After a jury's indecision led to a mistrial on rape charges, the father of the victim is speaking out. The upset parent, who lives out of state, told the Post, "When things like this happen, it just makes you think twice" about moving to NYC. more ›

City Councilman Larry Seabrook was thrilled yesterday after a jury remained deadlocked on fraud charges against him— those charges included accusations that he got kickbacks from a contractor he recommended to work on the new Yankee Stadium, funneled hundreds of thousands to his mistress and her relatives, and altered a receipt for a $7 bagel to $177. Seabrook, a Democrat who represents the Bronx, said, “I continue to have faith and certainly have faith in God and faith in the jury system and hoping that the jury would come to the conclusion and that’s what we’ll live with, what was said. And we’ll continue to keep the faith." more ›

After publishing Gothamist's first long-form feature last week, Confessions of a "Rape Cop" Juror by Patrick Kirkland, we received many comments and questions about the piece. Confessions is Patrick's account as a juror in the trial of two NYPD officers charged with raping a young woman in her East Village apartment. The rape acquittals in this case sparked widespread outrage—many New Yorkers felt the defendants should have been convicted of more than just official misconduct. However, the jury, which listened to weeks of testimony, felt differently. We posed some of your questions to Patrick: more ›

This is our justice system, people According to the Daily News, "A [Queens] judge declared a mistrial in a rape trial after a renegade juror emailed a friend who happens to be a Bronx prosecutor about the contentious deliberations." more ›

The NYPD's ongoing ticket-fixing mess seems to have been good for former Bronx ADA Stephen Lopresti. After the defense hammered in the fact that the cops who arrested Lopresti for driving drunk on the Grand Concourse in December 2006 were involved in the scandal it took a jury all of 45 minutes to let him off the hook. "The corruption was ridiculous," Juror Isaac Johnson, 22, told the News. "They have no integrity. They don't even deserve a badge." more ›

Yesterday, the NY Post published an interview with Julia Moreno, the wife of the (now former) police officer acquitted of raping a drunk East Village woman while on duty, where the weary spouse said the accuser "should go to jail for this" and should "go to hell." Now, the NY Times has run its interview with Mrs. Kenneth Moreno: She said the accuser made up a story, "From the beginning of time, this is what girls do — young girls, inexperienced. They’re not mature. They get drunk. They do these things and, you know, they want sympathy. In his case I believe she wanted sympathy from her friends because they threw her out of her own party." more ›

A Brooklyn man died yesterday while hearing testimony in a grand jury presentation in Brooklyn Supreme Court. The 49-year-old man suffered a heart attack just before the 1 p.m. lunch break. more ›

Vampire squid Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein testified today in the Galleon insider trading trial of Raj Rajaratnam. Rajaratnam, a hedge fund founder who is out on $100 million bail, is accused of a huge insider trading ring. The trial is pretty complicated, what with hours of secretly recorded conversation and financial details, and the jury is made up of mostly blue collar New Yorkers—and one alternate juror dubbed the "Hipster Juror" who has already fallen asleep—who don't know who the hell Lloyd Blankfein is. more ›

Yesterday, the trial of Raj Rajaratnam, a hedge fund founder accused of a huge insider trading ring (how huge? well, he's out on $100 million bail), began yesterday, The federal prosecutor declared, "Greed and corruption — that’s what this case is all about," while Rajaratnam's defense said, "The government has it wrong." But who are the people who have to listen to dense financial jargon for weeks, if not months? Well, you can bet at least some are Oprah Winfrey fans. more ›

Bronx judges are upset that many jurors can't seem to STFU about felony trials, both inside and outside the courtroom. Discussing felony trials outside of jury deliberation can lead to mistrial, but many Bronx jurors either forget that or just don't care. One juror on a drug case last year told the Daily News, "We talked about things that would have made the judge crazy. You talk about the defendant, the lawyers, the judge—because they become such a big part of your life." more ›

Whether you call them "productivity goals" or "a list of things to do before the end of the month," there has been indisputable proof that the NYPD higher-ups widely encourage the use of quotas: there have been recordings of station meetings, there have been leaked documents, and there have been disgruntled officers threatening boycotts. But in case you weren't convinced before, a jury has now ruled that quotas are real, and they definitely motivate and affect NYPD cops' arrests: "It's a binding decision by a jury that nobody's appealing. Other lawyers can now argue convincingly that the issue of quotas has been decided," said lawyer Seth Harris. more ›

In an age when nearly everyone's vision has been permanently messed up due to their unbreakable attachment to computer screens (and in an age when anyone can buy contact lenses), the stereotype that people who wear glasses are smarter than people who don't should be all but dead. But not in the court of law! more ›

Al Qaeda operative Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani has been trial in lower Manhattan since last month for allegedly bombing U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and killing over two hundred people. Last week, the jury deliberated for two days without a verdict and now one juror has asked the judge to dismiss her because she feels she's being "attacked" because she's a holdout. more ›

