Indicted Councilman Larry Seabrook won't quit. The Bronx Democrat accused by federal prosecutors of taking part in real estate scams, soliciting a $50,000 bribe, and doctoring a $7 receipt for a bagel and a drink so he was reimbursed $177, says he won't resign. When asked by the Post if he took a bribe in exchange for getting a boiler company a gig at Yankee Stadium, Seabrook reportedly said "absolutely not" four times and laughed. He vowed to fight the charges, and claimed a close reading of the 66-page indictment against him reveals he's innocent. "I think if you read it, you'll see for yourself from that," he said. more ›

City Council passed legislation creating a specific crime classification for gang initiations—but opponents say the new bill could put innocent kids behind bars and lead them toward gangs. Gotham Gazette reports that the bill establishes a misdemeanor offense for gang initiations that prosecutors can use as an additional charge against suspects. Prosecutors don't need to demonstrate that someone was hurt in an initiation to use the new law, meaning they won't need a victim's testimony to prove a crime occurred. Critics say that's a loophole that could allow police to arrest innocent people with little evidence. Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens) disagrees: "You can't pull anyone off the corner with this law ... That's ridiculous." more ›

After deliberating for just four hours, a jury acquitted the man accused of fatally stabbing a 19-year-old college student who cut the line at the popular midtown Halal Chicken and Gyro food cart. Ziad Tayeh, 26, never denied killing Tyrone Gibbons during the October 2006 fight, but he's always maintained that it was in self-defense. The bloody incident began when Gibbons, his brother Shannon, and a third man, Chandradat Deodat, insinuated themselves in front of Tayeh on the line. When he protested, an argument led to a car chase and then a fateful confrontation at a red light at 52nd Street. more ›

While investigating former police officer Robert Melia Jr.'s alleged sexual assault on three underage girls, detectives discovered a video in his home that shows him sexually molesting cows in 2006. So animal-cruelty charges were added to the list, but on Wednesday a judge dropped the charges because prosecutors didn't "present enough evidence to jurors that Melia's alleged actions tormented the animals." more ›

A grand jury has voted not to indict an NYPD officer who fatally shot another officer chasing a thief through Harlem one rainy night at the end of May. Omar Edwards had just finished his shift and was not in uniform when he found a man breaking into his car. After a scuffle, he gave chase with his gun drawn, but was intercepted by plainclothes officer Andrew Dunton, who ordered him to drop his weapon. Edwards was fatally shot as he turned to face Dunton, and there are conflicting witness accounts as to whether Edwards identified himself as NYPD. more ›

The six person jury in the trial of Christopher Carter – the stockbroker accused of assaulting an overly vocal spin classmate at Equinox gym – found him not guilty yesterday of a misdemeanor assault charge which could have landed him in jail for a year. Though the victim, hedge fund manager Stuart Sugarman, spent almost two weeks in the hospital undergoing surgery for a herniated disc, the jury remained unconvinced that his injuries resulted from the incident. more ›

Some funny new details emerged yesterday in the trial of the retired cop infamous for aggressively silencing noisy passengers on the Long Island Railroad. John Clifford stood accused of assaulting a woman whose hand he twice slapped in March 2007 after she tried to intervene in his scolding of cell-phone talker Nicholas Bender. And if Jerry Seinfeld is looking for material for his new TV series, he’s got all the fodder he needs in yesterday's courtroom farce:
• We already knew that in trying to shame Bender into getting off the phone, Clifford called him a “f—king faggot.” But what was so important that Bender had to prattle on despite Clifford’s admonishments? Just his cousin's kidney failure is all.
• Frequent LIRR commuter Donna DeCurtis testified against Clifford yesterday, telling the judge she’s "petrified" of him. In 2006, when DeCurtis brushed off Clifford’s instructions to pipe down, the former private eye said, “I know who you are. I know you have a daughter. I know where you live. I can make your life hell.”
• Clifford knows for certain when other passengers are being too loud because he brings a noise meter with him on the train. He says the MTA is supposed to restrict any noise above 70 decibels, but “when you’re talking across the car it goes to 80 decibels.”
• LIRR conductor David Carliovoch is well familiar with Clifford and testified that he’s “a pain in the ass.”
• In the end, the judge acquitted Clifford of all charges, dismissing most of the testimony against him because all but one of the witnesses had "an ax to grind."
• But before the ruling, the prosecutor said Clifford's behavior is like "a dog marking his territory. He is not a white knight. He is Darth Vader.”