Order DNA in Howard Beach melee

All five defendants in the Halloween melee in Howard Beach were ordered to provide DNA samples to detectives at a recent court hearing, but the judge also ordered that nothing be done with them for a week, while their lawyers appeal.
The Queens District Attorney’s office is seeking samples from the five, after DNA was found on a weapon allegedly used in the brawl at a McDonald’s on Cross Bay Boulevard.
At a hearing on Friday, February 8, Criminal Court Judge Pauline Mullings heard arguments from attorneys for Patrick Pugh, 18; George Morales, 25; Terrance Scott, 18; Talique Jackson, 16; and Victor Tossas, 16, as to why they should not have to give DNA samples to the prosecution.
This was the second hearing on the issue, with attorneys for three of the five defendants having already made their objections. However, all defendants and their lawyers were ordered to be present at this hearing, to allow last-minute discussion before the ruling.
After listening to arguments from the DA and the lawyers, Mullings ruled that there was sufficient cause to order the defendants to be swabbed on the inside of their cheeks, the standard method for obtaining DNA.
Lawyers variously argued that their clients were not actually identified as hitting anyone - or even as being inside the McDonald’s - but the DA maintained that there was sufficient cause to order the samples taken.
The judge agreed.
After a bench conference, the judge, the defense and the DA agreed to have the samples taken immediately after the hearing. The mother of one of the defendants was heard to tell her son’s attorney to agree, because she didn’t want him missing yet another day of school.
Defense attorneys only agreed to the DA’s request after the judge ordered that nothing be done with the DNA samples pending an appeal of her ruling.
Attorneys for the defense asked for a two-week stay, to give them time to write up their appeal, but were told to go faster and agreed. A decision is expected by Friday, February 15.
The DA’s office asked for three weeks to get test results back, but after noting that procedural delays had already brought the trial schedule into the Easter holiday season, granted them just two weeks to do their tests and produce the results.
In issuing the stay, the judge also ordered that if the DNA taken from any of the five youths was not a match for what was found on the weapon, those samples and reports must be destroyed.
The Orders of Protection against the five defendants were also extended.
Lawyers for the defendants point to several cases in New York Law, which support their objection to the samplings, but privately some concede that they have an uphill battle.
One attorney, who asked for anonymity, observed, “I have never seen the DA go to such lengths on a case where there was (no homicide) and so little evidence.”
The lawyer added, “After the ‘Fat Nick’ Minucci case though, I can understand the need to show the community they’re serious.”
He was referring to an incident in 2005 when three African-Americans who admitted to going to Howard Beach to steal a car were assaulted. One was hit in the head with a baseball bat by Nicholas (“Fat Nick”) Minucci, who was heard to utter a racial epithet.
Minucci was convicted of assault as a hate crime and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Howard Beach residents have expressed anger that the current case has not been prosecuted as a hate crime, because racial or ethnic epithets were reportedly shouted by some of the youths as they allegedly chased a group of Howard Beach teens into a McDonald’s on Cross Bay Boulevard, where they assaulted the teens with hard objects, sending one victim, Joseph Friedman, to the hospital, where he received stitches.