to this argument about this being a racial riot,” said Victor Knapp, who represents , 20. “Don’t turn this case into a symbol.” Bert Koehler, who represents , 18, accused the prosecutor of inflaming the jury by charging racism. “You’re going to hear the words ‘nigger’ and ‘honky,’ but does that mean it’s racially motivated? Certainly not.” Standing trial on charges of riot are , , , 20, and , 18. In the same trial, but in front of a separate jury, is being tried for the attempted murder of Cedric Sandiford, who the prosecution charges was “savagely beaten” with a baseball bat, a tree limb and a t-shaped instrument. State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Demakos has ruled that the case will be tried simultaneously, but in front of two separate juries. One jury will consider the riot charges, the other the more serious counts against . The charges stem from an incident in Howard Beach that began on Dec. 19, 1986, and ended early the next morning with the beating of Sandiford and the death of his companion, Michael Griffith, who was struck and killed by a car on the Belt Parkway. Last December, Scott Kern, Jon Lester and Jason Ladone were found guilty of manslaughter in the death of Griffith and of first-degree assault in the attack on Sandiford. Defense attorney Todd Greenberg, who represents , said there was no riot and that the blacks “initiated the confrontation.” attorney, Richard LaRosa, said, “He was there and he did run, but that is not enough .”

By Wendy Lin One of the young men charged with riot in the second Howard Beach case pleaded guilty yesterday and the court record of another defendant’s secret guilty plea was unsealed, leaving only five defendants in the trial that opened this week., 20, flanked by his attorney and his parents, pleaded guilty in State Supreme Court in Kew Gardens, Queens to first-degree riot and criminal facilitation. State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Demakos promised to sentence him to 5 years’ probation with 200 hours of community service and youthful offender status, which means he will not have a criminal record. He could have been sentenced to as much as 4 years in prison. “I feel very happy for the family,” said attorney, Augustus Agate. “They’ve gone through hell for a year and a half.” His co-defendants were not as pleased. , 20, who is also charged with riot, said, “I don’t think anyone should have plea-bargained at all. I don’t think anyone was guilty of riot. I don’t think I’m guilty of riot, and I don’t think is either.” was accused of being part of a gang of young whites who chased three black men through the streets of Howard Beach, Queens, on Dec. 20, 1986. He drove a car carrying other defendants to the scene of the confrontation with the black men. One of the men, Michael Griffith, was struck and killed by a car on the Belt Parkway as he was fleeing his attackers. Shortly after plea, the judge released the record of a clandestine meeting he held last week in which another defendant, , 19, pleaded guilty. The record was unsealed at the order of a panel of Appellate Division justices who ruled that Demakos acted improperly in taking the plea in secret. pleaded guilty to first-degree riot in a closed-door session Thursday, despite attempts by the media to open the proceeding to the public. He was given the same sentencing terms as . James Kohler, assistant state attorney general from the special prosecutor’s office, said that his office has no objection to the judge’s offer. Attorneys for the remaining five defendants had differing views on how the pleas will affect the young men still on trial. Attorney Richard LaRosa, who represents 18-year-old , said the pleas would not hurt his client. “My client is not guilty. If those two defendants think they’re guilty, let them plead guilty. I don’t want them to sit at the defense table with us.” Todd Greenberg, who represents 19-year-old , said that he could not gauge the effect of the guilty pleas until he finds whether the two defendants will testify in the trial and what they will say. Demakos said that the pleas are not conditioned on whether the defendants testify. State Special Prosecutor Charles J. Hynes said yesterday that he is preparing a proposal for the community service portion of the sentence. He said that the work should “in some way raise his sensitivity that what he did was wrong.”

