Youth Shot by Goetz Won’t Testify, Is Held in Contempt

James Ramseur, one of four youths shot by Bernhard H. Goetz on a Manhattan subway, refused to testify at Goetz’s attempted murder trial Tuesday and was held in contempt of court.

Ramseur’s refusal came shortly after a subway employee who witnessed the shootings testified that he was so terrified he sat immobilized on the No. 2 train, afraid that “if I got up, this man (Goetz) would shoot me.”

Victor Flores, a Transit Authority porter who was on his way to his brother’s apartment in Brooklyn on Dec. 22, 1984, said Goetz “just kept shooting until he didn’t have no more--he stopped. His hand went down.”

‘He Did It for Nothing’

Flores quoted one of the wounded youths, lying on the subway floor after the shooting, as saying: “He did it for nothing. We weren’t doing nothing.”

When Ramseur balked at taking the witness stand, state Supreme Court Justice Stephen Crane said: “Mr. Ramseur, I direct you to stand and be sworn in as a witness.”

“I refuse,” replied Ramseur, 21, who is serving a sentence of 8 to 25 years for rape. After he persisted in his refusal, the judge ordered him returned to jail.

Ramseur’s attorney, Ronald Kliegerman, said prosecutor Gregory Waples knew before Ramseur was subpoenaed that he would not testify.

Not Interested in Verdict

“He felt he was improperly and erroneously convicted in his rape case in the Bronx,” Kliegerman said. “Obviously, his testimony would be damaging to Goetz. (But) I don’t think he’s interested in a verdict one way or another.”

Earlier in the day, the defense had its final clash with another of the shooting victims, Troy Canty. That ended with attorney Barry Slotnick, in a third day of cross-examination, getting Canty to acknowledge that Goetz “looked like he was minding his own business” on the day of the shootings.

Goetz shot Canty in the chest after the young man and three companions, by Goetz’s account, approached and asked him for $5.