More details have emerged about Judge James D. Gibbons, who abruptly resigned earlier this month just before it was publicly revealed that inquiries into his work computer turned up pornography. The Manhattan district attorney's office is scouring the files to determine if any of the girls are underage, and if criminal charges are warranted. According to the Daily News, an investigator told them that, "There was a lot of porn on his computer—all young women. Lots of crotch and cleavage shots." more ›

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance is one of the most powerful prosecutors in the country, but yesterday he was in criminal court, trying to help his underlings get through a backlog of over 16,000 cases. According to the NY Times, "Such a backlog leads to significant delays: Last year, the average case in criminal court took 316 days to go from arraignment to completion, he said. The logjam also results in the dismissal of thousands of cases each year that fail to proceed to trial quickly enough. More than 4,800 such cases were dismissed last year in Manhattan, according to court records." more ›

In a move that seemingly acknowledges the growing backlash against the plan to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other suspected 9/11 plotters in a Lower Manhattan courthouse, President Obama has said he will play a bigger role in the selection of a venue for the trial. The Washington Post reports that after initially tapping Attorney General Eric Holder to determine the site of the trial, Obama himself will become more involved so he can secure congressional funding for the case before opponents launch efforts to strip the trial of financing. more ›

The NY Times visited Room 129 at Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday, "It is one of the rooms on the main floor of the courthouse where many of the men and women arrested in Manhattan are arraigned," finding it humming with activity, even though it was New Year's Eve. more ›

After sitting in jail for five years awaiting his trial, a Bronx man was cleared of all of the charges against him on Tuesday. Michael Ikoli, 22, had been behind bars at Rikers Island since 2004, when he was accused of being involved in the shooting outside a skating rink. more ›

When career criminal and escape artist Ronald Tackman was able to walk out of a Manhattan courthouse Wednesday simply because he was wearing a nice suit, there must have been some part of him that wondered, "That's it?" For when Tackman was eventually picked up Washington Heights, police discovered on him an arsenal that rivaled a Carrot Top starter kit: a fake passport, wigs, phony beards, and four gun-shaped cigarette lighters. Does he do accents as well? more ›

Ronald Tackman, the man who escaped from custody at Criminal Court thanks to his nice suit, was captured last night at 175th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Washington Heights. A tipster told cops that he was taking a city bus and they were there to arrest him. more ›

Ronald Tackman, the prisoner who escaped from a Criminal Court holding cell yesterday and managed to blend in with the court crowds, thanks to his business suit, is still at large. He did manage to head to his mother's Upper East Side home; she told NY1, "He came home and he was all dressed up and I figured that he was discharged from prison. So I didn't say anything and he asked me to change his clothes and that was it." His new attire: Jeans and a black jacket. more ›

Jack Jordan, the man convicted of stalking actress Uma Thurman, received a sentence of three years probation today. On May 6th a jury found Jordan guilty of stalking and aggravated harassment. Prosecutors had wanted him to spend a year in jail, but the judge declined to order any jail time, opting for psychiatric counseling for the 37-year-old former mental patient. more ›

UPDATE: Jack Jordon was convicted of stalking and aggravated harassment; the jury found him not guilty of two second-degree aggravated harassment charges. Jordan now faces 90 days in jail for the stalking and up to a year behind bars for the aggravated harassment. According to the Times, his lawyer said his client had turned down a plea bargain for time in a mental treatment facility, sticking with his story that his behavior was eccentric, but playful flirtation. more ›

The man accused of stalking actress Uma Thurman took the stand yesterday and admitted, "I imagined incorrectly a relationship with Miss Thurman." But while Jack Jordan, 37, acknowledged he might have been "foolish" in his pursuit of the actress, but also said in his obsession with Thurman said, "It seems almost as if Uma was courting me. We were engaged in a game of cat and mouse." more ›

Alycia Lane, the Philadelphia newswoman who punched a female NYPD police officer, was relieved after appearing at Manhattan Criminal Court today. The Manhattan DA's office basically dismissed her case, for an "adjournment in contemplation of dismissal." more ›

Detective Sean Johnstone of the Brooklyn South Narcotics Unit was arrested yesterday along with police officer Julio Alvarez in connection to 11 missing bags of cocaine that Johnstone seized in a drug bust. The detective was caught talking about the drugs when he forgot that he was wearing a wire for an undercover operation and he recorded himself talking about them to Alvarez.

The officers were caught after Johnstone unknowingly left a wire that he was wearing turned on. The two officers were heard talking to a third unnamed officer about a drug bust and how they confiscated 28 bags of cocaine, but only turned in 17 of them.

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. more ›

The young woman accused of killing real estate broker to the stars Linda Stein pleaded not guilty in Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday. Natavia Lowery was denied bail, and her new defense lawyer, Ron Kuby, made a few points:First, he said Lowery's confession was coerced by the police detectives because, having been interrogated for hours on end without access to a phone or her lawyer "She had to make something up to get out of that... more ›

An NYPD detective was arrested in the breaking up of a Bronx drug ring this week. The bust was comprehensive and prosecutors are alleging that officer James Calderon used his inside knowledge of police activities to enable crack and heroin dealers to operate with relative impunity. James Calderon was a 13-year veteran of the force, but is now being accused of acting as an agent for Jorge and Luis Mendoza, Bronx drug dealers who allegedly... more ›

Natavia Lowery, the personal assistant of Linda Stein -- who she is accused of murdering, was indicted on the murder charges yesterday. Last week Lowery confessed to bludgeoning her old boss with a yoga stick, claiming Stein blew pot smoke in her face. Despite the confession, Lowery's friends and family are insisting she is innocent, and shouted out some choice pull quotes at yesterday's hearing:"Liars!" several people among more than a dozen supporters of 26-year-old... more ›

