BROOKLYN MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER COMMITTED AT FRANCIS LEWIS BOULEVARD DRAG RACES

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today the conviction of a Brooklyn resident for shooting to death a good Samaritan who had averted a brawl during a drag race on Francis Lewis Boulevard on October 11, 1998.

District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as Jose Feliciano, 25, of 205 Scholes Street, Brooklyn. He was convicted of murder 2°, robbery 1°, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon in the murder of Steven Julien of Long Island after a one week jury trial before Judge Barry Kron. He faces a sentence of up to life in prison when he is sentenced on November 27rd, 2000.

District Attorney Brown said, "Drag races create an atmosphere of disregard for public safety by their very nature. It is not at all surprising when further crimes ensue. The defendant shot a man who had stopped a fight. He then fled from the police and repeatedly endangered the public by continuing to flee from them. "

According to the trial testimony, the victim was watching a drag race in a crowd of more than a hundred people in front of St. Francis Prep on Francis Lewis Boulevard. A friend overhearing an insult to his wife retrieved a bat from his car and confronted the crowd. Steven Julien calmed him down, took the bat away from him and returned it to the car when a second vehicle pulled up along side the two men. The defendant stepped out and began firing. Steven Julien was struck by two bullets. The car in which the defendant had arrived sped away deserting the defendant but he pushed his way into the car of the original fighter and drove off. The car was thereafter abandoned but a fingerprint was found linking Jose Feliciano to the crime. The police apprehended the defendant after a high speed chase and he was subsequently identified as the shooter by several witnesses.

Assistant District Attorney Barry S. Weinrib of the District Attorney's Homicide Trials Bureau, which is under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Daniel A. Saunders and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney Gregory L. Lasak, tried the case.