Grand jury clears pair

The two teens accused of attacking a man outside his home in the village’s west end in early July have been cleared of all charges. Last week, a grand jury dismissed the case against 18-year-olds Jimmy Blaise and Domineek Washington, both of Valley Stream.

Brian Griffin, Washington’s attorney, praised the grand jury’s decision. “The charges never should have been brought,” Griffin said. “These boys never should have been arrested.”

The grand jury’s decision, however, stunned the victim, 30-year-old Joseph Frigenti, and his family. “They’re shocked,” attorney Bill Lewis said. “They’re surprised, and we really don’t know how it happened.”

Police say that Frigenti was attacked by a group of 12 to 15 men, including Blaise and Washington, outside his Broadway home on July 5, shortly after midnight. Frigenti was hosting a July Fourth gathering, and was reportedly assaulted when he left his house to move his car off the street.

According to Griffin’s version of the incident, however, it was partygoers at Frigenti’s house who instigated the fight, and Blaise and Washington were trying to avoid a confrontation and acted only in self defense.

“That’s nonsense, it’s absolute nonsense,” Lewis responded. “We can’t understand who was instigating anything from [Frigenti’s] part.”

The incident left Frigenti hospitalized with a concussion; a fractured eye socket, jaw and cheekbone; and leg and rib injuries. “He’s doing better,” Lewis said, adding that Frigenti still suffers from headaches. Also, Lewis said, the extent of the injuries should have proved false the defense’s assertion that Frigenti got hurt only by falling to the ground.

Lewis said that Frigenti has only recently returned to his job with the Long Island Rail Road.

Griffin said that it was clear that the grand jury believed the version of the events told by Washington, Blaise and defense witnesses. It wasn’t hard to find people who saw the incident on Broadway that morning, Griffin explained. “They found us,” he said. “This didn’t happen in a back alley. It happened on a public street.”

Lewis said he is trying to learn who the other witnesses were and what was said, noting that grand jury testimony is generally kept secret even from the other side. “The first thing we want to find out is what happened in front of the grand jury,” he said. “We’re trying to figure out how this thing got turned around.”

Griffin criticized the investigation by Nassau County police officers and detectives, saying there simply was none. Blaise and Washington were arrested within 48 hours of the incident and charged with second-degree gang assault, a felony. Gang assault means that three or more people were involved in the attack.

Detective Sgt. Anthony Repalone defended the police department’s actions, saying it completed a thorough investigation. Repalone said that while he respects the grand jury’s decision, he believes detectives caught the right men. “We certainly had enough information to charge them,” he said. “We feel we identified the suspects.”

Repalone said that unless new information comes to light, he does not expect any further charges in the case. “The case, in that sense, is not closed out,” he said.

After the incident, police said they were looking into the possibility that the attack was racially motivated, since Frigenti is white and Blaise and Washington are black. Repalone said the police stopped short of charging the pair with a hate crime. “We were looking to the possibility,” he said.

Bill Kephart, Blaise’s attorney, said that he was disturbed that the police held a press conference on July 7 and made allegations about race. He added that it is very rare for a grand jury to throw out a case because the threshold for evidence at that level of the judicial process is low. “That dismissal speaks volumes to the injustice these kids and their families suffered,” Kephart said.

Griffin said that Washington recently graduated from Valley Stream Central High School and will attend Nassau Community College in the fall to study construction management. “He’s a bright boy with a bright future,” Griffin said.

Blaise will be a junior at Central High School. Kephart said his client is a good person who comes from an honest, hard-working family. “He’s never been in trouble,” Kephart said. “He’s not the type of kid to be out there causing problems.”

Lewis said it is likely that a civil suit will be brought against Blaise and Washington.