QUEENS MAN CONVICTED AFTER TRIAL OF VICIOUS KICK ATTACK OF WOMAN; FACES UP TO 25 YEARS IN PRISON

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown today announced that a Jamaica man has been convicted of assaulting a woman -– shortly after she had been stripped naked -- by viciously kicking her repeatedly in the head.

District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as Johnny Gueits, 27, of 178-26 93rd Avenue, Jamaica who was found guilty of Assault in the First Degree after a nine day trial by a jury of eight men and four women which deliberated just one hour before returning its verdict before Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Buchter. The defendant will be sentenced on April 30, 2002 and faces up to 25 years in prison.

District Attorney Brown said, "The defendant committed a vicious crime by attacking a helpless and defenseless woman and repeatedly kicking her in the head after she had been stripped of her clothing. The conviction ensures that justice has been done for the victim who sustained serious physical injuries in the attack."

According to the trial testimony, on July 4, 2001 the defendant and the victim, a 39-year-old woman, left a Jamaica, Queens bar with a male friend after an altercation with a bouncer and went to Harvard Playground, a nearby park at 90-70 179th Place. Some time later an eyewitness called 911 to report that a naked female was lying on the ground and being beaten by two men. Police immediately responded and found the victim bloodied, naked and unconscious. They found Gueits sitting on a nearby swing wearing shoes covered in blood and holding a blood-soaked tee shirt and arrested him. The second man had apparently left the scene and was never identified.

Assistant District Attorney Robert J. Ferino of the District Attorney's Special Victims Bureau prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Marjory D. Fisher, Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Gregory L. Lasak.