Suspect testifies in bid for leniency

A man who took part in an attempted robbery that ended with a Huntington Station father dead conceded Tuesday in court that he was testifying against his friend and co-defendant only to get himself less prison time for the crime.

Gni Brown, 20, pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder in the death of Geremias Caceres, 39, who was shot outside his home Jan. 24, 2010, after walking there with his teenage son. Brown testified at the trial of Ralph Guerrier, 26, before State Supreme Court Justice Mark Cohen.

From the moment he and Guerrier were arrested -- less than an hour after the shooting -- Brown said he tried to reduce his prison time. "I believed if I'm in jail, I would probably get killed," testified Brown, a short and slight man, during an extensive cross-examination by defense attorney Mary Elizabeth Abbate of North Babylon.

During questioning, Brown's account of stalking Caceres, the shooting and the attempt to elude arrest did not waver.

But Brown conceded that at first, he told the police lies about how the shooting happened.

"They were telling me I was part of a murder, and I was telling them no, and making up things to get out of it," Brown said.

In time, though, he said, he decided to tell the truth even though it would mean pleading guilty to murder when he didn't fire the fatal shot. Brown was promised the minimum sentence of 15 years to life if he testified truthfully against Guerrier.

"I felt I wasn't guilty of the charge murder," Brown said during questioning by Assistant District Attorney Glenn Kurtzrock. "I'm not saying I wasn't there, or that Ralph Guerrier wasn't there."

Brown said he hoped to get what he called a "flat bid" -- a sentence that "didn't have life on the end of it" -- in return for his plea and cooperation, but he didn't get such an offer.