Jury says N.Y. man guilty of hate crime

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, June 10, 2006

NEW YORK – A jury’s decision to convict a white man of assault as a hate crime for pummeling a black man over the head with a baseball bat sends a clear message against bigotry, prosecutors said.

Nicholas Minucci, 20, was found guilty Friday of assaulting Glenn Moore last June in the predominantly white Queens neighborhood of Howard Beach – the site of another notorious attack that inflamed racial tensions 20 years ago.

The “verdict represents the outrage of the residents of this county over crimes motivated by bigotry and hatred,” District Attorney Richard Brown said.

Minucci looked pale as the jury read its verdict after eight hours of deliberations over two days. He also was convicted of robbery as a hate crime for stealing Moore’s sneakers and other items in the attack.

“He suffered because Howard Beach is synonymous with racism. That is not what happened here,” defense attorney Albert Gaudelli said outside court.

Minucci faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in July. Being found guilty of a hate crime increases the minimum sentence he could face from five years to eight.

Prosecutors charged that Minucci, then a 240-pounder with the nickname “Fat Nick,” used what was described as “the n-word” during the attack and shouted, “We’ll show you not to come and rob white boys.”

“Race fueled this case in a substantial way, race heated this case up,” prosecutor Michelle Goldstein said.

The attack took place in the same neighborhood as a 1986 assault in which a black man was struck by a car and killed while trying to escape a group of white attackers.

Moore testified that his attackers took off his sneakers and had him on his knees when Minucci swung an aluminum bat at his head like he was trying to hit a pitch.

Frankie Agostini, accused of being an accomplice in the beating, testified that the clang of the bat against Moore’s head “sounded like Barry Bonds hit a home run.”

Moore, who suffered a fractured skull, admitted that he and two friends were in the neighborhood trying to steal a car but said they hadn’t taken anything when they crossed paths with Minucci and his companions.