By Mitchell Freedman and Alfonso A. Castillo
Newsday (New York)
Copyright 2006 Newsday, Inc.
As more than 200 New York City firefighters packed a Riverhead courtroom yesterday, State Supreme Court Justice Robert W. Doyle set $1 million cash bail on each of three brothers charged with the beating of fireman Richard Berkhout in Mastic Beach on Sept. 11.
After Doyle announced his decision, many of the firefighters erupted into applause.
The men each face 25 years in jail for what officials said was an unprovoked attack, and Assistant District Attorney Elana Tomaro cited their lengthy criminal records in her request to deny a bail bond. Each pleaded not guilty to the felony assault charges.
Berkhout, 46, was walking home on Lakeview Drive with his wife, Margaret, 47, around 9:15 p.m. when they saw a car speeding toward them and he shouted at the driver to slow down, according to Tomaro.
The driver, Darian Taylor, 28, of 170 Frowein Rd., Center Moriches, stopped in the middle of the narrow street, Tomaro said. Then, he and his brothers, Darrell Taylor, 28, of 356 Mastic Rd., Mastic, and Christopher James Robinson, 25, who had been released on parole from the Cayuga County jail upstate about 12 hours earlier, got out of the car and “rushed the couple,” Tomaro said.
Tomaro said Berkhout jumped in front of his wife, and Robinson struck the fireman in the face with a metal object, cracking his skull. He fell, and as he lay unconscious, all three “kicked him and stomped on his head,” she told the judge.
The firemen, most of whom were in uniform, were silent as Tomaro described the details of the attack, which left Berkhout in critical condition, with a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain, the loss of hearing in one ear, facial paralysis and the threat of seizures even after recovery.
The fireman, who had been at 9/11 memorial services earlier on the day he was attacked, remains in critical but stable condition at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center.
“He was the heart and soul of the firehouse,” said Danny Casey, a fireman from Ladder Company 127, which shares the Jamaica firehouse with Berkhout’s Engine 298.
The three accused men, each in handcuffs, came before the judge individually. None spoke in his own defense, and each was given an order of protection requiring them to keep away from Berkhout and his wife.
Robinson’s attorney, Robert Del Col of Huntington, said he was still learning the facts of the case.
“I don’t dispute that the crimes in this case are shocking ... [but] who did what to whom, and when ... I have none of those answers now.” He said that despite the seriousness of the case, all defendants are protected by “the cloak of innocence” unless they are found guilty.
Darian Taylor’s attorney, Arshad Majid of Hauppauge, said in a telephone interview that he is still looking into the case and into the statements made to police by all three defendants.
“Based on what my client has told me, he’s not so culpable as some of the others. ... I trust that justice will be done in this case, and that it will be fair and impartial, as it should be. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victim and his family.”
Suffolk District Attorney Thomas J. Spota, who was at the arraignment, called the beating “an absolute atrocity,” and said he would seek the full 25 years in jail for each of the three men.
He pledged not to plea-bargain in the case, and said he would ask that Robinson’s sentence not start until he had served an additional three years for parole violation.
Spota also said his investigators were reviewing Berkhout’s medical records to see if a charge of attempted murder was justified.
Joseph Miccio, recording secretary for the Uniformed Firefighters Association, said the union had notified its members of yesterday’s arraignment, and urged them to come out yesterday to show their support for Berkhout.