Results tagged “benjaminbrafman”

The Plaxico Burress case is now in the hands of the grand jury, who will decide what charges (if any) are coming against the receiver. The News reports that the end of proceedings saw three Giants staffers share their accounts of the fateful November night—Director of Development Charles Way, VP of Medical Services Ronnie Barnes and Coach Jesse Armstead. And before any decision is reached, the Times tries to sift through all of the media gamesmanship on both sides to get at just what actually would be a fair punishment for Burress. One criminal attorney familiar with the standard plea tactics of the DA's office said one year's jail time usually would have been the norm for these sort of charges (Plax's lawyer Benjamin Brafman's offer of one year was allegedly rejected by his former boss, Robert Morgenthau.) Brafman is still whining to the press about the unfairness of the DA's hard stance against his client, now saying he is "deeply saddened by (their) lack of compassion." The grand jury, acting as "the conscience of the community," could decide as early as today if they found a similar sympathy in Plax's testimony. Update: That was fast: Burress was just indicted!

Former Giant receiver Plaxico Burress testified for three hours in front of a grand jury today, then followed his time on the witness stand with the first words he's spoken to reporters since the day he shot himself in the leg inside a Manhattan nightclub eight months ago today. Burress said, “I was truthful, I was honest and I am truly remorseful for what I’ve done, what happened and what I did. I just want to thank everybody — family, friends and fans — for their support.”

Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau made it clear today that his office has no plans to let former Giant receiver Plaxico Burress off lightly for the pending gun charges from his November shooting incident. The DA told the Post, "We've always taken the position that he's going to have to go to jail, whether by trial or by plea."

Plaxico Burress's attorney claims that his client is getting no celebrity treatment from the Manhattan DA's Office. What's more, Plax's hotshot lawyer Benjamin Brafman suggests prosecutors should go easy on the football player after news that Browns receiver Donte Stallworth only received 30 days in jail in a DWI manslaughter plea deal.

Plaxico Burress made his way into Manhattan criminal court this morning where a judge adjourned his weapons possession case until September. A grand jury will decide whether to indict Burress for last fall's shooting mess at nightclub Latin Quarter by September 23rd, marking the end of any potential plea deal trying to be worked out by his high-profile lawyer Benjamin Brafman. Brafman said, "There is no victim in this case besides Plaxico Burress."

Plaxico Burress is due back in court Monday for the first time since getting his case postponed in March. Since then, his lawyer Benjamin Brafman has been attempting to hammer out a deal with prosecutors. But it appears that the attorney hasn't quite found the magical offer to beat Plax's gun charges the way he once did for Diddy. Brafman told the News, "We'll be in and out of court in five minutes. There is going to be an adjournment. There is no agreement at all." Brafman says that he hopes that the case can be put off until September, possibly opening the door for the receiver to step on the field this season. The Post continues to float the notion that the Jets might still be interested in Burress, along with the Bucs and the Bears, but shockingly no mention of the Dallas Cowboys.

With less than 72 hours until Plaxico Burress is due in court to face weapons charges for his infamous shooting incident last fall, reports are coming out that his lawyer Benjamin Brafman is doing everything he can to strike a plea deal to keep the Giants' receiver out of jail. Brafman, famous for getting Diddy off a weapons rap ten years ago, "has been in constant communication with the Manhattan district attorney's office for months," according to ESPN. The Giants are watching patiently and seem to be open to a Plax return if charges are reduced. In the meantime, the team has refused to let him take part in their voluntary offseason program. Until the court date though, don't expect any more leaks from the tight-lipped Brafman—who the Star-Leger calls "the Patriots of attorneys." And Tuesday is lining up to be a star-studded day in criminal court, with rapper Ja Rule and Real Housewife Kelly Bensimon all scheduled to have hearings back to back.

Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who appears to be in a heap of trouble after shooting himself with an unlicensed handgun at a nightclub yesterday, will apparently turn himself into authorities and plead not guilty to charges tomorrow. Word of this came from Burress's new layer, Benjamin Brafman, the same man who represented and helped acquit Diddy (several identities ago when he was Puff Daddy) after he was charged with having an unlicensed weapon at a club in 1999. Giants owner John Mara told reporters that the league and team officials met with players before the season to discuss the complications of owning firearms. Mara said, “Players, for whatever reason, feel the need to carry guns. It’s not something that we’re particularly pleased about, but that is the choice that they make."

