Bensonhurst Case Mistrial Declared
A mistrial was declared Thursday for a defendant in the Bensonhurst racial slaying after a juror was dismissed for screaming across the courtroom at the victim’s father.
State Supreme Court Justice Thaddeus Owens, the trial judge, said Charles Stressler’s criminal trial could not continue without 12 jurors. The alternate jurors in the case had been dismissed Wednesday when deliberations began.
Juror Lydia Bermudez was dismissed after she began screaming at Moses Stewart, the father of murder victim Yusuf Hawkins.
“What are you looking at?” she yelled at Stewart.
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