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Lawyers Say Williamsburg Man Convicted in Student Assault was a ‘Scapegoat’

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In December 2013, Taj Patterson, a gay African American fashion student, was assaulted by a group of 15-20 Hasidic Jews. The men chased Mr. Patterson  down around Bedford Avenue as he was walking home intoxicated on Flushing Avenue. The attackers, incorrectly, believed that Mr. Patterson was responsible for breaking car mirrors on that street.  They proceeded to beat him so severely that he ended up losing sight in one of his eyes.  The only man to face trial for the attack was Mayer Herskovic, aged 23, a father of two who works for HVAC. He was convicted three years later in March of assault, unlawful imprisonment, and menacing.  Now, his conviction is being appealed as his lawyers are arguing that the prosecutors in the trial used faulty scientific methods to connect Mr. Herskovic to the crime by saying that his DNA was present. Furthermore, it’s being argued by his attorneys that this was done so to “scapegoat” Mr. Herskovic to help protect members of a Hasidic neighborhood patrol who have political connections.

It’s been reported that police officers with the 90th Precinct in Williamsburg, Brooklyn tried to close the initial case of Mr. Patterson’s assault without any investigation, but reopened it only after his mother notified the media. New York Police detectives have stated that while attempting to find who was responsible the following Spring in 2014, neighbors in the area were largely uncooperative. But, eventually, after enough witnesses were interviewed, five men were arrested and charged with assaulting Taj Patterson.  

Unfortunately, the same witnesses withdrew their statements and legal prosecutors eventually dropped any charges against two suspects, Aharon Hollender and Joseph Fried. A man named Joel Itzkowitz was also named by witnesses, but never faced arrest. Mayer Herskovic’s lawyer, Donna Aldea, states that she believes this is so because Joel Itzkowitz’s brother is Jacob Itzkowitz. Mr. Itzkowitz is an organizer with the local Shomrim volunteer police group named the Williamsburg Safety Patrol.  She’s said, “I think that it was a case that demanded that somebody be held accountable for what happened to Taj Patterson, and I think Mayer was a sort of easy target to go after.  What I think is striking is that not only is the evidence so weak, in fact, nonexistent against him—the evidence was so much stronger against the people who had their charges dropped or were not charged in the first place.”

The remaining defendants who had been arrested and charged with attacking Mr. Patterson gave pleas of guilty to charges of unlawful imprisonment and were sentenced to community service, as part of a deal with prosecutors.

By: Anat Ghelber

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