Subway Shover ‘Was Defending Himself’, Says Lawyer

Bby RYAN SIT

The homeless man accused of fatally shoving a Queens resident onto the subway tracks appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday, where his lawyer said he was only defending himself.

Naeem Davis, 30, was arrested last Wednesday, two days after he pushed Ki-Suck Han, 58, into the subway tracks at the 49th St.-7th Avenue station in Manhattan and fled the scene.

Assistant DA James Lin said he expects a grand jury to be empaneled before Davis’ next court date set for Dec. 18.

Legal Aid lawyer Stephen Pokart said Davis, who was charged with second-degree murder, pushed Han, “only in an attempt to get [Han] out of his face,” but later clarified that “it’s not exactly self-defense. Pokart cited news articles to Judge Alexander Tisch, alleging that Han was both the aggressor and drunk during the altercation.  Pokart also criticized the media of assailing Davis.

“How is my client a monster?” he asked outside the courtroom.  “You can defend yourself from harassment.  It’s legal.”

Davis, his hands cuffed behind his back and wearing a large black sweatshirt and an untamed beard, walked slowly to Pokart’s side, before the judge.  He remained stoic and unemotional while Pokart requested the DA’s witness list.

“If things go wrong my client could spend the rest of his life in prison,” Pokart said, arguing for the list.

Pokart handed out a flier with, “Are you a witness?” air max 90 femmes above the infamous New York Post front-page photograph of Han in the tracks, grasping the platform edge while he looked at the first car of a southbond Q train barrelling into the station.  The lawyer said over 500 fliers had been handed out around the 59th Street station.

When asked about reports that Davis said he heard voices telling him to push Han, that he was high during the event or that he told a reporter from DNAinfo that he is bipolar, Pokart said only “I’m not sure.”

Some of Davis’ friends and Midtown vendors who regularly paid him to run errands spent all day at the courthouse, waiting to show their support.

“Hold your head up, Naeem,” one shouted from the pews as Davis was escorted by an officer out of the courtroom.  “We love you,” another yelled.

They echoed sentiments that Davis was “honest” and “very loving,” outside the courtroom and expressed resentment towards the media’s early coverage of their friend that they said villified them.

“I’ve never even seen him argue,” said one man, who said he’s known Davis for three years.

“He’s always smiling.  The first thing he would ask is, ‘Are you hungry?’” said another friend of Davis, who was on his way to meet Davis the day Han was killed.

Han was pronounced dead at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital last Monday, leaving behind his wife, Serim Han, and 20-year-old daughter, Ashley.