Verdict Reached in Hossu Trial: Not Guilty on All Charges
After reaching the fourth day of deliberations, the jury in the Alexandru Hossu rape trial found Hossu not guilty on all charges Thursday morning.
At roughly 10:45 a.m., the jury came out and acquitted Hossu of two charges each of 1st degree and 2nd degree rape and one count of child endangerment in a trial that pitted Putnam County District Attorney Adam Levy against Putnam County Sheriff Don Smith. Hossu was the former personal trainer of Levy. His lead defense attorney was Daniel Mentzer, the brother-in-law to Levy.
Hossu had been accused of twice raping a 13-year-old girl in her Brewster home in Oct. 2010. He was arrested in March 2013 and has been in jail since then. When a not guilty verdict came in, Hossu had a smile across his face and was wiping tears away from his eyes.
Levy recused himself from prosecuting Hossu and as the result the Westchester County District Attorney handled the case.
Afterward when talking with reporters, Mentzer said anyone that watched the trial the past few weeks knew the “verdict was a forgone conclusion. This man is innocent.”
“This case was political in my opinion,” Mentzer said. “I don’t think anyone would have prosecuted this case, anyone would have arrested Alex based on these facts if there weren’t politics involved.”
When asked if the alleged victim, who is now 16, was lying, Mentzer answered, “I think it was obvious.”
The Westchester’s District Attorney office released the following statement regarding the verdict reached:
“We were confident in our prosecution of this case as evidenced by the length of the jury’s deliberations and the fact that they were initially deadlocked,” said Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office. “We respect their verdict and appreciate their service.”
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Department also released the following statement after the verdict was reached:
“We respect the criminal justice system. We thank the jurors for their conscientious service. We appreciate the outstanding and professional work of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office in this case,” Smith said.
Levy, through his spokesperson, was not available and didn’t release a statement.
Hossu, who was in the country illegally, is expected to be held by federal authorities.
One of the jurors, Debbie Silmon of Carmel, called the alleged victim “a liar.”
“He’s innocent. There’s not doubt he’s innocent,” Silman said. “I think the whole story was fabricated.”
“This crime was impossible,” she added. Could not have happened.”
Originally, Silmon said the jury was in favor to acquit by a 10-2 margin. Eventually, it became an 11-1 margin until the final holdout also came on the board with the rest of the jurors.
Check back in Tuesday’s The Putnam Examiner for more on this story.
