Two Acquitted in Bensonhurst Racial Slaying

Separate Brooklyn juries on Thursday cleared two men of all charges in the racial slaying of a black teen-ager in the mostly white Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn.

The two juries took less than a day to clear Charles Stressler and Charles Curreri in the killing of Yusuf Hawkins, who was shot to death in a confrontation with a gang of bat-wielding white men.

Stressler, 22, was cleared of murder, manslaughter, riot, menacing, unlawful imprisonment and weapons possession charges. Curreri, 20, was acquitted of riot and possession of a weapon--a bat.

The acquittals left prosecutors with one murder conviction among those who have been tried in Hawkins’ death, which sparked months of racial demonstrations, marches and vigils in the city.

“I’m starting over; it’s time to go on with my life,” said Stressler, who hugged his attorney.

“I just thank God this nightmare is over,” Curreri said on hearing the verdict.

Curreri’s lawyer, Mathew Miri, said: “This just shows that the citizens of this community are smarter than the prosecutors.”

Assistant Dist. Atty. Ed Boyar charged that Stressler “transformed a bunch of angry young men into a mob” by arming the crowd with baseball bats and then leading it on a “sneak attack” that led to the death of Hawkins on the streets of Bensonhurst on Aug. 23, 1989.

Stressler’s lawyers said he only brought the bats in case of trouble and never really expected any.

Hawkins, who had gone to the neighborhood with three black friends to look at a used car, was attacked by a gang of 15 to 20 white youths with baseball bats. They mistook the four blacks for another group of youths who they believed were coming to the predominantly white neighborhood looking for trouble.

Eight white Bensonhurst men were indicted in the slaying, but only one, Joseph Fama, has been found guilty of murder. He is serving a sentence of 32 years to life in prison.

Four were convicted on lesser charges. One remains to be tried.