13-Year-Old "Pinky" on Trial

"Pinky" is of course not his real name, but that is what he is called on the streets of Newburgh. His real name has not been released by the police because of his age - he is only 13 years old. "Pinky" has been accused of stabbing 17-year-old Levi King Flores to death in a street fight in which three other teens were also stabbed but survived.

Read about the details of the case here and here.

"Pinky" was originally charged with murder but because of his age and other factors he now faces:

1 Count Second-Degree Manslaughter (felony) 

3 Counts of Second-Degree Assault (felonies)

1 Count of Fourth-Degree Misdemeanor Criminal Possession of a Weapon.

For his own protection "Pinky" is being held in a secure youth detention center in Erie County. He had previously been jumped by other teens while in a Westchester County youth detention center. Also because of his age and the charges against him, "Pinky" is being tried as a juvenile in Family Court. According to the Times Herald-Record:

The longest sentence the boy could face is 18 months at a stretch in secure detention, but the state Office of Children and Family Services can return to court to keep a juvenile in secure detention until age 18.

His trial began on Wednesday, Feb.3, 2010 in front of Judge Andrew P. Bivona in Orange County Family Court. Senior Assistant County Attorney Allan Drian is the prosecutor in the case. The boy's lawyer is Stuart Greenberg. The trial is expected to last about two weeks.

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On the first day of the trial, police testified that before they began to question "Pinky", his mother was advised, in Spanish, of the boy's rights. They say the boy assisted them by returning to the crime scene - at the corner of First St. and Carpenter Ave. in Newburgh - and helped them find the weapon he had used and then tossed away. Evidence against the 13-year-old includes a videotaped interview, DNA evidence and eye-witness statements.

Hinting at possible previous confrontations, the defense attorney, Stuart Greenberg, requested that the judge order the prosecution to turn over any documentation of arrests in connection with a gang assault on the 13-year-old and his sister prior to the stabbings.

The trial continues......

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"Pinky" Won't Face Murder Charges in Levi Flores' Death.

The 13-year-old boy known as "Pinky" will not face murder charges in the stabbing death of 17-year-old Levi King Flores. Instead a grand jury, finding there was not enough evidence to support a second-degree murder charge, opted instead to charge him with:

• 1 Count Second-Degree Manslaughter (felony)
  
• 3 Counts of Second-Degree Assault (felonies)
  
• 1 Count of Fourth-Degree Misdemeanor Criminal Possession of a Weapon.

Also, he will no longer be charged as an adult. According to state law, his age and the reduction in charges require that he be tried in Family Court. He was arraigned on Wednesday Jan. 20.

A trial date of Feb 3 at 1:30 pm has been set. Family Court judge Andrew Bivona will preside. Orange county attorney David Darwin said he would appoint a senior assistant in the Family Law division to prosecute the case. There has been no word on who the defense lawyer will be.

According to the Times Herald Record, supporters of Levi King Flores attacked the 13-year-old while he was in detention at a youth facility in Westchester County. He has since been moved to another facility further away in Western New York. Although there has been no outbreak of violence, the police have been closely monitoring the situation on the streets of Newburgh and have placed extra patrols near the schools.

For more information on the stabbing death and funeral of Levi Flores click on the following articles: RIP Levi King Flores and Vaya Con Dios Levi King Flores

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Vaya Con Dios Levi King Flores

 The gang violence that brought an end to the life of 17-year-old Levi King Flores could not dampen the spirits of the hundreds of people who showed up at the wake and funeral services for the Newburgh youth. Sure, there was almost universal sadness and tears for a life that ended way too soon but there was also the strength of spirit that unified everyone, knowing that he was loved.

"No mother should bury a son, no daughter should bury a father, whatever happened today should not be happening again, we should not be burying our youth," Fr. Fernando Hernandez of St. Patrick's Church, Newburgh.

However some of Levi's friends see things quite differently:

"We've got one thing on our mind and that's revenge, you know. That's how it is, if the cops can't help us who's going to help us" Sergio Nava.

For scenes of the funeral service click on this link Levi King Flores Funeral. Levi King Flores will be buried in Mexico.

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RIP Levi King Flores

Levi King Flores was only 17 years old. He had not yet graduated from High School. He could not yet vote. He couldn't buy beer. He couldn't even buy a pack cigarettes....and he will never be able to do any of those things because he was stabbed to death on the streets of Newburgh, NY on Jan. 13, 2010. He leaves behind loving parents, siblings, a girlfriend, a daughter and many friends. Levi was a victim of gang violence.

