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Two ‘Jersey 4’ Convictions Tossed
Lesbians convicted in 2006 West Village assault win on appeal; one cannot be retried
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE
A
state appeals court has overturned theconvictions of two of four young lesbians who werefound guilty last year in a 2006 West Village attack on a straight man.“I’m ecstatic at the deci-sion,” said Jan Hoth, theattorney who represented Terrain Dandridge, 21, andis the lead appellate counselat the Center for AppellateLitigation, a non-profit law firm that handles appeals. “Inever believed that Terrainshould be in prison for thiscrime.”Dandridge, Patreese John-son, 20, Renata Hill, 26, and Venice Brown, 20, were con- victed on various charges,including gang assault, andgiven prison sentences that ranged from three-and-a-half to 11 years. The victim, Dwayne Buck-le, said he only flirted withone of the girls and they attacked him. The young women charged that Buckle was the aggressor and they were defending themselves.Citing jury instruc-tion errors by Edward J.McLaughlin, the trial judge,the four-judge appellatepanel threw out the Dan-dridge conviction and dis-missed the indictment against her.“She cannot be retried inthis case,” Hoth said. “Inher case, the court specifi-cally found that there wasinsufficient evidence of her guilt... It’s over. The Court of Appeals doesn’t even have jurisdiction in this case.”Hill’s gang assault conviction was also overturned, thoughher conviction on a misde-meanor charge in the casestands. The Manhattan district attorney could retry her.“She can now be retried onthe gang assault count,” said Alexis Agathocleous, Hill’sattorney and a senior staff attorney in the Office of the Appellate Defender, also a non-profit law firm. “We don’t have any indication from [thedistrict attorney]. We cer-tainly hope that they agree todismiss the felony charge.” The appellate panel fault-ed McLaughlin for giving the jury “confusing and errone-ous” instructions on the legalmeaning of self-defense andof acting in concert.“The jury was fundamen-tally misinstructed on twoissues that were central tothe trial,” Agathocleous said.“I can’t overstate how abso-lutely central these concepts were in these cases.” A single jury decided thecases against all four women.Hoth said that Brown willlikely have her convictionoverturned as the same jury instructions issues occurredin her case.“Ms. Brown will probably get her conviction reversed as well and a new trial ordered,”she said. Brown’s appeal will be filed by July 7. Johnson was convictedof actually stabbing Buckleso the acting in concert and justification errors may not apply in her case. Her attor-neys had already filed their appeal when the June 19Dandridge-Hill opinion wasreleased so her attorneyscould not cite it. The verdicts and sentencesangered some activists. “Freethe Jersey 4” signs becamea common feature at somecommunity protests. Thefour African-American lesbi-ans were from New Jersey.“We’re really excited,” saidRickke Mananzala, executivedirector of FIERCE, or Fabu-lous Independent EducatedRadicals for Community Empowerment. “This is what all four of them deserve...Obviously, the two the women, Venice and Patreese, we hope they get the samething.” Three other women who were involved in the alterca-tion pleaded guilty and weresentenced to six months in jail and five years on proba-tion. The case was also notablefor lurid press coverage withthe four being called “seven bloodthirsty young lesbians”in the New York Post, “a pack of marauding lesbians” inthe New York Times, and the Associated Press said they were “all avowed lesbiansfrom Newark.”
“In Dandridge’s case, the court specifically found that there wasinsufficient evidence of her guilt.”
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