2 plead not guilty to assaulting ex-NY governor. Defense says they aimed to defuse conflict
NEW YORK– Two people accused of assault former New York Governor David Paterson and his stepson were merely trying to break up a confrontation, attorneys said Tuesday.
Diamond Minter and Travor Nurse pleaded not guilty to assault charges on Tuesday the arguments on Manhattan’s Upper East Side Friday evening.
According to the ex-governor and Manhattan prosecutors, 20-year-old stepson, Anthony Sliwa, had an altercation on Friday with some youths who climbed a structure outside his building. He is the son of Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels anti-crime group, whose ex-wife Mary married Paterson in 2019.
Later, Paterson and Anthony Sliwa went for a walk and encountered the same youths outside a nearby McDonald’s and had more words with them.
Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Zachary Campbell told a judge Tuesday that Minter and Nurse intervened. Prosecutors say the nurse gestured aggressively toward the 70-year-old, legally blind governor and his stepson. Sliwa pushed the nurse, the nurse and the munter started lashing out at Sliwa, and vice versa.
According to prosecutors, Nurse threw Sliwa to the ground and kicked him, Minter pulled his arms back and two youths stomped on him. Two boys, 12 and 13 years old, are also charged; their cases are heard in the family court.
The nurse also struck Paterson in the back of the head, knocking him to the sidewalk, prosecutors say.
The nurse’s attorney, Jeffrey Chabrowe, said by phone that he understood his client and Minter, who work together at a housing agency, were trying to defuse a conflict.
Chabrowe noted that Paterson alluded to his stepson’s fighting skills in interviews and said Nurse “ultimately was on the receiving end of that” as he and Minter tried to stop “what they saw as adults molesting children.”
Messages seeking comment were sent Tuesday to Minter’s attorney, Zachary Wechsler. According to the Daily NewsWechsler told the court his client became involved after seeing two adults facing off against children.
Paterson spokesman Sean Darcy said Tuesday evening that the encounter was “a traumatic event that Governor Paterson and his family would like to move past.”
“We are confident that justice will be served,” Darcy added in an email.
The nurse’s bail was set at $25,000 cash or $50,000 surety. Minter was released under supervision. Both are due back in court on Friday.
Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010. He took office after Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a sex scandal.