Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Yeshiva row over Messiah goes to court
What began as a brawl in a Brooklyn yeshiva dorm over a revered rabbi has left six members of a Jewish patrol group facing gang assault charges in a state Supreme Court trial that started Monday.
The fight - over whether the late Rabbi Menachem Schneerson is an emissary of God - also led to broken bones, a $150 million lawsuit and a battle between two rival patrol groups.
"I'm going to call the Messiah as my first witness," defense lawyer Tedd Blecher quipped after the trial's first day.
With six defense lawyers objecting at once, a kibitzing crowd and the first witness having trouble telling six bearded defendants apart, the trial veered close to farce.
The defendants, members of the Shomrim watch group, face 15 years - and prosecutors were serious when they told Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Albert Tomei of possible witness tampering just before opening statements. The six defendants were called to a Yeshiva dorm on Eastern Parkway to break up a fight between four members of the Messianic group and others on Dec. 29, 2007.
"It seems that the defendants had one goal and that was not to mediate," Assistant District Attorney David Weiss told jurors. "It was to beat up a bunch of yeshiva students."
Defense lawyers said the case was instigated by an attorney affiliated with Shomrim's rival guard group who also filed the lawsuit.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/11/03/2009-11-03_yeshiva_row_over_messiah_goes_to_court.html
The fight - over whether the late Rabbi Menachem Schneerson is an emissary of God - also led to broken bones, a $150 million lawsuit and a battle between two rival patrol groups.
"I'm going to call the Messiah as my first witness," defense lawyer Tedd Blecher quipped after the trial's first day.
With six defense lawyers objecting at once, a kibitzing crowd and the first witness having trouble telling six bearded defendants apart, the trial veered close to farce.
The defendants, members of the Shomrim watch group, face 15 years - and prosecutors were serious when they told Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Albert Tomei of possible witness tampering just before opening statements. The six defendants were called to a Yeshiva dorm on Eastern Parkway to break up a fight between four members of the Messianic group and others on Dec. 29, 2007.
"It seems that the defendants had one goal and that was not to mediate," Assistant District Attorney David Weiss told jurors. "It was to beat up a bunch of yeshiva students."
Defense lawyers said the case was instigated by an attorney affiliated with Shomrim's rival guard group who also filed the lawsuit.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/11/03/2009-11-03_yeshiva_row_over_messiah_goes_to_court.html
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