Illegal Mexican immigrant, 16, claimed he acted in self-defense in brawl outside Island nightclub

"He stabbed my brother in the back," recalled Acristain, 34. "He tried to kill me as well."

Tuesday, September 25, 2007
By JEFF HARRELL
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A St. George teen claimed he acted in self-defense when he rushed to help his cousin and a friend outside a Port Richmond nightclub and stabbed a New Jersey man to death and slashed the victim's brother.

But a judge called the fatal stabbing an act of "incredibly bad judgment" and sentenced Irving Batalla Gama to 11 years in prison for killing Gabriel Acristain during a brawl near La Buena Vida on Port Richmond Avenue in February.

"It's explainable -- but it's not excusable," Justice Leonard P. Rienzi told the 16-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico during the sentencing hearing yesterday at state Supreme Court, St. George.

Initially charged with murder, Batalla Gama pleaded guilty in June to a reduced count of first-degree manslaughter for killing Acristain and slicing his brother, Samuel Acristain, in the leg.

The brawl, which was triggered last year by a fight over a girl, flared when the victim and his brother spotted Batalla Gama, his cousin Mario Batalla Gama Hernandez and friend Jorge Alejandro Torres walking out of La Buena Vida. Witnesses told police that Gabriel Acristain brained Torres Hernandez with a metal pipe. Batalla Gama reportedly rushed to his friend's defense, stabbed Acristain "at least four times," then slashed Samuel Acristain in the leg.

"If they wouldn't have approached us first, nothing would have happened," Batalla Gama explained to the judge yesterday through a Spanish interpreter. "They came looking for us. We were going home."

Samuel Acristain offered a different account of the killing when he gave a victim's impact statement, also through a Spanish interpreter.

"He stabbed my brother in the back," recalled Acristain, 34. "He tried to kill me as well."

The sentence -- which, under the plea agreement, called for a range of eight to 12 years in prison -- wasn't enough, Acristain admitted.

"I don't think it's just," he said. "I don't think it's justice, the sentence that's going to be given."

Had Batalla Gama been convicted at trial, he could have received up to 25 years to life for second-degree murder and a maximum seven years in prison on an assault charge.

Assistant District Attorney Janet Silvers reasoned in June that the plea agreement to a reduced count of manslaughter came about because of "self-defense issues," and witnesses initially identifying Batalla Gama's cousin and his friend as Acristain's killers.

Gama Hernandez and Torres Hernandez, both of Bayonne, were arrested following the attack and both were charged with second-degree murder.

Batalla Gama came forward two weeks later and admitted to police that he stabbed Acristain and slashed his brother when he rushed to the defense of his cousin and Torres Hernandez.

All charges against Gama Hernandez and Torres Hernandez were dropped in May.

Jeff Harrell covers courts for the Advance. He may be reached at harrell@siadvance.com.

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