Closing Arguments in Bklyn Child Murder Trial

Assistant DA Patrick O’Connor called the jurors’ attention to three words written in bold red font on the PowerPoint screen in a Brooklyn court house on Thursday:

“Who is responsible?”

The central question arose during closing statements in the trial of a man accused of stabbing two children, leaving one to die, in the elevator of their housing project.

“There is only one person responsible for what happened to these two children,” said O’Connor, aggressively pointing downwards.

The “monster” sitting at the defendant’s table, he concluded, indicating Daniel St. Hubert, a large hulking man whom the tabloids have branded “The Brooklyn Ripper.”

But the defense attorney mounted a spirited argument that his client was being “scapegoated,” and there was “lack of proof,” focusing on the inconsistent testimony of the now 11-year-old survivor and labeling the DNA evidence as “junk science.”

“There’s never been a weaker case than this,” said defense attorney Howard Greenberg. “The investigation left so many stones unturned.”

The event culminating in this  moment began on June 1, 2014 when Mikayla Capers, 7, and Prince Joshua (P.J.) Avitto, 6, were playing in the playground at the Boulevard Houses when they decided to go to P.J.’s apartment to get “icees.” That is when they were allegedly followed by Daniel St. Hubert into the elevator where they were stabbed 27 times and left for dead.

Mikayla testified that St. Hubert was her attacker and four other witnesses say they saw St. Hubert near the door before the attack and fleeing the scene afterwards. A bloody knife with Mikayla, P.J.’s and his DNA on it was found along the path witnesses say he ran along.

But in Greenberg’s nearly two hour statement read from a stack of wrinkled papers with scribbled notes and post-its peeking from all sides, he said that this was not enough proof to dispel reasonable doubt.

He deemed Mikayla “delusional” and a “pathological liar” because of inconsistencies in her testimony. Mikayla testified that she identified the defendant in a photograph shown to her by police while in the hospital and recognized him as her attacker, but the prosecution and defense agreed that this never happened.

“This is a child that doesn’t know the difference between the truth and a lie,” said Greenberg, citing other times Mikayla was inaccurate about her ability to translate Chinese and Spanish and admitting on the stand that sometimes she does lie. He said she can’t make “heads or tails” of what is a lie and what is the truth.

He then attacked the rest of the prosecution’s evidence, saying that when his defendant was arrested on June 4, three days later, that he had no blood on the items or wounds and no clear motive. The prosecution later cited that a knife set that was missing three knives that matched the murder weapon was found among his belongings.

His charge that the DNA evidence was “junk science,” arose from the multiple profiles that were found on the knife. An expert witness had testified that the knife had a mix of DNA, but that most of it belonged to St. Hubert.

Greenberg argued that the prosecution ignored other leads and other suspects based on the DNA after the killing.

“You want to believe in your heart but can’t believe in your head,” said Greenberg asking the jury to not let “one tragedy [be] morphed into another.”

The prosecution on the other hand called for justice for a family. In his PowerPoint closing, between photos of young P.J. and the small elevator he was killed in, O’Connor emphasized the accuracy of the witnesses, saying they had no reason to lie and only interest to find justice for their family.

St. Hubert who had been quiet but fidgety throughout the day, occasionally leaning in  and whispering to his attorney throughout the closing.

It’s been four years since the murders that landed St. Hubert back in jail, just nine days after he was released in 2014. St. Hubert had a violent past and a history of mental illness and has served time for attempting to strangle his mother.

Hubert is charged with second-degree murder, attempted murder, assault and weapon possession. The jury was expected to start deliberations on April 9 after the holidays.