The Small Detail Of The Bat . . . And The Robbery . . . And The N-Word

Expert testimony from the nation’s preeminent N-word expert could not save “batsman” Nick Minucci:

After seven hours of deliberations over two days, on a 14-count indictment, a jury found Nicholas Minucci, 20, guilty of the racially motivated assault and robbery of Glenn Moore, 23, in Howard Beach, a predominantly white Queens neighborhood.

He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. As a hate crime, the first-degree robbery carries the same maximum sentence but a lower minimum one.

About 5 p.m. in an otherwise empty Queens County Courthouse, the ethnically diverse jury deciding Mr. Minucci’s fate filed into the courtroom, none of its members looking toward Mr. Minucci.

Mr. Minucci also looked away and showed no emotions as the verdict was read, a marked difference from the lively and sometimes volatile behavior he has exhibited in court appearances since being arrested a year ago.

Mr. Minucci was found not guilty of a top charge — first-degree assault as a hate crime — but was convicted of first- and second-degree robbery as a hate crime. He used the bat to rob Mr. Moore of his Air Jordan sneakers, a pair of Prada shoes and a blue polo shirt on June 29, 2005. Mr. Moore was carrying them in a bag while walking with two black friends in Howard Beach at 3 a.m. that day.