The Nation - News from July 15, 1988

A white teen-ager was cleared of all charges in the second trial stemming from the Howard Beach, N.Y., racial attack in which a black man was chased to his death by a group of whites wielding sticks and a bat. Friends and relatives of Thomas Gucciardo, 19, burst into applause as the jury foreman pronounced him innocent of the most serious charge, second-degree attempted murder. Shouts of joy rang out as he was also cleared of assault and riot charges. A second jury considering lesser charges against four other defendants continued deliberating. Three youths were convicted in an earlier trial of manslaughter in the death of 23-year-old Michael Griffith.