Update: Eddy Sanchez and March Rapes
Published: The Local: Fort Greene / Clinton Hill
March 23, 2011
Last month we posted an update on two local criminal cases: the 2009 Eddy Sanchez beating and the March 2010 rapes.
This week, The Local reached out to Eddy Sanchez, to find out how he’s doing after the brutal beating he suffered in August 2009.
Mr. Sanchez told us that he will be back at Pratt Institute this summer, and hopes to graduate next spring. He will be living in the dorms inside the gated campus.
“I’m doing much better,” Mr. Sanchez said. At the Brooklyn District Attorney’s request, he submitted a written one-page statement about his progress since he was hospitalized, and about how the attack has affected his life. “I can’t run because the flexibility in my ankle only lets me walk,” he explained.
Since then, he has not been following the case, he said. “I’m just glad that I’m alive again.”
Eugene Adams and Deindaze Newell, who were charged in connection with the attack on Mr. Sanchez, had a pre-trial conference on March 15. It was a routine court appearance, said Alexandra Tseitlin, Mr. Newell’s attorney. “There hasn’t been an agreement on how to resolve the case. So we are moving on to the next phase, which is trial.”
Mr. Newell will appear in court again on May 4 for the completion of the discovery process, Ms. Tseitlin said. Mr. Adams will appear on May 5, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office. Mr. Adams has maintained his innocence, and his case is proceeding to trial, said Mr. Adams’ attorney, Edward Mandery.
The Local had previously reported that neither Mr. Adams nor Mr. Newell had made bail, which was incorrect. Both had been remanded to Rikers Island without the option of bail, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office. Bail has now been set. In order to be released, each must post the full amount. Mr. Adam’s bail is $150,000. He is still in custody, according to the Department of Correction. Mr. Newell’s bail is $75,000, said a spokesman from the District Attorney’s office. said, but he did not know if bail has been posted. The Department of Corrections could not locate Mr. Newell in its system.
Dupree Nicholson, who has been charged in connection with the two armed rapes and assaults at the border of Clinton Hill and Bedford-Stuyvesant last year, had a court appearance on March 1. He is still in custody at Rikers Island without the option of bail, and will appear again in court on April 4, a District Attorney spokesman told The Local. His lawyer, Michael Warren, has not responded to repeated attempts to contact him.
Update | 12:41 p.m. As one of our commenters pointed out below, Mr. Newell was released from Rikers Island on Feb. 23. We confirmed this information with the New York City Department of Correction, who had initially told us that they could not locate Mr. Newell in their computer system.
