The Nation - News from Jan. 23, 1986

A teen-ager was acquitted of mugging a New York undercover police officer in an attack that ended with the officer shooting to death the defendant’s brother, a youth who rose from the streets of Harlem to an exclusive prep school. The jury found in favor of Jonah Perry, 19, a Cornell University sophomore accused of helping his slain brother, Edmund Perry, 17, attack the officer. The defense argued that no assault or robbery attempt occurred and that a drunken Lee Van Houten shot Edmund Perry unjustifiably during an unnecessary confrontation.