A 13-year-old boy, who goes by the street name of "Pinky", was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Levi Flores. He was arraigned in Newburgh City Court before Judge Harold Ramsey and was placed into the custody of the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Police did not release real name.

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According to reports, a fight broke out at the corner of First St. and Carpenter Ave. in which Levi was stabbed along with a 12-year-old boy. They were both taken to St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital Newburgh Campus. While there, two other teens showed up, also with stabbed wounds - a 14-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl. All of them were interviewed by the police. During the course of their investigation, the police learned the identity of the accused 13-year-old.

Levi and two of the other stabbing victims were taken by helicopter to Westchester Medical Center. While en route Levi died. The others are expected to survive.

"It's unbelievable, it's unbelievable that the violence has resulted in this kind of action. What used to be a personal insult or an assault in the school yard that might have resulted in a fist fight is now culminating outside on the city streets...its unbelievable," said Eric Paolilli the chief of police.

The next day at NFA, the high school, there was a lot of tension. A number of fights broke out. The police were called in. By noon they had arrested 4 students. Many parents showed up at the school to get their kids early. Some of the students were angry but many were grieving. The disturbance prompted school officials to cancel all after school activities and close the school system for the following day, Friday. On Monday the schools will remain closed in observance of Martin Luther King's birthday.

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Torture Prince Acquitted

Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, 40, is a member of the royal family in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He is the brother of Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed. He was caught on tape torturing a man, an Afghan grain trader named Mohammed Shapoor, in 2004, in the most inhumane fashion. The graphic video below, broadcast by ABC News in April 2009, shows him:

• Stuffing the man's face with sand
• Firing a machine gun close to his body
• Hitting him with a whip and an electric cattle prod
• Cutting his bare buttocks by striking him with a nail embedded in a stick
• Pouring salt into the man's wounds and
• Driving over him again and again with his vehicle.

Not only was Sheikh Issa aware of being videotaped, he was the one that ordered the tape be made so that he could view it later at his leisure. At times he actually directs the cameraman to focus in on some of his particularly sadistic acts. The tape was sneaked out of the country by an ex-business partner, Bassam Nabulsi, who was also jailed and tortured in prison before being released. It was Bassam's brother, Ghassan Nabulsi, who was the cameraman.

Please note this video is explicitly brutal

After the tape was widely shown by the media Sheikh Issa was arrested and ordered to stand trial. He was charged at an opening hearing last October (2009) with endangering life, causing bodily harm and  rape.

In his defense the sheikh claimed that he "was under the influence of drugs [medicine] that left him unaware of his actions."

On Jan. 10 2010 Judge Mubarak al-Awad cleared the UAE President’s brother of all charges in a UAE court despite video footage of the incident, saying he was not responsible for his actions.

Sheikh Issa, who had been in custody for eight months, attended the hearing. He wore a traditional white robe and head scarf and was not handcuffed or restrained. On hearing the verdict, he hugged his defense lawyer, Habib al-Mullah, and left the courtroom without speaking to reporters.

However five co-defendants, the two Nabulsi brothers and three farm workers were all found guilty. Ghassan and Bassam Nabulsi, were sentenced to five years in jail each, in absentia, for administering drugs to Sheikh Issa, endangering the life of Mohammed Shapoor and filming without his permission. The farm workers were sentenced to between one and three years in jail, also in absentia, for drugging the sheikh.

Habib al-Mullah, Sheikh Issa's lawyer, told the court, in the oasis city of Al Ain, that one of the sheikh’s co-defendants was responsible for Sheikh Issa’s medications and had drugged him, then videotaped the incident and tried to blackmail him.  He also told the court that the sheikh had been drugged against his will during the incident and had no recollection of what had happened.

“We submitted medical reports showing that the drugs that the two co-defendants administered to him left him unaware of his actions,” the lawyer said.

The defense did not just center on the medication, he said, but claimed that the videotape and other incidents from that night were all part of a conspiracy aimed at blackmailing the sheikh.

"No one can prove that this videotape has not been tampered with," al-Mullah said. The only person who can confirm the incidents happened as seen on the tape is the victim, and he has not confirmed that, he added. "We deny the incident as it was shown on that videotape."

Habib al-Mullah was taken to task in the following CNN interview.

Judge Mubarak al-Awad, presiding over a three-judge panel, further ordered the two brothers to pay an interim compensation of about $2,500 to the victim, who can file a new lawsuit to claim full compensation.

The verdict, however, is not final as it will have to be reviewed by a higher court if the public prosecution decides to challenge the ruling.

 

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