Alleged subway sodomy victim Michael Mineo fears mistrial in case against cops
BY Tanyanika Samuels
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, February 21st 2010, 4:00 AM
Smith, Bryan, Freelance NYDN
Alleged NYPD sodomy victim Michael Mineo speaks at a press conference at the National Action Network (NAN) in Harlem.
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The alleged victim in the subway sodomy case said Saturday he is afraid the trial will end with a hung jury.
Michael Mineo acknowledged his fears a day after a judge dismissed a juror in the case.
"I'm scared about what's going to happen," an emotional Mineo said at the Rev. Al Sharpton's weekly rally in Harlem.
"I feel it will be a hung jury. It's hard for me now," he said, adding that he's scared to "go out."
Sharpton called the defense in the case "an insult."
"I hope the jury in Brooklyn weighs the crime done to Michael Mineo and not the distractions," he said. "They are trying to justify what I would consider the unjustifiable."
The alleged assault with a police baton occurred as officers were arresting Mineo after a marijuana stop on the Prospect Park subway platform in October 2008.
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Alan Marrus dismissed Juror No. 6 on Friday. She had told the other jurors she'd heard that suspect Officer Richard Kern had been convicted of police brutality before.
He had been accused of excessive force in a 2007 civil suit, but the city settled with two men out of court for $50,000.
The judge seated an alternate and told the jurors that the officer had never been arrested for anything.
Kern is being tried for aggravated sexual assault for allegedly sodomizing Mineo. If convicted, he faces 25 years in prison.
Officers Alex Cruz and Andrew Maloney also are facing charges of trying to cover up the alleged incident.
tsamuels@nydailynews.com