Competing arguments were furious today as the jury prepared to deliberate the verdict for a Florida man accused of brutally stabbing his victim to death at a Flatbush intersection.
The case, which originally appeared to be a simple drug deal gone bad, was turned upside down when defense lawyer, Doug Appel, asked jurors to question who was the real victim. The defendant, Nuri Hoxha, was 17 years old when he fatally stabbed Philip Realmuto, 25, in April 2008. Appel said in his final statement that Hoxha did so in self-defense.
“Who was taking advantage of whom?” the lawyer asked rhetorically.
In a trial at Kings County Criminal court, which started an hour late due to a tardy juror, both the prosecution and defense concluded their arguments in front of Judge Neil Jon Firetog.
The defendant had travelled to New York to sell $3600 worth of cocaine to the Staten Island victim, whom he had previously met in Florida. Four days after Hoxha arrived in New York, Realmuto was found at Avenue C and McDonald Avenue near his car, stabbed to death with 18 wounds.
In court, Hoxha appeared frustrated with prosecutor Tim Gough, who insisted that Hoxha repeat the timeline of his visit to the city, from his arrival at the Port Authority bus terminal to a few days later, on the evening when Realmuto was killed.
Gough presented Hoxha as a hotheaded drug dealer who became upset when the victim continued to postpone the drug deal over a few days. At 17 years, the defendant already had three drug related arrests in Florida. The prosecutor divulged into Hoxha’s criminal history, saying that Hoxha had already been robbed and shot at before coming to New York.
“You’re putting words in my mouth,” the defendant stuttered, when Gough bluntly asked him whether Hoxha had used weapons to protect himself because of his high-risk lifestyle.
Gough showed the jurors phone records that revealed numerous outgoing calls Hoxha made, particularly to a Suffolk County number, the day before the murder even though Hoxha claimed he didn’t know anyone in New York.
At one point, Judge Firetog asked the defendant to compose himself. “Just answer questions, don’t ask questions,” the judge said, after Hoxha, visibly agitated, began posing questions to the prosecution.
The police caught Hoxha after he was arrested for possession of cocaine in Clearwater, Florida, more than a year after leaving New York.
The defense didn’t dispute that Hoxha stabbed Realmuto. Instead, defense lawyer Appel asked the jurors to think about what happened between the two men that night in Realmuto’s car. Realmuto picked up Hoxha and drove to the quiet Flatbush intersection where the exchange was supposed to finally occur; three days after Hoxha arrived in the city.
The trial hinges on Hoxha’s intentions, which is important as the jurors prepare to decide if Hoxha is guilty of second degree murder. A second degree murder charge in New York carries a sentence of 25 years to life.
Appel painted Hoxha as a young, foolish teenager who was only protecting himself from Realmuto, who sold illegal pills.
“I told you in the beginning you wouldn’t like anything about [Hoxha],” Appel said, during his final statement. Hoxha slouched down in his chair as Appel addressed the jury.
Appel suggested that Realmuto pulled out the knife from under his seat, causing Hoxha to panic and grab the knife in self-defense.
Appel, however, didn’t address why Hoxha stabbed the victim multiple times before running away to the nearest subway station.
The jury is currently deliberating the charges, and will likely arrive at a verdict later this week.
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