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Jury acquits Port Chester man who said stabbing was self-defense

A Port Chester man who stabbed his stepsons’ father during an argument has been acquitted of attempted murder and assault charges after jurors believed his claim that he was acting in self-defense.

Cristian Bedoya-Ramirez, 27, broke into tears soon after the verdict was read in Westchester County Court on Thursday, Feb. 5. Jurors found Bedoya not guilty of attempted murder, first-degree attempted assault and second-degree assault, all felonies, and misdemeanor charges of third-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

He would have faced a minimum of five years and a maximum of 25 years in state prison if convicted of attempted murder and also faced mandatory prison time on the attempted assault charge.

On the afternoon of Dec. 25, 2024, the father and his wife went to the home on South Regent Street. They said they were picking up the man’s children when Bedoya attacked him with a knife.

But Bedoya and his wife testified that in a phone conversation that afternoon the father said he was not going to get the kids. When the wife told him he shouldn’t make promises to the kids and then disappoint them, the father grew angry and When Bedoya got on the phone, he testified, the father threatened that he was going to come over and harm him and showed up a short time later.

“I felt distressed because I became afraid, he was going to do something to me or my wife,” Bedoya testified last week through a Spanish interpreter.
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The father suffered multiple stab wounds but Bedoya claimed he didn’t think he had cut him because he didn’t immediately see blood.

The video of Bedoya’s interview at police headquarters was played for jurors. In his cross examination of Bedoya, Assistant District Attorney Luis Felix questioned him about why none of the things he was claiming about being fearful, that he believed the father to carry knives and that he had threatened to kill him, were shared with the detective. Bedoya said he wasn’t asked about those things so didn’t say them.

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BWHL

Seems the ADA never heard the old saw, “Never ask a question unless you already know the answer.” This goes with, “Don’t prosecute a case you can’t win.” That’s why he’s an ADA and will likely remain one.

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.
— Edward R. Murrow

Category: Feel Good Stories