Lawyers for the Brooklyn man who accused cops of sodomizing him with a police baton are asking the district attorney’s office to press charges against internal affairs officers who handled the case.
Michael Mineo’s lawyers claim that cops tampered with evidence by cutting a hole in his underwear where the baton allegedly penetrated his boxers.
Weeks before the start of a $440 million civil trial against the NYPD and the officers involved, his lawyers want the DA to go after the cops they claim altered the undies.
Attorney Stephen Jackson claims in a letter written to the DA’s office that material was cut from the underwear.
The boxers were a key piece of evidence in the criminal trial in February. An expert testified that the baton could not make the square hole in Mineo’s drawers. A jury acquitted the three officers charged in the case.
The NYPD scoffed at Jackson’s allegation. “It’s a preposterous claim,” Inspector Edward Mullen said.
The DA’s office confirmed that they received the request, but declined comment.