In a Manhattan courtroom, an all-male blue-ribbon jury studiously listened to the story of a thoroughly senseless murder. Seven boys, 15 to 19, were on trial for the gang killing of polio-crippled, 15-year-old Michael Farmer in a Washington Heights park in upper Manhattan last summer (TIME, Aug. 12). Developed by the prosecution and no fewer than 27 court-appointed defense lawyers, the story unfolded slowly: the gang, called the Egyptian Dragons, had armed themselves with knives, a machete, a heavy dog chain, sticks, pipes and garrison belts, slipped into the park looking for members of a rival gang. They found...
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