Through some strange stroke of Manhattan Supreme Court scheduling, Ja Rule, Remy Ma, Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes all appeared in court yesterday (at different times) to face various charges. Ja Rule and Lil Wayne faced gun possession charges from separate incidents on July 22. The pair, who collaborated on a song "Uh Oh," also shared the same attorney, Stacey Richman. Richman said that Lil Wayne couldn't be guilty, because when his tour bus... more ›

The 22-year-old St. John's University student who brought a loaded .50 caliber rifle to the Queens campus on Wednesday was arraigned in his hospital room at Bellevue yesterday. Communicating via a video link to the Queens Criminal Court, Omesh Hiraman appeared "frail in his blue pajamas" (NY Times), while he "hands shook and he "rocked back and forth" (Daily News), but seemed lucid during the proceedings. Judge Deborah Stevens Modica ordered that he be given a psychiatric evaluation to determine his mental fitness. more ›

A judge sentenced Foxy Brown to a year in jail yesterday for violating the terms of her three-year probation. Officials asked that her probation be revoked following an incident in August when Brown (neé Inga Marchand) allegedly assaulted a neighbor with her BlackBerry wireless device. Brown was contrite and promised to adhere to whatever probation conditions the judge would set forth, but apparently the BlackBerry incident was the last of a long string of probation violations that proved too much for Criminal Court Judge Melissa Jackson. Probation officials said that Brown's violations included moving out of NY State without telling them, allegedly assaulting a beauty shop employee in a dispute over payment while in Florida (without asking permission to leave NY state), failing to report an arrest in NJ, not attending court-mandated anger mandated sessions, and not reporting to her probation officer. Brown was on probation for three years after pleading guilty to an assault on two manicure shop employees in NYC in 2004. more ›

The police swarmed Co-op City, the Bronx housing complex, at 8AM with reports of a triple shooting. It turned out that a disgruntled former employee shot and killed an employee in a basement office and then shot two other people on his way out. more ›

Foxy Brown, after violating probation, got an all access pass to the big house this morning. The rapper managed to use a Blackberry as a weapon earlier this month - the latest on a list of violent outbursts, yet has managed to stay out of jail against all odds until this point. more ›

Last month Remy Ma, after a night out at Pizza Bar in the Meatpacking District, shot her friend Makeda Barnes-Joseph. Oops. The 23-year old survived the rapper's wrath, and Remy Ma went to Riker's. The altercation began after Barnes-Joseph was believed to have stolen $3,000 from Remy Ma, something that is still unconfirmed. According to the victim, instead of calling 911 after the shooting, Remy went through her purse while she bled from two shots to the stomach. more ›

Today, Dexter Bostick and Robert Ellis will be arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court on charges related to the Monday shooting of two police officers during a traffic stop. Bostick and Ellis had fled NYC after the shooting, only to be captured days later in Pennsylvania. Yesterday, they were extradited from Pennsylvania, and lines of police officers watched them as they were escorted to and from the 71st Precinct in Brooklyn. Police officers are expected to appear at the courthouse also, in another display of solidarity with injured officers Herman Yan and Russel Timoshenko; Timoshenko continues to be in critical condition at Kings County Hospital after being shot twice in the face. more ›

Just when we thought we couldn't possibly hear about more troubles for Busta Rhymes, he's now facing four separate trials in New York for past incidents. E Online recaps the rapper's rap sheet: "The first assault complaint was filed last summer by a 19-year-old man, who claims he was roughed up by the entertainer after spitting on Rhymes' SUV. The second complaint came from a 39-year-old man, reportedly Busta's former driver, who says he was beaten up by Rhymes last Christmas in a beef over money." The third and fourth charges are for driving drunk and driving with a suspended license. more ›

A Legal Aid Society lawyer was arrested yesterday for allegedly planting a clock with a hidden surveillance camera inside it in a female co-worker's office. WNBC reports that 32-year-old Peter Barta's distaff co-workers told police detectives that they regularly used their offices to change into work clothes (like a suit for court) or for after-work activities. Barta had videotape in his home of one of his workers with her breasts and buttocks bared. more ›

Jack Rhodes, who was arrested last week for allegedly beating up two elderly women in March, has been transfered to Rikers Island where corrections officials are trying to keep him safe. Rhodes is left in his own cell for 23 hours, except for an hour of exercise while a guard "shadows" him. According to the Daily News, a police sources says the private cell is because many prisoners "would like to take a pop at him." more ›

We never thought Foxy Brown was all smart (our favorite example: pleading guilty but then trying to take it back) and given her penchant for getting into trouble (smacking manicurists here, "stealing" belts there), but one would think she'd get a clue. Alas, no, and the Manhattan DA's office attempted to get Brown jailed because she had violated her parole by traveling to Florida. The DA's office and the Department of Probation found out because Brown got into an altercation at a Florida beauty supply store, allegedly throwing a bottle of hair glue at an employee and resisting a police officer. more ›

Gridskipper solicited picks for the city's ugliest buildings from eleven architecture-minded New Yorkers. The list includes Astor Place’s The Sculpture for Living building (which replaced a parking lot), the Queens Citicorp Building, the Pan Am Building (now the MetLife Building), the AT&T Building on Church St., the Cross Bronx Expressway and anything by Trump – but the Trump World Tower isn't really that ugly. Someone even mentioned the Hearst Tower. Wow. more ›