NATION : Howard Beach Verdicts Upheld
NEW YORK — A state appeals court today upheld the verdict and prison sentences of three white youths convicted in the 1986 Howard Beach attack that resulted in the death of a black man and inflamed racial tensions in the city.
In their decision, the appellate judges noted the evidence was sufficient to establish that Scott Kern, Jason Ladone and Jon Lester “relentlessly†chased Michael Griffith through the streets of the Queens community onto the Belt Parkway where he was struck and killed by a car.
The action “created a grave risk of death to Griffith which the defendants consciously disregarded,†the five-member panel of the Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court ruled.
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