Jury Ends 11th Day of Deliberations in Howard Beach Death Case

Exactly one year after a black man was struck and killed on a highway in Howard Beach, jurors deliberated an 11th day Sunday without reaching a verdict in the case of four white teen-agers accused of chasing him to his death.

There were signs, however, that the jury, in its 10 hours of deliberations Sunday, was making progress toward a verdict in the racially charged case.

In rapid succession, jurors asked for instructions on the law pertaining to conspiracy, first-degree assault and second-degree assault, which are among the charges against some of the four teen-agers. The two alternate jurors were dismissed as no longer needed.

But the jurors again confounded those expecting a verdict when they asked for a second rereading of the instructions on first-degree assault, and then a third. They also asked to hear again the long instructions on how to evaluate testimony.

To Resume Today

The jury recessed at 7:40 p.m. after rehearing the instructions on attempted murder. Deliberations were to resume this morning.

Scott Kern, Jon Lester and Michael Pirone, all 18, and Jason Ladone, 17, also face murder or manslaughter charges in the death of 23-year-old Michael Griffith, who was struck by a car and killed on Dec. 20, 1986, on the Belt Parkway in the Howard Beach section of Queens.

The teen-agers allegedly chased him onto the highway after attacking him and two other black men in the mostly white Howard Beach neighborhood.

An emotional memorial service for Griffith was held at his family’s parish church, Our Lady of Charity, in Brooklyn. Three hundred people packed the tiny church, including Griffith’s mother, grandmother, two brothers and Cedric Sandiford, another alleged victim of the melee.

Traffic Tie-Ups

Black leaders at the service and at the courthouse pledged to defy a court order, obtained by the city, banning protests planned for today.

The protesters said they planned to block traffic on a bridge, at a subway stop and at a Long Island Rail Road station, but would not give the exact locations. Police Sgt. Diane Kubler said the restraining order also mentioned the threat of a blockade of the Long Island Expressway.

Activist lawyer William Kunstler said demonstrators would assemble in the afternoon.