by LUIS PEREZ
A pair of juries began hearing testimony yesterday in the trial of three brothers accused of beating a New York City firefighter on Sept. 11 last year.
The trial of Darian and Darrell Taylor, 29-year-old twins, and their half brother, Christopher Robinson, 26, began with prosecutors describing the incident as a brutal, unprovoked attack that began when the victim, Richard Berkhout, 47, was walking on a Mastic street, hand in hand with his wife, and uttered two words to a passing motorist: "Slow down."
"What this case is really about," assistant district attorney Elena Tomaro said, "is how three men violently, intentionally, beat one man in front of his wife to the point of unconsciousness, and when he was on the ground continued to beat him."
The fireman, who was not in court, had been at 9/11 memorial services earlier that day. He suffered a skull fracture, brain bleeding and loss of hearing in one ear, prosecutors said. The incident occurred as Berkhout was walking home on Lakeview Drive with his wife, Margaret, 47, around 9:15 p.m., and the brothers sped past in a Chevrolet Lumina.
Defense attorneys said the attack was provoked by a string of profanities from an allegedly drunken Berkhout that followed his admonition. They suggested it may have amounted to one punch thrown by Robinson in self-defense.
"Very basically, this was a bunch of idiots acting like idiots and unfortunately what happened in this situation is that someone got hurt," said Craig McElwee of Lindenhurst, who is representing Darian Taylor.
The case is unusual in that State Supreme Court Justice Robert W. Doyle empaneled two juries - one to weigh the fate of Darian and Darrell Taylor, and another to rule on charges against Christopher Robinson, 25.
The twin brothers each face up to 25 years in prison on charges of first-degree gang assault and third-degree assault. Robinson, who also faces a charge of first-degree assault, faces up to 28 years in prison. They have each pleaded not guilty, and are being held on $1 million bail.
Christopher Robinson's attorney, Robert J. Del Col of Huntington, summarized the case this way: "One guy puts his hands up and the other guy clocks him," adding, "This beating is a phantom."
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