Gavina Update
I wrote an article during the hot
summer of 2001, a couple of months before the attack on the World Trade
Center about the fate of two Filipino brothers who allegedly killed
a popular Jersey City policeman during the July 4th celebration. The
two suspects were arraigned on two and five million dollar bonds respectively.
It is alleged that the cop was beaten to death with a lead pipe after
an argument over the fireworks being set off by the children of the
Gavina brothers. The clamor for immediate punishment as harsh as the
death penalty is strong with the policeman in question having had an
impeccable record. The suspected party is slowly mounting a Self-defense
plea. The Gavina family said, "They are not violent and destructive
men. They are not criminals. They are simple and hardworking citizens
who only got involved in an unimaginable tragedy."
"They are not violent and destructive
men. They are not criminals. They are simple and hardworking citizens
who only got involved in an unimaginable tragedy."
Rather than present
you from what I heard from friends and kababayan, below are some excerpts
from our local newspaper, the Jersey Journal, related to the Gavina
Trial and verdict. It was running for almost three weeks
The brothers are accused of murdering 29-year-old Domenick Infantes,
who died two days after being struck in the head with a 4-foot pipe
during a confrontation that began with children throwing fireworks.
Witnesses for the prosecution
said Infantes had identified himself as a police officer and was trying
to defuse a confrontation between the brothers and Brian Belka, who
said the Gavinas' teenage sons and two other boys threw firecrackers
too close to him and his family as they were leaving a Fourth of July
party at a neighbor's house.
Prosecutors said Infantes was struggling with Alfredo Gavina when Benjamin
Gavina came up behind him and hit him on the back of the head with the
metal pipe.
Defense attorneys
argued that the brothers were acting in self-defense after Infantes
and Belka attacked Alfredo Gavina on his property. Three of the four
boys who were setting off the firecrackers - 15-year-old Alfred, son
of Alfredo Gavina; 12-year-old Ralph, son of Benjamin Gavina; and 15-year-old
John Raymond Mendoza - told jurors on Monday that the Gavina men were
attacked by Belka and Infantes.
The boys said Benjamin Gavina asked Belka what was going on and Belka
grabbed him and punched him in the head.
Alfred Gavina
testified that when his uncle approached Infantes and said "We
don't want trouble," Infantes responded, "(expletive deleted)
you."
Defense attorneys
also presented testimony from a forensic chemist last week who said
that Infantes' blood-alcohol level was at 0.14, according to his autopsy.
By way of comparison, a driver is considered legally drunk in New Jersey
at a blood-alcohol level of 0.10 or higher. If found guilty, Benjamin
Gavina could face the death penalty. His brother could face life in
prison.
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Since the death sentence was reinstated in New Jersey in 1982, no
person convicted of capital murder in Hudson County has been sentenced
to death by a jury. The sister of the two brothers charged with killing
a Jersey City police officer was banned from the courtroom yesterday after
she stood up and praised God as the jury filed past her after their first
morning of deliberation.
Flora Limpin held her prayer book with both hands and raised it above
her head, then faced the jury and said "Glory to God in the highest."
Domenick Infantes Sr. said he saw Limpin's action and told Hudson County
Assistant Prosecutor Michael D'Andrea, who in turn told Hudson County
state Superior Court Judge Kevin Callahan. Callahan then cleared the courtroom
and had Infantes Sr. and Limpin testify in a private hearing. Jury deliberations
ended after just 10 minutes yesterday in the trial of two Jersey City
brothers accused of killing an off-duty policeman during a confrontation
on the Fourth of July two years ago.
Two brothers charged with fracturing the skull of Jersey City Police Officer
Domenick Infantes were found not guilty of murder charges yesterday. Benjamin
Gavina, 45, was found guilty of the least severe homicide charge he faced
- reckless manslaughter - while 42-year-old Alfredo Gavina was cleared
on all charges. Emerito F. Salud, a founder of a Jersey City-based organization
that raised more than $10,000 toward the Gavinas' $300,000 defense costs,
was ecstatic yesterday, but said the jury should have acquitted Benjamin
Gavina of all charges as well. "I'm so glad," said Salud, of
Filipino Americans for Social Justice. "I'm glad that the jury remained
steadfast in the pursuit of what is right. It is not so much what is good,
but what is right."
Jury members will begin deliberating this afternoon in the capital murder
trial of two brothers charged with killing an off-duty Jersey City police
officer two years ago.
The courtroom was packed to capacity yesterday as friends and relatives
from both sides watched the defense and prosecution present their closing
arguments at the conclusion of the three-week trial of Alfredo Gavina,
42, and Benjamin Gavina, 45.
Several Jury decisions has been unpredictable lately but this one that
hits the heart of the Filipino community couldn't be rendered fairer.
The killing of a supposedly impeccable policeman by the Gavinas was a
tragedy. The Gavinas coming from ordinary Filipino-American community
without prior records shared the outrages when the bail was set relatively
high and warned repeatedly of the death penalty. With out support groups
and leadership of minority like Al Sharpton, it was seemingly was a lost
cause against the prosecution's slam-dunk murder case. A jury of white,
black and one Asian spoke that day and I completely agree, it is not murder
nor self defense.
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