COURT TOLD OF POSSIBLE ORIGIN OF DNA ON A POLICE BATON

A baton that the authorities seized from Officer Richard Kern
contained a trace of blood in a mix of genetic material that possibly
included that of a Brooklyn man he is charged with sexually abusing in
2008, an expert witness testified on Wednesday.

The witness, Sarah Philipps, a DNA specialist with the medical
examiner's office, gave that conclusion in State Supreme Court in
Brooklyn on the day prosecutors wrapped up their case against three
police officers who are accused in an attack on the man, Michael
Mineo. One of the lawyers for the officers immediately called the
finding "meaningless."

The DNA evidence was seen as one of several critical components of the
prosecution's case against the three officers. Prosecutors charge that
on Oct. 15, 2008, as several police officers were arresting Mr. Mineo,
whom they had seen smoking marijuana, Officer Kern sodomized him with
his baton. Two other officers, Alex Cruz and Andrew Morales, are
charged with crimes related to covering up the abuse.

The prosecution is also relying on testimony given by another police
officer who said that he saw Officer Kern jab his baton between Mr.
Mineo's buttocks, and on the testimony of medical experts, who have
said that Mr. Mineo's injuries could have been caused by trauma from
the baton.

Ms. Philipps said that she retrieved the blood and DNA by swabbing the
retractable portion of Officer Kern's baton, including the tip. The
DNA on the baton came from at least three "contributors," she said.

Defense lawyers repeatedly focused on her qualifying language in their
cross-examination.

"I could not definitively say Michael Mineo's DNA is on the asp," she
said, referring to the baton. "He's a possible contributor."

"Just possible?" said John D. Patten, Officer Kern's lawyer. "That's
all he is."

Ms. Philipps also testified that Mr. Mineo's blood was found on the
boxer shorts he said he was wearing that day.

A physician also testified on Wednesday, saying that an abscess that
he treated Mr. Mineo for was next to the patient's rectum, and could
have been caused by the insertion of a police officer's baton.

The doctor, Larry Griffith, a staff surgeon at Brooklyn Hospital
Center, saw Mr. Mineo during the second of his two hospitalizations.
He went to Brookdale University Hospital on the day he said he was
assaulted and stayed for four days.

On Oct. 23, Mr. Mineo went to Brooklyn Hospital Center complaining of
abdominal pain and difficulty urinating and moving his bowels, and his
white blood cell count was elevated, Dr. Griffith testified.

A CT scan revealed a "collection of fluid in the pelvis near the
rectum," he said. About 50 milliliters of fluid was drained from the
area.

Mr. Mineo's medical records will probably form the basis of the
trial's biggest remaining battles. Lawyers for the three officers have
tried to argue that anal tears seen by doctors at Brookdale might have
been self-inflicted, or that the abscess was the result of an injury,
possibly anal fissures, unrelated to the arrest.

Dr. Griffith, echoing the testimony of a previous medical expert, said
it was unlikely that Mr. Mineo's injuries were self-inflicted. "A
person probably would not cause themselves that much pain," he said.

Dr. Griffith was asked whether Mr. Mineo's elevated white cell count
indicated a longstanding infection, and he said that even an injury
just a few hours old could cause that response in the body.

The defense opened by calling a police detective, Nancy Palermo, who
said that she had tested a window of a patrol car for blood and found
none. Mr. Mineo had at one time said he wiped his blood on the window
of a patrol car in which he was placed after the arrest.

Quickly adjusting to his new role as cross-examiner, a prosecutor,
Charles Guria, asked Detective Palermo if she had done a separate test
that can reveal latent bloodstains. She replied that Internal Affairs
Bureau investigators had not requested that test.