Man Acquitted in Black Teen’s Beating

One of three white men accused in a beating that left a black 13-year-old severely brain damaged was acquitted of attempted murder. Frank Caruso, 19, instead was convicted of hate crimes against both the beaten boy, Lenard Clark, and one of the boy’s friends, Clevon Nicholson, 14. He also was convicted of aggravated battery against Lenard. Caruso was identified in court as the instigator of the March 21, 1997, attack that left Lenard crumpled and unconscious in a street a few blocks north of Comiskey Park, home of the Chicago White Sox. The incident stunned Chicago and brought a denunciation of racial hatred from President Clinton.