Michael Mineo Gets The Shaft From Civil Suit Jury

Michael Mineo's $440 million lawsuit against the NYPD—which accused cops of sodomizing him with a retractable police baton while arresting him in a Brooklyn subway station—was shot down yesterday by a federal civil jury. Not only was the tattoo artist/body piercer denied any settlement money, but the judge ordered him to pay the legal fees for three of the four cops he sued. Attorneys for the officers estimate their fees to be in excess of $100,000. In short, Mineo's pretty much screwed and tattooed.

The three officers, Alex Cruz, Andrew Morales and Richard Kern, were previously acquitted of criminal charges relating to the October 2008 incident, which began when the cops noticed him smoking marijuana outside the Prospect Park subway station, and Mineo ran. After five days of deliberations, jurors did find Officer Kern liable for malicious prosecution for giving Mineo a summons for marijuana, but Brooklyn Federal Judge Jack Weinstein tossed the verdict. The judge also called Mineo's accusations against the other cops "patently frivolous."

But this is interesting: Despite clearing the other officers, eleven of the jurors were convinced Mineo was in fact sodomized. "I was pretty much convinced that something happened," one juror told the Post. "One person thought he didn’t do it." According to the Daily News, that lone holdout is the wife of an NYPD school safety officer. In the end, the jury deadlocked 11-1 on a charge of excessive force against Officer Kern, who was the cop accused of shoving the baton into Mineo's rectum. Kern will be retried for those charges.

Mineo's attorneys also argue that the NYPD tampered with Mineo's boxer shorts to make the hole seem as though it could not have been made by the baton. Judge Weinstein will ask the U.S. attorney's office to investigate the tampering claims, and the new civil trial of Officer Kern will not begin until the tampering investigation is completed, lawyers tell the Times Union.

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By John Del Signore in News on July 1, 2010 10:20 AM

Comments [rss]

El Izzy

This guy's trial, as insane as this may sound was my breaking point for NYC. If he won I was going to leave this city. I mean, the thought of this douchebag acting the victim and trying to make out with a bunch of money from US, the taxpayers, was too much to fathom.

The best part is that whatever the outcome of the trial was, this Hip-Hop POS will always be know as the guy that got it up the a** by cops.

Guest

the way this guy manufactures double, triple-entendres, we should all adopt his name to everyday use:

- i took a shit today, and ugh... it was a fucking *mineo.

- are you still suffering from the mineo? try this herbal medicine.

- no, lisa can't have an*l intercourse yet due to her rare case of a mineo.

*extremely constipated feces

Kelles

yes, and how about if someone is acting particularly irritable or hating on any given day, we can say

- "you wanna get the baton outta yer butt, Mineo?"

...eh, too far?

Guest

actually, your use of the term, mineo, is more *ahem* fitting, albeit roughly.

Guest

...but i can testify that it's definitely not forced.

theevilone

Best.Headline.Ever.

beardofbees

I dunno. I might have to go with this one:

BP honcho plugging more than oil leak

ShadowCat

Thank GOD. I was sick at the thought of ONE tax dollar going towards this lying POS. There were more holes in his story than in his underwear.

RoboticInsides

Michael Mineo Gets The Shaft From Civil Suit Jury and he's got the ripped underwear to prove it.

Politburo

How did that woman ever get on the jury? When I was on a jury (not in NYC) they automatically threw out anyone who had any connection to police officers, the DA's office, or the Court.

Rocknrope

The wife of a safety officer was on the jury? Nice choice.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

This man had one of the worst lawyers. Didn't teach him to dress appropriate for court and now a wife of a toy cop was on the jury. Wives of toy cops make wives of cops look progressive.

Petey

Wife of a school safety agent, not a police officer.

longacre

If you read any of this guy's testimony, he clearly had serious issues with authority and is just an outright idiot. I'm sure his attorney warned him and he just didn't listen because he's a douche.

ozik

I've always been disgusted at how lawyers work to load a jury in a particular way, but I guess this illustrates why it's necessary. How could the wife of a NYPD employee be allowed into a case like this?