"Are You Muslim?": Hate-Crime Charges Upheld in Attack on NYC Cabbie
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) A judge has upheld hate-crime charges against Michael Enright, a college student accused of slashing a New York City taxi driver's neck in an anti-Muslim attack.
The judge said Wednesday that a grand jury had enough evidence to indict Enright in the Aug. 24, 2010 stabbing.
The 22-year-old film student has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault as hate crimes.
Prosecutors say Enright asked driver Ahmed Sharif whether he was Muslim and told him to "consider this a checkpoint" before cutting him.
When Sharif, of Bangladesh, replied that he was in fact Muslim, Enright allegedly lunged through the cab partition with a Leatherman knife, reported CBS station WCBS.
As the two men allegedly struggled, Sharif lost control of the cab, which rolled for a block and a half in a busy commercial area in New York City.
The cabbie survived the attack, but suffered stab wounds on his forearm, a defensive wound on his hand, and slashes to his neck and upper lip.
Enright's lawyer has said the student was beset by alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder after a trip to Afghanistan.
He's due back in court March 30.
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Aug. 26, 2010 -Cabbie Ahmed Sharif Stabbed: Michael Enright Asks "Are You Muslim?" and Slashes Driver, Say Cops