Defendants await plea offer

A lawyer for Patrick Pugh, a defendant in the Howard Beach Halloween night melee, said the case could go to trial, depending on the plea bargain expected to come from the Queens District Attorney’s office at the case’s next hearing, scheduled for Monday, January 7.
After a police lineup was held in late November, the defendants appeared at Queens Criminal Court on Monday, December 17, where Assistant District Attorney (A.D.A.) Michael Brovner revealed the lineup’s results.
Besides one positive identification of defendant Victor Tossas, 16, none of the five were positively identified by witnesses.
Tossas and Pugh, along with defendants George Morales, 25, Terrance Scott, 18, and Talique Jackson, 16, are accused of chasing a group of Howard Beach teens into a McDonald’s on Cross Bay Boulevard and beating them with hard objects. One victim - 16-year-old Joseph Friedman - required medical treatment.
The five defendants are now facing charges of second-degree assault, second-degree menacing and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. No hate crime charges have been added at this point.
Pugh, 18, whom one witness identified on the night of the brawl as having used a broomstick to hit Friedman, received no positive “hits” (identifications) in the lineup, as well as two “mis-hits,” meaning the witness incorrectly identified someone else. Pugh also received two additional “mis-hits” in photo arrays, a process by which witnesses try to identify defendants by looking at a collection of headshots.
In light of the weakened evidence against his client, Muccini successfully appealed to Judge Pauline Mullings to lower bail for Pugh, the only defendant still incarcerated after the initial arraignment November 2. Bail has now been reduced to $1,500 bond or $1,000 cash.
Kevin Ryan, a spokesperson for District Attorney Richard A. Brown, said the prosecution will form a plea offer and submit it at the January 7 hearing.
Muccini, however, said his client may not be in a position to accept a plea bargain unless charges are reduced, in which circumstance the prosecution would have the option of presenting the case to a Grand Jury.
Muccini said Pugh maintains his innocence in the matter.
Lawyers for all defendants said that their clients expressed interest in testifying in a potential trial, but an official decision will not be made unless a trial occurs.