The “But I Have Black Friends” Defense Works . . .

Hate crime charges dropped in Staten Island case:

Hate-crime charges were dropped yesterday against two white men accused of attacking a black man in Mariners Harbor earlier this week, as several black teenagers appeared in Stapleton Criminal Court to vouch for the suspects.

Police arrested Daniel Avissato, 24, of Westerleigh and Mark Vincent Maleto, 21, of Elm Park on a slew of charges, including assault as a hate crime, but the men were arraigned only on second-degree gang assault charges yesterday.

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Attorney John Murphy, in his defense of Avissato, called on several black teens in the courtroom to vouch for Avissato’s character.

“The accused young man I represent is not a racist,” Murphy said in a prepared statement he distributed outside the courthouse. “The anecdotal evidence of his living and working in harmony with diversity is overwhelming.”

Murphy called upon a 14-year-old boy, who declined to give his name, to recount a time when Avissato offered the teen a ride during bad weather.