ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 11, 1997 TAG: 9702110094
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press
ATTORNEY GENERAL Janet Reno ordered a civil rights investigation that led to the federal charges after a state jury acquitted Lemrick Nelson of murder charges.
A black man who was acquitted by a state jury of murdering a Jewish scholar during a 1991 riot in Brooklyn was convicted in federal court Monday of violating the victim's civil rights in the stabbing.
Lemrick Nelson Jr., 21, cried and put his head on the table as he heard the verdict that will likely bring him 6 to 20 years in prison under sentencing guidelines. As he was led out of court, his supporters angrily chanted: ``No justice! No peace!''
Also found guilty was another black man, Charles Price, 43, who was accused of inciting a black mob to ``get Jews.''
The conviction stemmed from the slaying of 29-year-old Yankel Rosenbaum, who was attacked in a riotous furor after a 7-year-old black boy was accidentally struck and killed by a car driven by an ultra-Orthodox Jew.
Rosenbaum, a Hasidic history student visiting from Australia, was the only person killed in four nights of violence in Brooklyn's racially mixed Crown Heights section.
Nelson was acquitted of murder in 1992 by a mostly black state jury, outraging politicians and Jewish leaders, who demanded federal intervention. Two years later, Attorney General Janet Reno ordered a civil rights investigation that led to the federal charges.
The federal jury - two Jews, three other whites, three blacks and four Hispanics - reached its verdict after 20 hours of deliberations over four days.
Although it was the second criminal trial for Nelson stemming from Rosenbaum's death, it was not considered double jeopardy because the charges were different and the case was tried in federal court.
Federal prosecutors argued that Rosenbaum was deprived of his civil rights in being randomly attacked on a public street because of his obvious religious garb. The car accident that had sparked the violence involved a motorcade carrying the Lubavitcher Hasidim's spiritual leader, the Rebbe Menachem Schneerson.
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshots) Nelson, Rosenbaum KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB