By JEFF LIPTON
³The video is the whole case,² said Bill Shanahan of Garden City, who represents Aloysius Staton, 24, of Uniondale. ³I¹m showing it to everyone, including all the court officers.
³Everyone I¹m showing the videotape to is saying the same thing,² Shanahan continued. ³They can¹t believe the district attorney is prosecuting this guy [Staton].²
Staton, who is black, was charged with first-degree assault and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon after a brawl with five or six white teens at the McDonald¹s at 3135 Atlantic Ave. on June 1. He has since been indicted on the charges by a grand jury.
According to detectives, Staton entered the restaurant to use the men¹s room, and when he left, at about 10:25 p.m., he got into a heated argument with an 18-year-old and his friends. The argument escalated into a violent confrontation, and Staton struck the teen in the face with a beer bottle, which shattered on impact, police reported after the incident.
Staton fled the restaurant, according to police, but was arrested soon afterward. The teen was transported to South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, where he was treated and released for a cut to his upper lip, a concussion and other injuries suffered during the fight, police said.
Shanahan¹s story, however, differs dramatically from the police version. The attorney says that Staton was acting in self-defense when he struck the teen with the beer bottle.
Shanahan said that Staton walked into the McDonald¹s with his 21-year-old girlfriend from Oceanside, who is white, and another friend, a 17-year-old dark-skinned Hispanic male, who is also from Oceanside.
According to his attorney, Staton left to use the men¹s room, and while his girlfriend was waiting on line to order food, she overheard a group of white youths behind her ³making racial comments about her boyfriend.²
She then alerted Staton ³to be careful, because there were guys out there looking for trouble,² Shanahan said.
The group of white teens then surrounded Staton and his male friend, according to Shanahan, who alleges that one of the youths then smashed a baby¹s highchair over the 17-year-old¹s head. ³After that, all hell breaks loose,² said Shanahan, adding that the group then jumped Staton¹s friend.
Shanahan said that Staton tried to intervene, but three teens grabbed him, one putting him in a choke hold while two other began punching him. In the meantime, his friend was being pummeled by the other members of the group, Shanahan said.
At this point, Staton ³reaches over and takes a beer bottle from one of the white guys and pops the guy in the head with it,² said Shanahan.
The teens then fled, he said, leaving Staton¹s friend semiconscious on the floor. Shanahan added that Staton suffered several cuts and bruises during the fracas.
Even though the incident was captured on videotape via a closed-circuit camera, Staton was still charged after the incident, Shanahan said. ³We¹re getting stonewalled [by the district attorney],² he said. ³They have to know that my client is innocent. He was defending himself. They have no concept of reality.²
Eric Phillips, a spokesman for the Nassau County district attorney¹s office, said the office has reviewed the tape, which it immediately handed over to the defense. ³And it is a part of our ongoing investigation into whether there¹s evidence to support additional arrests in the case,² said Phillips. ³An independent grand jury indicted the defendant for his actions. It is important to note that the investigation into the actions of everyone involved began immediately following the incident and has remained highly active.²
The youths who fought with Staton and his friend are 18 or younger and students at Oceanside High School, according to those who are familiar with the group. Reached at their homes by phone, the families of the teens declined to be interviewed. But the mother of one of the youths expressed skepticism about the videotape Shanahan has been showing, including on the Fox News show ³Hannity & Combs,² saying it is only a few minutes of a fracas that lasted several minutes.
If he is convicted of assault and weapons possession (for wielding the beer bottle), Staton faces five to 25 years in prison. But Shanahan hopes the case will not get nearly that far, and is moving for dismissal of the charges against his client based on the video. He also wants a special prosecutor to be appointed to seek charges against the white youths involved in the fight.
Shanahan said that Staton spent a month in jail before he was recently released on $5,000 bail. He next appearance in court is scheduled for Aug. 31. ³We won¹t accept anything less than a dismissal,² Shanahan said. ³We hope the police and the D.A.¹s office come to their senses and pursue charges against the teens.²
He added, ³All my client wanted that night was a hamburger.²
Comments about this story? JLipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
