By:Jeff Lipton
For 10 years, the question has haunted Jermaine Ewell: Why would anyone want to beat him into a coma and within a hair of his life?
Last week, the lingering question took the 27-year-old on a five-hour trip to Clinton Correctional Center in Dannemora, N.Y., where he met his attacker, Shannon Siegel, for the first face-to-face encounter since June 1, 1991, when Ewell was beaten into unconsciousness on the Atlantic Beach boardwalk.
Ewell wanted to know why Siegel led a gang of four other youths wielding baseball bats against him, which cost both men promising sports careers, Ewell in football and Siegel in baseball. The vicious attack left Ewell clinging to life in a hospital and Siegel facing 7 to 21 years in prison. Siegel has served about nine years of his sentence and was denied parole in September 1999 because of the seriousness of the offense. He is up for parole again in September this year.
Siegel's mother, Joyce, recently visited the Ewell home in Inwood and brought Jermaine a letter of apology written to him by Siegel in 1997, but which for some reason had not been delivered. She said her son has been experiencing abdominal problems in prison and urged Ewell to visit him, with the possible hope that he holds the key to Siegel's freedom.
Ewell agreed to go with Siegel's mom and she drove him to Dannemora on Thursday, April 12, to set up a face-to-face meeting for the next morning, Ewell said.
"She has been trying to reach out to us," Ewell said, only hours before taking the trip. "This is something that has really affected her life. It has absolutely affected my life. In some sort of crazy way, me and Shannon are kind of connected. We've had an affect on each other's lives."
He called the visit by Siegel's mother surprising but said he felt pretty comfortable speaking with her. "She said Shannon has been sick for some time and he's getting worse," Ewell said.
"She said he's realized his mistakes and he wants to speak to me and he wants to apologize. The whole bit."
Before the attack, which prosecutors said was racially motivated because Ewell is black and Siegel is white and racial slurs were hurled, the two were acquaintances and did not experience bad blood, Ewell said. The incident on the Atlantic Beach boardwalk occurred after a keg party to celebrate high school graduation. Ewell was seen talking to a former girlfriend of Siegel's. Four others have served lesser sentences and been released. But Siegel, now 30, considered to be the ringleader of the attack, is still in prison.
"This is the first time since the incident and I have a whole lot of questions," Ewell said. "I want to know why. That is the main question. I want to look him in the eye and see if he's being genuine."
"To go to that extent over a girl is kind of mind-boggling," he added. "There are a lot of unanswered questions."
He said he wanted to hear what Siegel said before he is asked by the parole board for a victim's statement. In the past, he said he remained neutral when asked, because he wanted to leave it up to the professionals.
Ewell said the story is still developing and he wants to keep the details of their jailhouse conversation confidential for now. "I don't know either way right now how things are going to turn out," Ewell said.
Siegel, of Atlantic Beach, has written letters from his jail cell to the Nassau Herald on several occasions, saying that he is a changed person, helping other inmates realize the error of their ways and forming a Mulligan Society - named for the golf term for a do-over - for those who thirst for a second chance in life. Critics have said that he began to change when he was coming up for parole the first time in 1999. His last letter was written in September 2000, saying that he felt confident he would soon be released.
Even though he could be held for the maximum 21 years, Siegel's conditional release is scheduled for March 19, 2006, when he would have served two-thirds of his time, with a record of good behavior, according to a state parole official.
Attorney Nathan Dershowitz, who represented Siegel during appeal, is absolutely convinced that Siegel should be released on parole.
"I don't know anyone who deserves parole more than he does," Dershowitz said. "He's the model prisoner up there. The people who interplay with him in prison are more supportive of him than any prisoner I have ever seen."
He said the system the way it is set up provides little incentive for a prisoner to achieve good behavior behind bars. "He deserves to be out as a productive member of society," Dershowitz said. "Keeping him in there is so disgraceful. It's a dangerous concept you are creating. There's no inducement for people to behave themselves."
Ewell, a star linebacker and tailback for Lawrence High School, appeared headed for an NFL career before he was brutally beaten. He said he still suffers with headaches and has problems with vision in his right eye. "If this hadn't happened, I would really be on an NFL team somewhere," he said. He said he might like to coach a high school team someday.
In the meantime, he has formed his own record label made up of local artists and is still pushing for financial backing to open an arts and music center in the Five Towns in order to give back to a community that has helped him through the roughest period of his life - when he was fighting for his life.
