Murder in Aisle 3?

“Disgrace” and “ridiculous” were both words used to describe the criminal case of Scotty Enoe recently. After making headlines in 2023 for killing a shoplifter inside a CVS located on 49th and Broadway, 2 years later, Scotty Enoe sat and testified to defend himself from charges of manslaughter in a New York criminal court. However, this case dives deeper than a seemingly justified attack in a crowded part of New York.

Scotty Enoe – a 48-year-old man – was recently put on trial for charges of manslaughter and illegal possession of a weapon. After days of conflicting with the opposing prosecutors, Scotty Enoe and his attorney rested their case, only to find themselves right back in the courtroom; this time not defending Scotty, but rather celebrating the Jury’s 20-minute decision of acquitting him on the count of self-defense. Scotty was seen mouthing “thank you” to the Jury shortly after they found him innocent of his charge of manslaughter. 

The prosecution, however, was certainly not happy. As I witnessed myself in the courtroom, it was clear that prosecutor ADA Julie Nobel seemingly had a vendetta against Mr. Enoe. During his time on the stand, Nobel claimed that Enoe’s actions were truly a form of revenge, rather than the claimed self-defense. During the prosecution’s closing statement, Nobel told the jury, “You do not get to stab someone to death just because they punched you in the face.”

While his charge of manslaughter was acquitted, the prosecution was able to help the jury find Enoe guilty of criminal possession of a weapon. When arrested moments after the attack, alongside a blood-stained box cutter, officers found brass knuckles in the pocket of Enoe. But who is Scotty Enoe, why did he attack homeless Charles Brito, why was he in possession of these two weapons, and why is this case so important to the state of New York today and its judicial system?

The deadly encounter between Scotty Enoe and Charles Brito happened in July of 2023, right near the entrance of a CVS located in the heart of Manhattan on 49th and Broadway. The encounter started when Brito – a known shoplifter of drugstores in the area – walked into the CVS and got in an argument with Enoe. During this initial argument, Brito allegedly punched Enoe and slammed him into a cooler, while the victim did not retaliate. After this encounter in the back of aisle 8, Brito made his way towards the front of the store, where he started harassing two female workers. Enoe stated that he stood towards the back of the store so he could make sure that the two workers were not being threatened. Eventually, Brito started to physically harass the girls using his elbows – and Enoe gestured during his time on the stand.

Upon seeing this, Enoe picked up an open box cutter and approached Brito and the workers. Enoe told Brito to leave; however, Brito would not move. Upon his refusal to exit the store, Enoe showed the cutter to Brito, where he then lunged at Enoe, prompting the worker to “jab him”. Brito ended up sustaining 8 stab wounds to his stomach and was pronounced dead at the scene when paramedics arrived minutes later. Enoe was then arrested by officers and was tried almost 2 years later to the date.

After his trial ended, Enoe was charged with criminal possession of a weapon (his brass knuckles), and acquitted on all counts of manslaughter. However, pleading innocent to the weapons charge, Enoe and his defense attorney made little effort to deny the charges, aside from the fact that they were solely for the purpose of self-protection.

Aside from the fact that New York is a dangerous place, this case can tell us a lot about the state of New York City, and more specifically, its judicial system. In recent years, the number of homeless people placed in shelters has gone down, most notably by around 30,000 individuals this past year. Because of the growing population of New York, it can only be assumed that, rather than the homeless crisis going down, the problem has become more unstable. A majority of New Yorkers believe this is the fault of the government. Because the New York government simply does not provide enough help, independent shelters become overloaded, and the number of people without homes rises.

Another problem that this case displays is with the judicial system. On no fault of the judges of New York, the criminal system has become overloaded to the point where we can see, especially with the case of Mr. Enoe, that trials are happening quite literally 2 years after an arrest, and for crimes that may take investigators months if not years to make an arrest, a person can be tried many years after the initial crime was committed. After his verdict was announced, Enoe ripped at the prosecution, saying that the DA’s office should not have brought this case to court. While the case did take some time to sort out, Enoe highlights a crucial point in our judicial system here. Part of the reason that courts are so backlogged is because of many people’s refusal to plead guilty to something they know they did. This prompts the question: Should defense attorneys take more accountability to try and make their client take plea deals, and how can we better our judicial system as a whole?