It always comes back to the dinner table with this guy.
The 75-year-old Pakistani immigrant convicted in Brooklyn of beating his wife to death because she served him lentils instead of goat should get the minimum sentence, his lawyer argued Wednesday — because the lack of Pakistani food behind bars will be a hardship.
“His inability to speak English and his inability to have Pakistani food will make his incarceration even more difficult than the average inmate,” defense attorney Julie Clark wrote in court papers seeking the minimum 15 years to life sentence for Noor Hussain.
But prosecutor Sabeeha Madni countered that Hussain should get the maximum 25 years to life, saying in court, “There are no mitigating factors. Not his age, not his inability to speak English and, certainly, not his dislike for the food in prison.”
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Matthew D’Emic sentenced the wailing killer to 18 years to life behind bars, noting that because of his advanced age, “Whatever sentence I give is likely a life sentence at this point.”
In a lengthy speech before D’Emic pronounced sentence, a sobbing Hussain said, “I am true Muslim. I never fight with my wife.”
Through a Punjabi translator, he proclaimed, “In the name of Allah . . . There is no God but God,” before blaming his wife’s death on cancer and a heart attack and whining that he wanted to die.
“Please do me justice and hang me. Give me electric shock so I can die,” Hussain said as he raised his handcuffed hands to his face.
“There is no witness and no complainant in this case . . . they should bring some proof,” he said, adding, “I’m in jail for 40 months, and day and night I recite the Koran.”
Hussain was convicted of beating to death wife Nazar Hussain, 66, with a stick inside their Midwood apartment on April 3, 2011.
“Defendant asked [his wife] to cook goat and [his wife] said she made something else,” court papers said.
Prosecutors said he beat her to death as she lay in bed, most likely starting the attack as she slept. “When her body was later examined by the Medical Examiner’s Office, it was determined that she had been struck more than 20 times about her head, face and arms,” DA Ken Thompson said in a statement after the sentencing.
Hussain was convicted May 29, 2014, in a non-jury trial.