Surveillance video of Micheal Mineo just minutes after the alleged sexual assault and before he went to the hospital shows him standing up straight, walking and talking.
"If Michael Mineo was in the pain he said he described, he wouldn't have been walking as normally as he was," defense attorney Stuart London said.
Three New York City police officers are accused of sexually assaulting Mineo on a Brooklyn subway platform with a night stick in October 2008. Prosecutors say officer Richard Kern committed the assault and officers Alex Cruz and Andrew Morales covered it up. Mineo said they threatened him and that he was too scared at first to go to the hospital.
"Police was watching me, that's why I didn't leave," Mineo said. "That's why I didn't hop in a cab. You see the [officers'] Impala. As soon as the Implala left, I walked off."
That line of questioning led to a contentious morning. Mineo was asked to reenact the way he screamed when he was allegedly sodomized. He refused.
"This is your best defense?" he asked. "This is your best defense? Oh my God."
And Mineo didn't really like any of the questions.
"Come on!" he said. "This is ridiculous! You serious? You want me to reenact the scream. How is that possible? How is that possible?"
"When Mr. Murray was questioning him, he was very tame and laid back," Kern's defense attorney John D. Patten said. "But when I was questioning him, he came at me in an attacking mode and I think that was staged."
But Mineo's lack of patience may have hurt him when asked about his civil lawsuit.
"Of course, yeah, hell yeah, I'm expecting that money," he said. "I deserve it. I was violated."
Mineo showed the jury holes in the boxers he wore on the day of the alleged assault.
"I'm just glad I had my day in court to just speak the truth and tell them what really happened," he said.
Kern is charged with aggravated sexual abuse and assault. Officers Cruz and Morales are charged with hindering prosecution and official misconduct. The three defendants have pleaded not guilty.
If convicted, Kern could face up to 25 years in prison; the others could face up to four years.
