By Courtney Dentch
The lawyers presented closing arguments Monday in State Supreme Court in Kew Gardens in the trial of William Hodges, 32, who is accused of biting Police Officer Benedict Vitale as officers tried to get Hodges to leave Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
“He consistently refused to listen to anyone who tried to talk to him,” said Eugene Guarino, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case. “He was upset, he was angry and he was out of control.”
Hodges was charged with assault, resisting arrest, criminal mischief and harassment resulting from an alleged brawl with about four police officers July 26, 2003 outside Jamaica Hospital. The trial began June 9, and the jury of 10 women and two men started deliberations Monday afternoon. They were still deciding a verdict Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney said. He could face seven years in prison if convicted.
The incident was believed to have started inside the emergency room at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center when Hodges thought he, his mother and his children were waiting too long for attention after an automobile accident, and he became upset. Hodges started shouting and cursing, defense attorney Warren Silverman said.
“He'd just been in a car accident with his children and was there to seek treatment,” he said. “Wouldn't he naturally be upset?”
Hospital personnel tried to calm Hodges and asked him to leave, but he refused. They asked Officer Muhammad Kahn, of the 102nd Precinct, who was in the hospital with a prisoner, to intervene, Guarino said.
“Officer Khan went up to Mr. Hodges and told him to take it away from the hospital,” the prosecutor said. “He wasn't the first person to talk to him. He had every chance to walk away. They practically begged and pleaded with him to leave.”
Hodges began to walk away from the officer, and Khan followed to ensure he did leave, Guarino said.
“The defendant never made it to the corner,” he said. “He stopped, turned around and went right for Officer Kahn.”
But Silverman had a different account.
“William was walking away when the police jumped him,” he said.
Khan called for backup, and more police from the 102nd Precinct, based in Richmond Hill, arrived. The dispute continued and Hodges allegedly pushed Kahn, Guarino said.
“Four people saw that cop get shoved into a squad car; a police officer in full uniform,” he said.
Silverman questioned testimony from police officers who said they saw the shove. One said Khan went back four feet to five feet, while another said he only took a step back, Silverman said.
As the officers tried to place Hodges under arrest, he allegedly continued fighting and flailing, Guarino said. He broke out of a bear hug by a police officer and clutched the top of the hood of a police car as officers tried to handcuff him, allegedly tearing off the patrol car's windshield wiper, the assistant DA said.
As Vitale tried to pry Hodges' hand off the car, Hodges allegedly turned and bit the officer on the right thigh. But Silverman said it would have been difficult for Hodges to reach Vitale's right leg, which was on his far side, away from Hodges. Vitale was to Hodges' right and they were facing the same direction, Silverman said.
The defense attorney presented an alternative scenario as to how Vitale received the bruises and teeth marks on his leg.
“If his knee hit someone, perhaps in the mouth, that would cause bruising and a mark,” Silverman said. “If you're on top of someone struggling, isn't that likely to happen, intentionally or unintentionally?”
The July incident was not the first time Hodges had a dispute with a police officer. In 1999 he was accused of shooting Officer David Gonzalez, then assigned to the 113th Precinct in South Jamaica, in the leg when the cop responded to a domestic dispute call.
Hodges was charged with attempted murder and a litany of other charges but was freed when State Supreme Court Justice Laura Blackburne ruled in December 2002 he had been denied his right to a speedy trial.
At the time there were questions about whether Blackburne knew Hodges' mother through the Jamaica branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Blackburne herself is under scrutiny for allegedly helping a suspect escape arrest.
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
