A Brooklyn man found guilty of the brutal gang beat-down of a gay, black student spent a mere 20 minutes behind bars Monday as a judge raised his bail to $50,000.
Mayer Herskovic — who has been out on bond since April 2014 strutted out of the holding cell after a bail bondsman immediately materialized following Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun’s decision to increase bail to $150,000 bond over $50,000 cash.
Herskovic, 24, was convicted Friday on charges of second-degree gang assault following a non-jury trial. He was previously out on $50,000 over $25,000.
The defendant and some 20 Shomrim members an ultra-orthodox Jewish community watch group surrounded Taj Patterson as he walked home from a friend’s birthday in Williamsburg on Dec.1, 2013, according to trial testimony.
One assailant stuck his thumb in Patterson’s eye, leaving him blind, the fashion student testified– adding it was the same man who pulled off his Air Jordan and threw it on a nearby roof.
Herskovic’s DNA, discovered by a controversial forensic procedure called “touch DNA,” was found on the sneaker.
Touch DNA requires only very small samples of DNA– such a skin cells left after someone casually handles an object–to make a comparison, experts testified during the trial.
As he left court with his wife Monday, Herskovic said he had no comment, citing “biased reporting.”
When pressed, the defendant said reporters were unfair because they declined to print that the trial testimony of prosecution witness Evelyn Keyes, a bystander, differed from her grand jury testimony years earlier.
He could recall no other errors.
Herskovic faces up to 15 years in prison when sentenced on Nov. 14.
