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Post by laurnsmom on Oct 30, 2008 17:24:37 GMT -5
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2008 17:51:43 GMT -5
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Post by evp5O on Oct 30, 2008 18:08:24 GMT -5
Guilty Verdict in Shooting Death of Police Officer
By MARTIN ESPINOZA
Published: October 30, 2008
A jury found Steven Armento guilty of murder on Thursday in the first degree in the shooting death of Daniel Enchautegui, an off-duty police officer, three years ago in the Bronx.
While his defense successfully convinced the jury that he had not intended to murder a police officer, Mr. Armento, 51, faces the maximum sentence of life without parole.
A co-defendant in the case, Lillo Brancato Jr., 31, who had the lead role in the film “A Bronx Tale” and also appeared in episodes of “The Sopranos,” is expected to be tried separately next month on charges including murder.
According to investigators, the two men were in search of drugs when they confronted Officer Enchautegui (pronounced EN-cha-tay-gee) in the early hours of Dec. 10, 2005. Prosecutors argued during the trial that after a long night of alcohol-fueled partying at a strip club, Mr. Armento and Mr. Brancato showed up at a home on Arnow Place in the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx to get prescription pills from an acquaintance who lived there. But because the man had recently died, the doors were locked and the house unoccupied, leading the two men to break a window to get in.
Officer Enchautegui, who lived next door and had just finished a long shift, was awoken by the sound of the breaking glass and called 911. Then, carrying his handgun and dressed in plainclothes, he went outside to investigate. Seeing the men, prosecutors said, Officer Enchautegui shouted “Don’t move! Don’t move!” But the men moved anyway, prompting a shootout between the officer and Mr. Armento. Officer Enchautegui was struck once, by a fatal bullet to the heart;
Mr. Armento and Mr. Brancato, who was not carrying a gun, were each struck multiple times.
During the trial, the defense suggested that it was the officer’s own actions that led to his death. William Flack, Mr. Armento’s lawyer, argued that his client had no way of knowing that the man confronting him, dressed in plain clothes, was a cop. To bolster that argument Mr. Flack pointed to a recording of Officer Enchautegui’s 911 call, saying it indicated the officer was concerned he might be mistaken for a civilian by responding officers. “Be advised,” Officer Enchautegui can be heard telling the operator, “I’m in plain clothes, black coat. I am armed, too.”
But the lead prosecutor, Theresa Gottlieb, portrayed Mr. Armento as a reckless ex-con who fired not in self defense, but with the intention of killing an officer. One witness who was called to the stand to testify for the prosecution, Andrea Bishop, a nurse’s aide, said that Mr. Armento bragged about killing a police officer as he lay in a hospital bed at Jacobi Medical Center shortly after the shooting. Mr. Armento said the murder would make him “a king in jail,” she testified.
Regarding the jury’s verdict, Mr. Flack said he had not gotten “any joy in that,” because of the death of a police officer.
Yolanda Rosa, the police officer’s sister, drew applause from police officers when she spoke after the verdict.
“That was my baby brother,” said Ms. Rosa, who had testified in the case to provide personal details about her brother. “He served the community of New York until the day he died.”
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Post by gadget105 on Oct 30, 2008 18:11:28 GMT -5
 Too bad he'll never take a ride in Ol' Sparky! |
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Bugsey
LER member level 3
^^^^
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.
Posts: 1,299
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Post by Bugsey on Oct 30, 2008 19:11:31 GMT -5
Aw Gadget.....that photo has a woopie cushion on it.....here's the Florida Electric chair...  |
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irishcop32
LER member level 3
Charter Member
Fir Na Dli
Posts: 2,035
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Post by irishcop32 on Oct 30, 2008 19:16:13 GMT -5
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Post by gadget105 on Oct 30, 2008 19:51:11 GMT -5
Aw Gadget.....that photo has a woopie cushion on it.....here's the Florida Electric chair... It was the first result I got when I Googled Electric Chair. |
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Post by twentynout on Oct 30, 2008 20:01:22 GMT -5
Lilo
Now ya cant leave
Enjoy the chow
Dirtbag.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2008 20:03:36 GMT -5
Aw Gadget.....that photo has a woopie cushion on it.....here's the Florida Electric chair... It was the first result I got when I Googled Electric Chair. I always liked that picture. After he sits down and blasts the witnesses, the C.O. turns on the juice while the perp. is still red-faced. Talk about being embarrassed to death! |
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airborneguy
LER member level 2
^^^^ Charter Member
De Oppresso Liber
Posts: 810
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Post by airborneguy on Oct 30, 2008 20:09:59 GMT -5
Good riddance. I was working that night and went to citywide on my radio and listened to the call for the blood bank. RIP.
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Post by 19pct on Oct 30, 2008 22:20:05 GMT -5
R.I.P
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Post by zenmastercivillian on Oct 31, 2008 9:01:38 GMT -5
I'm hoping that Det. Enchautegui's soul is resting just that more easily today, now that Armemto will be behind bars. It's a damned shame that the death penalty can't be applied.
Lilo, the clock is ticking for YOU.
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