By Paul Moses City and state investigators have recovered more than $100,000 in jewelry, coins and other goods that were stolen from estates overseen by the Queens County public administrator, officials said yesterday. State Attorney General Robert Abrams said the goods were recovered during an undercover probe of the public administrator’s office, which is responsible for settling the estates of deceased people without any known heirs. Unclaimed assets are sold, and the funds held by the state for a limited period of time in case any heirs come forward. Abrams also announced the arrest yesterday of the only investigator in the Queens public administrator’s office on charges involving the theft of a watch, a ring, a television and $120 in cash. In a “sting” probe, investigators made it appear that a fictitious Queens man they identified as “Alexander Ellis” had died. The employee who was arrested, , 63, of Middle Village, allegedly took a phony inventory of the goods left behind in an Elmhurst apartment where Ellis purportedly lived. was charged with grand larceny and filing false reports; he was released in his own recognizance at State Supreme Court in Kew Gardens, Queens. attorney, Todd Greenberg, said his client “denies the allegations. I’m looking forward to our day in court. It is possible other people had access to the property when it was brought into the administrator’s office.” City Investigation Commissioner Kevin Frawley, whose staff assisted in the probe, said he expected more arrests would be made. “This is not a problem only in Queens County,” he said.”… It’s a problem throughout the city of New York.” During a news conference in Manhattan, Abrams displayed a glittering array of items that had allegedly been stolen, including coins, stamps, paintings, jewelry, sterling silverware and glassware. He said investigators also seized $12,000 in cash. Gesturing toward the goods, he emotionally declared that they were heirlooms handed on from one generation to the next and then stolen. But no one has been charged with stealing the goods Abrams exhibited; he would not say where they were found or why he believes they were stolen property. However, he did say the investigation is on-going. James Collins, who was appointed Queens public administrator in July, 1986, said he did not know about the goods Abrams exhibited. Queens Surrogate Louis D. Laurino, who has the power to appoint and remove the Queens public administrator, proposed yesterday that a commission be formed to oversee public administrators. Abrams and State Comptroller Edward V. Regan had previously issued a report charging that public administrators’ offices in the city are poorly run, and said they’d seek state legislation to improve the system.

By Mike McAlary and Marianne Arneberg. Wendy Lin also contributed to this story. It was a Saturday, Jan. 17, when special state prosecutor Charles J. Hynes received two telephone calls. Two youths suspected of wrongdoing in the racially motivated killing of a black man in Howard Beach wanted to talk. That afternoon, 17-year-old limped into Hynes’ office in lower Manhattan, his left arm in a full-length cast from an operation to transplant bone from his hip to wrist. Hynes spoke with the youth for two hours. What he gleaned is unclear. Hynes refuses to say. cooperation was short-lived. The next day, he retained an attorney, Todd Greenberg, who said his client made four statements to Hynes and wanted immunity, which Hynes was unwilling to grant. A second call later that Saturday, Hynes recalled yesterday. It was from an attorney, Richard Librett. His client, Robert Riley, 17, also wanted to cooperate in the investigation of who and what had caused Michael Griffith, 23, to run across the Belt Parkway in the early hours of Dec. 20 into the path of a car. It was the first time, Hynes said, that investigators learned Griffith had been chased to his death down 90th Street by a gang of white teenagers, while another group chased Griffith’s companion, Cedric Sandiford, 36, along a different route, beating him with sticks and a baseball bat. Police were originally told that Riley’s car had broken down in a parking lot several blocks from the beating, law-enforcement sources said. But it was later determined that he actually drove to 90th Street, saw Griffith get killed and then drove two other teens to where Sandiford was being beaten four blocks away, sources said. On Tuesday, Hynes announced that Riley was the key prosecution witness in the case in which he and two others were charged with second-degree murder. Lesser charges were also lodged against nine other teens, including . But while Riley, alleged to be among those who chased Griffith onto the parkway, was charged with murder, law-enforcement sources said he will probably plead to an assault charge, and may be granted youthful-offender status, which would spare him a jail term. Librett declined comment. His cooperation shocked some. In fact, Riley spent several weeks at the home of his close friend, Scott Kern, 18, assuring his parents that Kern was innocent of any wrongdoing, according to Kern’s attorney, Gabriel Leone. “Riley was hanging out at my kid’s house right up until the time he testified before the grand jury,” Leone said. Kern and Jon Lester, 17, have been charged with murder. The calls to Hynes’ office came four weeks after Griffith’s death, four days after Queens District Attorney John J. Santucci turned the case over to Hynes. Sandiford, a key witness, and his attorneys refused to cooperate with Santucci, citing a police cover-up. But sources said the Santucci investigation also was seriously hampered by detectives, who did not notify his office of Griffith’s death until at least 10 hours after the incident. By that time, sources said, police were discussing offering leniency to one of the youths, Jason Ladone, 16. Police were prepared to let Ladone go, calling him a witness, despite his admission that he hit Sandiford with a bat. After being told of Ladone’s statements nearly 22 hours after the incident, Santucci’s office ordered police to arrest Ladone. At that point, fearing that word of Ladone’s arrest would get out, police rounded up 10 other suspects. Although Ladone seemed willing to cooperate, Santucci’s office decided that Ladone was a possible accomplice to murder. He was indicted Tuesday on second-degree attempted murder and other charges. Riley never offered to cooperate with either police or Santucci. What prompted Riley to cooperate with Hynes remains a mystery. “I believe he got sickened by what he saw on 90th Street,” said one investigator familiar with Riley’s statements. “He did not join in on 156th Avenue,” where Sandiford was beaten. Others believe that family pressure played an integral role. Riley’s father is a corrections officer; his brother a city cop. “I think he listened to good sound advice given to him by his attorney and his parents,” Hynes said. “He knew he was in trouble.” Hynes said Riley surfaced after each of the 12 teens who were allegedly involved in the incident were interviewed in their homes by police. Hynes also interviewed 15 others who attended a party with the others but did not take part in the attack. Although police had interviewed six of the 15, no one from Santucci’s office had spoken to them. Hynes said Santucci’s ability to obtain witnesses may have been hampered by Sandiford’s lack of cooperation. “Cedric Sandiford provided us with a psychological advantage,” he said, “because none of the kids knew exactly what he knew.” Law-enforcement sources said Santucci “didn’t want to grant immunity to a murderer,” in the early stages of his investigation, feeling it would be politically unwise. Santucci refused yesterday to comment on the case. His spokesman, Tom McCarthy, said Santucci was pursuing several different angles when he turned the case over to Hynes. But, he added, “the results were less than encouraging” without Sandiford’s cooperation. Meanwhile, attorneys for several of the teens indicted in the case said yesterday that they, too, had offered Hynes the cooperation of their clients. But Hynes said that he was unwilling to offer immunity in exchange for cooperation. 02-12-1987

