Jury clears white electrician in 'noose' trial

A year ago, a longtime white electrician who worked at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia hung a hangman's noose in an electrical-supply room used by a black electrician.

Authorities charged the white man, William Gould, with intimidating co-worker Darryl Sykes because he was black, a misdemeanor that could have landed Gould in federal prison for a year.

Yesterday, a jury of eight men and four women - all white - decided after five hours of deliberation that Gould was not guilty.

One juror, an engineer from Philadelphia who asked that his name not be used, said he didn't believe that the government proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. "We didn't believe there was real malice," he said.

"The bottom line is that Mr. Gould did not intend to intimidate Darryl Sykes on account of race," David Kozlow, Gould's attorney, said, calling the incident "a foolish joke."

Prosecutors declined to comment after the verdict.

Sykes and Gould testified at trial, and the distinction between how the two perceived the noose became the focus of the trial.

A soft-spoken man, Sykes testified that he felt "threatened and intimidated" when he saw the noose hanging from a light fixture inside the supply room.

"I felt it was a message to stay in my place and not try to excel," Sykes recalled, referring to his participation in a mentoring program for minorities called "Insights."

He testified that the noose reminded him of the lynchings of African-Americans.

Gould, who passionately defended himself during animated cross-examination by prosecutor Eric Gibson, said that he had hung the noose as "a practical joke," adding that he was "stupid" but "not doing it out of malice, period."

During closing arguments yesterday, Gibson, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Melanie Wilmoth ridiculed the idea that the noose had been a prank.

When a picture of the noose was shown to the jury, Gibson said: "We're supposed to think this is a joke?"

Gibson said that Gould "targeted" Sykes because he was black and because he had decided to enroll in "Insights," which Sykes testified Gould had referred to as "soul brothers' school." Gould felt that the program was unfair because it excluded nonminorities from participation.

Defense attorney Elizabeth Toplin tried to persuade jurors that there was reasonable doubt about the government's case.

She said that Gould and Sykes had been longtime friends before the noose incident and that Sykes had listed Gould as a character reference in a discrimination complaint he filed - and later withdrew - against Children's Hospital. Sykes filed that complaint but withdrew it after he saw the noose, Toplin said.

Sykes declined comment yesterday after the verdict.