Defendant Enters PTI Program
Source: The Asbury Park Press | 2/10/01
Defendant Enters PTI Program
By CAROL GORGA WILLIAMS
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
TOMS RIVER — An Orthodox Jewish man who police said shouted racial epithets as he assaulted a 7-year-old black child during what authorities have termed a bias crime has been admitted into a diversionary program, over the objections of the program director.
Superior Court Judge Peter J. Giovine yesterday said Brian M. Haikins, 32, of 13th Street, Lakewood, should be allowed into the county’s pre-trial intervention program because Haikins has no prior criminal record and is remorseful over the Aug. 30 incident.
If Haikins successfully completes the program, charges against him will be dropped and he won’t have a criminal record.
“You’re talking about a defendant with a totally unblemished record,” Giovine said. “He sent letters of apology. I’m satisfied he is sincerely remorseful.”
Haikins’ application for admittance into the program — generally home to first-time nonviolent offenders — had the support of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, according to Assistant Prosecutor Robert W. Scott II, who said his office could have difficulty proving to a jury that the incident was motivated solely by Haikins’ bias, which would be necessary for conviction.
But PTI Director Delores Frey argued that Haikins did more than utter a few foul names during the incident, saying a message should be sent about the serious implications of racial intolerance.
“This defendant actually assaulted a 7-year-old child,” she said during the PTI appeal hearing. “Nobody mentioned the harm done to the victim. The child is still encountering psychological problems as a result of this defendant’s behavior.”
An Ocean County grand jury had indicted Haikins on a charge of bias-crime assault of the child, whom Haikins believed had hurt his children.
The indictment also charges Haikins with criminal harassment of the child and criminal harassment of three adults, Audrey Wise, Gina Gill and the child’s grandmother, Alice Boykeis, all of 13th Street.
In the days after the incident, according to his lawyer, Barry T. Albin, Haikins wrote letters of apology to the victims and began twice-weekly anger management and sensitivity counseling sessions.
“Mr. Haikins did some very foolish things,” Albin said. “His conduct makes no sense. It was an irrational, emotional rage that drove Haikins to lose control for a few moments, the fear that one of his three children had been injured.
“Any violence here was triggered by something any parent would get upset about,” Albin said, emphasizing that Haikins is ashamed of his behavior.
Police said Haikins, 30, grabbed the boy, hit him in the torso and cursed and shouted racial epithets at him.
Haikins also shouted racial slurs and threatened adult relatives of the boy who ran to the child’s aid, according to police.
Witnesses told police that the three children were involved in a scuffle, but detectives have been unable to find any evidence that the boy had harmed the two Haikins siblings.
After the arrest, black and Jewish residents said they have lived in harmony on the street for years, and they expressed a commitment to continuing good relations.
“I do think sending a message is important not because this was an Orthodox man and a black person,” said James M. Waters, president of the Lakewood-Ocean County Chapter of the NAACP. “We should look at this as an adult beating a child. That is how it should have been dealt with.”
Carol Gorga Williams: (732) 557-5732 or carolg@app.com
