Fat Nick Sentenced To 12 Years, Rap Defense Doesn't Hold Up
Nicholas "Fat Nick" Minucci was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday (June 17). Minnuci was sentenced for fracturing the skull of another man, while using the word n***ER in June 2005.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter chastised Minnuci, who fractured a black man's skull with a bat, while uttering the racial epitaph.
Minnuci was convicted last month for robbery and assault as a hate crime, for chasing and beating Glen Moore, who admitted he and two associates were in the Howard Beach neighborhood to steal cars.
During Minucci's trial, he claimed that he had not used the word in a racial sense, but was using the word as used in some Hip-Hop vernacular as a greeting.
In June, the defense called Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy, who is African-American. Kennedy authored the book "N---er - The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word" in 2002.
He confirmed both forms of usage of the word in popular vernacular as he traced the history of the word for jurors.
"This defendant lacks judgment, is brutal and vindictive" said Supreme Court Justice Buchter, as he sentenced Minnuci, who denied he was racist.
"Many black people think I'm racist now because of the way the district attorney made me," said Minucci. "They made me to be a monster, which is nothing of what I am. This had nothing to do because Moore was black. This had to do with me going to defend a friend."
Moore labeled Minucci a "wretched person" for striking his head with with a bat. "What ticked me off is that every time I read the paper or saw you on the news, you seemed arrogant and unremorseful," Moore said.
According to the New York Daily News, Minnuci was already on probation for shooting paint balls at two Sikhs outside a temple, as they were on their way to pray for 9/11 victims.
He was also given probation for his role in the stabbing death of a 15-year-old boy in 2002. The boy later died in an unrelated subway incident under mysterious circumstances before the case went to trial.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter chastised Minnuci, who fractured a black man's skull with a bat, while uttering the racial epitaph.
Minnuci was convicted last month for robbery and assault as a hate crime, for chasing and beating Glen Moore, who admitted he and two associates were in the Howard Beach neighborhood to steal cars.
During Minucci's trial, he claimed that he had not used the word in a racial sense, but was using the word as used in some Hip-Hop vernacular as a greeting.
In June, the defense called Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy, who is African-American. Kennedy authored the book "N---er - The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word" in 2002.
He confirmed both forms of usage of the word in popular vernacular as he traced the history of the word for jurors.
"This defendant lacks judgment, is brutal and vindictive" said Supreme Court Justice Buchter, as he sentenced Minnuci, who denied he was racist.
"Many black people think I'm racist now because of the way the district attorney made me," said Minucci. "They made me to be a monster, which is nothing of what I am. This had nothing to do because Moore was black. This had to do with me going to defend a friend."
Moore labeled Minucci a "wretched person" for striking his head with with a bat. "What ticked me off is that every time I read the paper or saw you on the news, you seemed arrogant and unremorseful," Moore said.
According to the New York Daily News, Minnuci was already on probation for shooting paint balls at two Sikhs outside a temple, as they were on their way to pray for 9/11 victims.
He was also given probation for his role in the stabbing death of a 15-year-old boy in 2002. The boy later died in an unrelated subway incident under mysterious circumstances before the case went to trial.
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