Potts trial nears conclusion

After six weeks of evidence, testimony and examinations, the Evan Potts trial finally came to a close on June 15 with the closing arguments from both sides.

Because of the large number of people who came to watch the proceedings, the trial was moved from its usual, small courtroom to a larger courtroom down the hall of the Nassau County Courthouse.

The seats were filled on the right side by family and many friends of Evan Potts, the 24-year-old Oceanside resident who, on May 15, 2009, ran over and killed Long Beach resident Ian Sharinn at the intersection of Park Avenue and National Boulevard in the city. Potts is charged with second degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, to which he pleaded not guilty. The prosecution, led by Assistant District Attorneys Everett Witherell and Brendan Ahern, were trying to prove that Potts deliberately and knowingly ran over Sharinn, an accusation Potts and his attorney, Stanley Kopilow, deny.

“I’ve waited two years and six weeks to be able to deliver this summation to you,” Kopilow told the 14 jurors sitting in the courtroom.

The death of Sharinn was the culmination of a two-mile long incident through the streets of Long Beach between the two men. Potts cut Sharinn off, sparking his anger and inciting him to follow Potts’ blue Nissan Altima in his classic yellow Porsche.

“[Evan] was chased, stalked and followed for not one, but two miles through the center of Long Beach,” Kopilow said. “Was he the pursuer or the pursued?”

Kopilow painted a picture of a scared, defenseless young man being pursued through the streets of Long Beach by a six-foot, five-inch, 250-pound man twice his size, yelling at him and threatening him. Kopilow tried to make the prosecution look incompetent, saying that the witnesses called didn’t say what the prosecution wanted them to say.

“The People have not sought to give you the truth here,” Kopilow said. “The People have been trying to hide the truth from you.”

The defense also painted an unflattering picture of Sharinn, saying that he was on drugs at the time of the incident. Marijuana was found in Sharinn’s car, and he had a prescription for antidepressants. Kopilow also said that Sharinn was using steroids, a claim the prosecutions refutes.