After allegedly killing Maine resident Donald Giusti in a gruesome rock-throwing attack, a Somali teen was released on a $500 bail. Still unsatisfied with his freedom, the teen submitted a list of demands to the local judge, and he was granted some of them.
A night turned deadly after a group of Somali youths clashed with more than a dozen white men, who were congregating in Lewiston’s Kennedy Park, according to the Sun Journal. During the massive brawl, 38-year-old Donald Giusti was walking away when then 17-year-old Emmanuel Nkurunziza picked up a piece of concrete and threw it at the man, hitting him in the back of the head and knocking him down to the pavement.
Three days later, Giusti died of blunt-force trauma to his head and torso. Along with two accomplices, Nkurunziza was arrested for his involvement in the death. The teen admitted to throwing the rock but denied seeing where it landed. When a video of the horrific attack showed otherwise, he was charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault.
Despite turning 18, Nkurunziza was allowed to post a $500 cash bail with a supervised release, according to the Portland Press Herald. The teen was then fitted with an ankle monitor but was still able to attend school. However, despite the leniency the court had already granted, the teen made further demands.
Nkurunziza requested that Judge Rick Lawrence loosen his bail conditions, arguing that they are too strict. The teen asked to have his electronic ankle monitor removed because it is too difficult to find time to charge it since he is at school most of the day. He also complained that the device made it difficult for him to find a job, which he argued would be easier if his house arrest was also lessened.
The court already gave Nkurunziza multiple chances when it comes to his supervision. According to court documents, he has failed to report to his supervisor on three separate occasions, claiming that he had forgotten to check in. He subsequently filed a motion for more flexibility in reporting to his supervisor.
However, monitoring wasn’t the only issue Nkurunziza wanted to be changed to suit his schedule. Previously, Allan Lobozzo, the teen’s attorney, filed a motion to have his trial moved out of Androscoggin County, arguing that media coverage and lack of “true diversity” in the jury pool would prevent him from having a fair trial.
Finding a “jury of his peers will be impossible in this area” because the defendant is an African refugee, Lobozo wrote in the motion. “There are few areas in Maine where the probability of true diversity is present.”
Yet another demand that Nkunrunziza submitted was to allow him to move to Biddeford, which is 50 miles south of Lewiston. Judge Michaela Murphy granted the teen permission to move but maintained that he must continue to check in with a supervisor from an independent agency.
Nkurunziza’s legal team urged the court to let their client go to work and school without any monitoring. Prosecutors, on the other hand, filed a motion to have the teen’s bail revoked due to his repeated failure to report to his court-mandated supervisor.
Nkurunziza received multiple special favors from the courts yet continued to express his dissatisfaction with his conditions. Disturbingly, the courts caved, allowing the teen privileges not typically afforded to suspects charged with such serious crimes.
Giusti’s grieving family members can never get back their loved one. However, it adds insult to injury every time the courts granted Nkurunziza’s special requests.
