The Brooklyn man who says police sodomized him with a radio antenna after he resisted arrest at a subway station is still in the hospital, and subpoenas have been issued to six witnesses who support his claims, including bystanders, friends and a roommate who took him to the hospital after the incident. Two witnesses believed to support the NYPD's sodomy denial—a token clerk and his 12-year-old son—have also been subpoenaed, the Daily News reports. Earlier this week, a special grand jury was convened to look into the explosive allegations.
Lawyers for the victim, Michael Mineo, have yet to release his medical records, but they've been busy arguing their case in the court of public opinion. They're questioning why police let Mineo go with just a summons after he resisted arrest and forced cops to chase him. Police sources tell Newsday that the disorderly conduct summons has mistakes, and states that officers identified him by his New York State public assistance benefits card. But according to some accounts, Mineo was not carrying I.D. If that was the case, NYPD guidelines would have required the officers to arrest him.
And if the accused officers had run his I.D. through the system, they would have found two warrants out for his arrest: one for failing to appear in court after being ticketed for drinking alcohol from an open container, another involving a stolen credit card case from 2003. One of Mineo's lawyers, Stephen Jackson, asks the Daily News, "Why wasn't he charged with resisting arrest or assault on a police officer? The likely reason is because they simply wanted the whole thing to go away."