By Gerald McKelvey Jamaica — An Arverne man was acquitted yesterday of all homicide charges in the death of his 2-year-old son who, police said, had died of beatings, scalding and starvation. After two days of deliberation, a jury in State Supreme Court convicted , 30, of Edgemere Houses, of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor. The jury acquitted him of second-degree man-slaughter and two lesser felony charges, reckless endangerment and criminally negligent homicide. Justice Ann B. Dufficy set sentencing for July 16. could receive up to a year in jail. attorney, Todd Greenberg, said the jury apparently was swayed by testimony by wife, Mary, that was not aware of what she was doing to their son Anthony. The child was dead on arrival May 22, 1981, at Peninsula General Hospital, where medics had taken him after the called an ambulance and said he had stopped breathing. An autopsy showed that the child suffered from malnutrition and had been beaten and scalded. One of the police officers who investigated the case said at the time: “They said he weighed 13 pounds. If he did, the bones weighed 12 pounds.” The were arrested July 1. Jury selection is under way for trial before Dufficy. She faces the same charges her husband did. The were not tried together because she insisted that she wanted to testify in her husband’s behalf, according to a source familiar with the case. is suffering from “a lot of psychiatric problems,” the source said, and this is expected to figure in her defense. The four other children are in foster care. After the were arrested, it was learned from several sources that shortly after Anthony’s birth on January 11, 1979, he was left on a neighbor’s doorstep and turned over to the city’s Bureau of Special Services for Children. The agency learned the were the parents and charged them in Family Court with neglecting the infant. After the agreed to enter therapy and be under the agency’s supervision, Anthony was returned to them. According to one source familiar with the case, the supervisory visits continued until March, 1980.

Jamaica – One of three defendants has been acquitted in the November, 1980, murder of a 24-year-old investigator for the special state prosecutor’s office who was gunned down during a robbery., 22, 91-35 217th St., Queens Village, was found innocent Monday of murder charges. brother, Richard, 19, and , 16, 91-03 216th St., Queens Village, are accused of the same crime but face separate charges. A State Supreme Court jury acquitted the elder after six hours of deliberations after a four-week trial before Justice Seymour Lakritz. A spokesman for District Attorney John J. Santucci declined to comment on the case but said that Santucci’s office would proceed with the prosecution of the younger and . According to police reports at the time of the shooting incident, three men attacked investigator , 24, of 92-68 216th St., Queens Village, at gunpoint Nov. 8, 1980, as he was about to park his car in his garage at 216th Street. They forced him into the car and had driven several blocks when got off one shot from his service revolver, striking no one. One of the men fired twice, striking in the temple and killing him. The brothers and were arrested Jan. 22, 1981.