doctors failed to notice one of Rosenbaum's four stab wounds for almost an hour. Murder trial (1992) Nelson was tried on charges of murder as a hate crime in a New York state court in 1992. Nelson pleaded not guilty to the charge and denied stabbing Rosenbaum. Police testified that Nelson had confessed to murdering Rosenbaum to police officers. Prosecutors claimed Nelson had been carrying a blood-stained knife inscribed with the word "KilleR" at the time he was arrested, but Nelson's defense denied the knife was his and suggested police officers had found it elsewhere. No evidence of fingerprints on the knife was presented. Despite media reports that the pants Nelson had been wearing at the time of his arrest had been bloody, prosecutors did not present evidence of bloodstains upon Nelson's clothing. Nelson was acquitted of murder on October 29, 1992. The racial composition of the jury (which was considered relevant in the context of the racially charged atmosphere) is unclear: some contemporary reports described the jury as having consisted of six black jurors, four Hispanic jurors and two white jurors. Later reports described the jury as having consisted of eight black jurors, two white jurors and two Guyanese Americans of undisclosed race or as being "predominantly black". It was claimed that after conclusion of the trial, some jurors attended a party hosted by Nelson's lawyer which honored Nelson as a "hero". Violation of civil rights trials (1997 and 2003) In 1997, Nelson was convicted in federal court of violating Rosenbaum's civil rights. However, that verdict was vacated on appeal due to unfairness in the jury selection process. A retrial was held in 2003. There were two primary issues of contention: whether Nelson's actions had been motivated by prejudice and whether Nelson's actions caused Rosenbaum's death. In a departure from his position in the 1992 trial, Nelson admitted to having stabbed Rosenbaum and apologized to Rosenbaum's family for his actions. However, he denied his actions had been motivated by prejudice, claiming he had joined the mob because he was intoxicated and "caught up in the excitement". Prosecutors claimed that Nelson had admitted he had attacked Rosenbaum only after hearing someone shout "Let's get the Jew!". Rosenbaum's family claimed videotapes showed that Nelson was not intoxicated and claimed the mob of which Nelson was a member had shouted: "There's a Jew, let's get the Jew." On the issue of whether