Queens City Councilman Dennis Gallagher, whose office was raided last July after rape allegations and was indicted by a grand jury in August, is smiling - for now. A judge dismissed the indictment, believing the defense's claim that the "grand jury process was compromised." The jurors had complained the prosecutors were trying to make Gallagher look "foolish."

Joseph Jirovec and Kimberly Babajko are two of ten people arrested in an attack that was initiated by a friendly greeting of "Happy Channukah!" aboard a Q train in Brooklyn last week. Both Jirovec and Babajko have criminal records for assaulting minorities and could face hate crime charges in their latest brush with justice. Both are scheduled to appear in Brooklyn Criminal Court today for the vicious beating they allegedly administered to Walter Adler, who was on his way home from a holiday dinner. Adler and his girlfriend were spared further injury when a complete stranger, Hassan Askari, intervened at his own physical expense. The young Muslim man was beaten alongside Adler.

It's been a couple of days since we checked in on rap mogul and late night rabble rouser Sean Combs, who allegedly punched Steven Acevedo this past Sunday at an after hours club in SoHo. Currently The Daily News is reporting that Acevedo's lawyer stated his client doesn't want Combs to go to jail, however there are other reports stating Combs "is naive if he believes he can escape his latest accusations of assault with an out-of-court settlement."

Sean Combs clocked a 31 year old clubgoer in SoHo on Sunday, right in the kisser...twice. Oh yes he Diddy! The rap mogul was at the after-hours club Kiosk (located at 95 Spring Street) when the rumble went down, and he's yet to turn himself in. amNewYork reports that "he was expected to appear at the First Precinct this morning for questioning."

Police would not identify the victim in the case but they said First Precinct officers responded to a 3:15 a.m. call for a fight at the club. They found a man, who was identified as Steven Acevedo, suffering from at least two wounds to his face, the result of two punches Combs allegedly landed.

After claims that his G-Unit associate Tony Yayo beat up the son of a rival music management company for him, 50 Cent is talking. Well, his lawyer is talking. Benjamin Brafman, familiar for having defended P. Diddy and DJ Star, fired off a few words at the child's lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman.

Troi Torain, aka DJ Star, aka the DJ who threatened rival DJ Envy by saying he'd pull an R. Kelly on DJ Envy's four year old daughter, while using racist slurs to refer to DJ Envy's wife, is hoping his criminal case will be thrown out. DJ Star was arrested for his remarks (child endangerment), but his lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, says that other DJs started it. Namely, Miss Jones, from Miss Jones in the Morning on Hot 97. Torain claims Miss Jones called him an "alcoholic" and said he "liked boys," called his mom a "prostitute" and his dad a "tar-black" "Sambo," and said her young son's penis was probably the size of Torain's (via Daily News and Post). Okay, those aren't very nice, but why all the vitriol towards DJ Envy when it's all about Miss Jones? At any rate, Brafman would like the whole Miss Jones in the Morning crew to be arrested.

The NYPD doesn't like hate crimes either, as DJ Star has been arrested today for "suspicion of endangering the welfare of a minor" and started a hate crime investigation. Well, that's what you get for saying you'd ejaculate and pee on the 4 year old daughter of your rival, call her "half a lo mein eater," and call her mom a "slanty eye whore wife." This most likely pleases the target of some of the vitriol, Gia Casey, wife of DJ Star's rival DJ Envy; Casey held a press conference and spoke to NY1 saying that DJ Star needed to be behind bars: "He needs to be held 100 percent accountable."

As suspected, the TriBeCa kidnapping yesterday was over real estate. The Time spins it as an Edgar Allan Poe tale, detailing the the ordeal of the alleged victim, Lawrence Schlosser, 63 year old real estate investor. It was a real estate meeting gone sour, with the alleged kidnapper, Lawrence Omansky, forcing Schlosser to sign over buildings after punching and threatening him with a knife for a few hours. Then he tied Schlosser up and hid him in the crawlspace of his building. Schlosser got out 18 hours laters, after prying open the trapdoor with a pipe. Omansky's lawyer is Benjamin Brafman, who defended P. Diddy during the club shooting case.