A Brooklyn cop charged with sodomizing a fleeing suspect with his police baton was cleared of all charges yesterday, while two other officers were acquitted of helping to cover up the alleged attack.
A jury of six men and six women deliberated about 2½ days before reaching the not-guilty verdicts for the accused attacker, Richard Kern, 26, and his co-defendants, Alex Cruz and Andrew Morales, both 28.
Jury forewoman Jamie Dove told The Post the panel was troubled by the inconsistencies in the story told by Kern’s accuser, 25-year-old Michael Mineo.
“It was just reasonable doubt,” said Dove, a photographer. “Things weren’t consistent. Stories were changing from the grand jury testimony to what he said he saw . . . [prosecution witness Officer Kevin Maloney] used different words. He went from ‘rammed’ to ‘side to side.’ So he wasn’t sure about what was done to him.”
She said jurors wondered why so much key evidence — Mineo’s shorts and pants and surveillance video of him shortly after the attack — was introduced by the defense, rather than the prosecution.
“The fact that the defense did it was a red flag,” she said.
Hours earlier, as Dove pronounced Kern not guilty on the charges of aggravated sexual abuse and assault, the married father of three crossed himself and looked up at the ceiling.
“No doubt I knew coming into this I was innocent. I was going to stand up for myself and prove my innocence,” said Kern, a six-year NYPD veteran. “I’m glad the system works. I had faith in this Brooklyn jury.”
Prosecutors said Kern violated Mineo, using a retractable baton known as an ASP, following a chase into the Prospect Park subway station on Oct. 15, 2008.
Maloney, a transit cop, testified he saw Kern place the ASP between Mineo’s buttocks, but another officer, Noel Jugraj, said he saw nothing, and a token booth clerk concurred.
But it was Mineo’s obvious exaggerations — like his claim that blood was dripping down his thighs — that had defense lawyers sensing victory.
“The man is simply just not credible,” said Kern’s lawyer, John Patten. “There’s a whole host of things this young man was lying about. When big bucks are on the line, people have a motive [to lie].”
Mineo’s $440 million civil lawsuit against the city is pending in federal court.
Cruz, who broke into tears when the verdict was announced, did not comment.
Morales said, “It was very hard sitting there and listening to all the lies.”
Despite the acquittal, the NYPD still must conduct an internal investigation and determine whether to seek to fire or discipline the officers.
Mineo, who muttered, “Faggot,” as the just-acquitted officers walked by him, told reporters he now believed cops could get away with anything in New York City and cited the Sean Bell case.
“You want to commit a murder and get away with it, join the NYPD,” he said at a news conference held at the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network headquarters.
Sharpton criticized the Brooklyn DA’s Office for its handling of the case.
“It would seem that the prosecution allowed the victim to go on trial,” he said.
Additional reporting by Jessica Simeone