Son Acquitted of Trying to Murder Abusive Father

In a verdict believed to be a first in the United States, a 19-year-old youth accused of trying to murder his father was found not guilty Friday by sympathetic jurors convinced that he had acted in self-defense against an abusive parent.

Sobbing quietly after the verdict was read in Los Angeles Superior Court, Sociz (Johnny) Junatanov hugged his mother, his attorney and the jurors--who swarmed around to touch him, kiss him and wish him “a good life.”

“I’m very thrilled, I am very surprised and I am very nervous,” Junatanov said softly, adding that he plans to move to Israel with his mother and brother.

The verdict is believed to be the first acquittal of a child-abuse victim who has attempted to kill a parent, according to his lawyer and a review of similar cases across the country.

Most of the growing number of youths who kill or attempt to kill a parent are convicted, despite arguments of self-defense or temporary insanity, although the severity of the charges and sentences varies widely. If convicted, Junatanov would have faced a 13-year maximum sentence.

According to testimony, Junatanov and his brother, Asror, 22, hired Oklahoma drifter Richard Gregg in 1985 to kill their father, Albert Junatanov, a Hollywood restaurateur. Gregg attacked him in the restaurant with a knife but only wounded him.

As Albert Junatanov lay in the hospital recovering, Gregg’s girlfriend, dressed as a nurse, injected him with a syringe of battery acid. But Junatanov survived, and his son was arrested after asking an undercover police officer to finish the job with a rifle.

On Friday, Gregg, 24, was convicted of one count of attempted manslaughter with the use of a deadly weapon and faces a maximum sentence of 6 1/2 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 4.

Gregg’s girlfriend, 18, a juvenile at the time of the attempted murder, pleaded guilty to the attack and is serving a five-year sentence in a youth authority facility.

Sociz Junatanov, a Russian-Jewish immigrant, testified during the six-week trial that his father repeatedly beat, raped, humiliated and threatened to kill him.

Junatanov said his father forced him to leave school at age 14 to work in the family’s New York City restaurant and that his single attempt at running away ended with his father’s catching him and stripping and beating him in front of neighbors. He said he was attached to a chain to prevent future escapes.

The youth testified that the beatings intensified after his mother fled to Israel and the father and two sons moved west to live above another family restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard.

Key Testimony

Other witnesses, who included the defendant’s mother, Firuza, who came from Israel for the trial, and his brother, Asror, who is on probation after pleading guilty to similar charges in the same case, testified that Albert Junatanov had physically and emotionally abused his wife and sons and assaulted numerous other people.

A dishwasher in the New York restaurant testified that the father used to take both boys to the basement and beat them. On one occasion, the dishwasher said, he heard screams and went to investigate. He found Sociz Junatanov tied with his hands behind his back to a pillar by rope and his shirt off. His chest and back were covered with bruises and welts, he testified.

The elder Junatanov testified that he had never hurt his two sons.

“I never tried to do any harm. . . . My only purpose was always to make them happy,” he testified.

He was not in the courtroom when the verdict was read.

Panel Swayed

The jury foreman, Rafael Perez, said the panel was swayed by testimony from psychiatrists, who testified that the youth acted in self-preservation, and from his mother, who described Junatanov’s brutality toward his family.

Hurdle for Jurors

“The whole story about his beatings and the way he was treated permeates through the case,” said Perez, 47, a Southern Pacific Transportation Co. employee. “We just could not get over that hurdle.”

Defense attorney Joel Isaacson called the case “the most gratifying experience of my 14-year legal career” and hailed the verdict as that of “a very courageous jury, one that tempered justice with compassion.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Pfau attributed the acquittal to sympathy created by the emotion-filled testimony, although he said he had stressed both during jury selection and argument that sympathy should not enter into deliberations about the defendants’ guilt or innocence. He said he believes both men should have been found guilty of attempted murder.

Believed Otherwise

But the jurors obviously believed otherwise, and their mood in Judge Miriam Vogel’s courtroom Friday was one of elation.

Hugged by Juror

As Junatanov walked out of the courtroom a free man after 14 months in custody, he was hugged enthusiastically by juror Stephanie Ulkewicz, 68, a retired bank employee.

“I’m so happy for him. You should have heard what the poor little boy went through,” she said. “He was driven to it. I’m emotional because I felt bad for the poor kid.”

Juror Robert Bryant 28, a Southern California Gas Co. employee, said: “I think we all took into consideration that he came from a different cultural background. The father had so much control . . . (Johnny) was really stuck.”

Bryant said the evidence of abuse was so “overwhelming” that the jury had no choice but to take its “very unusual” action.

“It’s not something you can find precedent for, so we had to set our own,” he said.

No More Tears

Junatanov had said during the trial that he remained dry-eyed through the testimony because “I’ve used up all my tears.”

But Friday, he found himself weeping again.

“I never knew this could happen to me,” he said. “This was a surprise you know.”

As he left the courtroom, he said he does not plan to talk to his father again.

“I’m going to move to Israel and meet someone over there,” he said. “I’m going to get married and make a family and get established.”