No. Haven man not guilty in parking garage attack

By Randall Beach
Register Staff
NEW HAVEN — A Superior Court jury Tuesday ruled Louis Mazyck was not guilty of all charges in the attack on a nurse at the Air Rights Garage of Yale-New Haven Hospital a year-and-a-half ago.
The jurors were not convinced by testimony from the victim and three others in the garage who identified Mazyck as the man who was there Jan. 10, 2007.
Defense attorney Anthony DiCrosta said after court adjourned that jurors apparently focused on forensic tests that showed Mazyck was not a contributor to DNA found on the knife, gun and glove recovered in the garage.
The victim, now 56, testified a man followed her to her car and asked for a ride to North Haven, but, unsure how to react, she got into her car without responding.
According to the nurse, when the man again asked for a ride, she opened the car door, at which point he pulled out a gun. Although she persuaded him to put the gun away, she said he then put a knife against her cheek and cut her.
The nurse said she slid over to the passenger seat, as if to let him in, then opened the passenger door and ran for help.
She identified Mazyck in court, saying, "I have no doubt."
Three other people who testified also had picked Mazyck from a police photo board.
DiCrosta said after the trial that jurors must have paid close attention to shortcomings in the witness’ accounts.
"The facial features of the assailant were different than that of the defendant," DiCrosta said. "It was a different guy."
DiCrosta noted two alibi witnesses testified Mazyck was with them in Cheshire at the time of the crime.
Mazyck, 20, of North Haven, testified on his own behalf. "He believed in himself," DiCrosta said. "He just told the truth."
DiCrosta praised the jury. "They really paid attention to the details of the case and to the testimony." But Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Mary Elizabeth Baran said, "While we respect the jury’s verdict, as we must, it is a sad day for the criminal justice system in the state of Connecticut."
She added, "The state’s attorney’s office put on the testimony of four Yale-New Haven Hospital employees, including the victim, a 35-year veteran nurse. They were 100 percent positive that the defendant was the man at the parking garage that evening."
Baran also said, "The New Haven Police Department did an outstanding job in investigating this matter and apprehending the perpetrator. All of that evidence was presented in court to a jury." Mazyck was charged with attempted first-degree kidnapping, second-degree assault, attempted first-degree larceny and attempted first-degree robbery.
The jurors began deliberating Monday afternoon and resumed Tuesday morning. They announced a verdict at about 2:30 p.m. DiCrosta said Mazyck has "no bitterness" about the legal system. "He says he’ll put this behind him and do good things with his life."
Randall Beach can be reached at rbeach@nhregister.com or 789-5766.