An appellate court cleared a hassidic man of beating an African American man while shouting homophobic epithets back in 2013.
Williamsburg native Mayer Herskovic was first sentenced to four years in prison back in 2016 after a court found him responsible for assaulting Fort Greene resident Taj Patterson in 2013.
However, the Appellate Division, Second Department ruled on Wednesday hat the evidence against Herskovic was insufficiently strong and cleared him of all charges.
"Under the circumstances of this case, including the complainant’s inability to positively identify any of his attackers, the varying accounts regarding the incident, and the DNA evidence, which was less than convincing, we find that the evidence, when properly weighed, did not establish the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt," read the decision.
"Among other things, the complainant testified that the person who pulled off his sneaker was the same person who shoved a thumb into his eye. He referred to this person as the ‘ringleader’ and one of the men who initially chased him. However, he also testified that the person he identified as the ringleader was not the defendant.”
Patterson was walking down Flushing Avenue in Williamsburg in 2103 when he was set upon by his attackers, who he said yelled homophobic slurs. The assault left Patterson blind in one eye.
Pinchas Braver and Abraham Winkler, who admitted to participating in beating, were sentenced to 150 hours of community service in 2016.