Surviving victim returns to stand in elevator stabbing trial

<p>The surviving victim of an elevator stabbing returned to the stand Thursday in the trial against the man accused of wielding the knife.</p>

News 12 Staff

Mar 22, 2018, 10:07 PM

Updated 2,227 days ago

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The surviving victim of an elevator stabbing returned to the stand Thursday in the trial against the man accused of wielding the knife.
Mikayla Capers was stabbed more than a dozen times during the 2014 attack in East New York. Her best friend, PJ Avitto, was killed.
Capers was only on the stand for about 30 minutes Thursday, but she testified for hours on Tuesday. Howard Greenberg, the attorney for suspect Daniel St. Hubert, questioned the girl, accused her of lying and called her "delusional." He ended his questioning by telling the media he believes that Capers' testimony will lead to his client being found not guilty.
Capers, during her testimony, said a police officer showed her a picture of St. Hubert while in the hospital and that she identified him as the man who killed Avitto and injured her. But jurors were told Thursday that that never happened.
"There never was any identification by her of the defendant," Greenberg said.
Capers on Tuesday pointed out St. Hubert as the "mysterious" or "bad man," as she calls him. Greenberg blamed the media for why Capers believes St. Hubert is the culprit.
Capers' great-grandmother, Regenia Trevathan, said that's simply untrue and that she knew the man's face. She went to to say that Greenberg's treatment of the 11-year-old girl on the stand has been outrageous. She said she would file a complaint against Greenberg once the trial is done.
Also Thursday, jurors were shown a hat found in the elevator that prosecutors say belonged to Avitto. Greenberg said there's no proof of that since no forensic testing was done. He said he believes the hat belongs to the real killer.
Jurors are expected to hear from more investigators in the case and a DNA expert when testimony continues Monday. Closing arguments are not expected until Tuesday at the earliest.


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