If you're an alternate juror on a case involving one of Connecticut's most horrifying crimes—the murder and sexual assault of a woman and her two daughters, plus the near fatal beating of the woman's husband, in their home—why pass up to the opportunity to see if the bailiff wants to go out on a date? Even though she's supposed to be considering whether Steven Hayes, who was convicted of killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit, Michaela Petit, and Hayley Petit, deserves the death penalty, an unnamed juror sent this note—written on a napkin—"Sunday 5:00 pm Side Street Grill / Hamden"—meant for the court marshal but intercepted for the judge to see. more ›

In the pantheon of petty criminals, there are your granny-attackers, your "pint-sized punks," and of course your classic vampire robbers. But none of them compares to the man who assaulted a three-year old developmentally delayed girl last year—for her necklace. more ›

An alternate on the jury in the latest police brutality trial was booted this morning by a judge who did not care for her "Who the Fuck Is Kanye West" T-shirt. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Thomas Farber, who is apparently a huge Kanye fan, cleared the courtroom the moment he saw 19-year-old Nneka Eneorj's shirt. "Do you think it's appropriate to wear a shirt that says 'fuck' on it in my courtroom?" the judge asked, with "anger in his voice" according to the Post. more ›

"Heroin-addled" Robert Camarano—who was accused of stabbing his girlfriend in 2008 and is now acting as his own lawyer—went about choosing a jury yesterday, using everything from sympathy to awkward humor to make his decision. According to the Post, he apparently apologized about the "oil spill" to one boat captain on the bench, and asked one group, "Does anyone at all have a problem with the lack of direct, concrete evidence in this case?" Because if they don't, boy does he have a case for them! more ›

Yesterday, after a Brooklyn jury said it could not deliberate any further, a judge called a mistrial in the case of a man accused of killing an Ecuadorean immigrant. Keith Phoenix had pleaded not guilty to second degree murder, manslaughter, assault, criminal possession of a weapon and hate crime charges related to the death of Jose Sucuzhanay, who Phoenix admitted to fatally striking with a baseball bat while allegedly calling him racial and homophobic epithets. One juror explained, "We hated to go all this way and not have a verdict. Believe me, there was a lot of crying in that jury room, a lot of arguing. It was just one stubborn, selfish woman." more ›

Last year the Bronx set records not just for the borough but for the state, with felony conviction rates at an all time low of 43%. Every other borough had rates of 70% or higher, and attorneys believe the numbers can be attributed to the high arrest rates in the borough. The ">Wall Street Journal noted the closing statement of defense attorney Seann Riley, who said,"To [police], getting a guilty verdict would mean they've done a good job. An acquittal would mean they didn't do a good job," and added the police "have a motive to lie." (Riley's client was acquitted.) more ›

Despite rumors to the contrary, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she's staying put where she is. She said on "Meet the Press," "I do not and have never wanted to be a judge, ever. I mean, that has never been anything that I even let cross my mind because it's just not my personality." But is the former New York senator getting burned out at her current position? more ›

It took them almost three days, and they came back with a mixed bag. The jury in the trial of former cop Patrick Pogan has found him guilty of filing a false criminal complaint against cyclist Christopher Long, which stated that cyclist Christopher Long had knocked him to the pavement, not vice-versa. Everyone who saw this video knows that Pogan's version of events defied reality, and the jury agreed. more ›

Former Queens resident Syed "Fahad" Hashmi, arrested in 2006 for allegedly providing support to Al Qaeda, faces 70 years in prison if convicted at his trial in Manhattan tomorrow. Due to the nature of the charges, which include conspiring to provide Al Qaeda with military equipment, a judge has ruled the jury will be anonymous to protect their safety. more ›

Jury selection starts today for the trial of Hakim Scott and Keith Phoenix, who are accused of fatally beating Jose Sucuzhanay in Brooklyn last year. Police say Scott and Phoenix beat Sucuzhanay (pictured), an Ecuadorian immigrant who owned a real estate agency, because they thought he was gay (anti-gay and anti-Hispanic epithets were allegedly yelled), when he was really just tipsy and walking arm-in-arm with his brother. Cops also say Phoenix confessed ("So I killed someone—that makes me a bad guy?"), claiming self-defense. Scott recently turned down a plea deal for 18 years, insisting, "I didn't kill nobody." more ›

Under New York Law, third-time felons have faced a minimum of 15 years to life in prison. But that law was judged unconstitutional by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, with Judge Ralph Winter writing that it violates the Sixth Amendment guarantee of trial by jury. The Post reports that the unanimous decision in Besser vs. Walsh could mean four criminals who challenged their life sentences may see them reduced. more ›

A juror passing judgment on a credit card thief allegedly swiped plastic from the man sitting near her—who was also a juror in the case! The News reports that 20-year-old Jennifer Mercado returned from lunch carrying several shopping bags full of new shoes. She now claims that John Postrk gave her permission to use his American Express card because "He came on to me... It's a he-said, she-said situation. In court, they will find out he's lying." Postrk's lawyers say the credit cards, along with his metrocard, disappeared from his coat pocket on March 8, the first day of the trial. "You've got to be really stupid to do that in front of a judge, court officers, law enforcement and all the cameras in this building," said one courthouse employee, who'd heard about the case. more ›

During jury selection for a Long Island hate crime—in which an Ecuadorean man was stabbed to death by seven teenagers—numerous potential jurors were only too happy to identify themselves as racially biased. Many cited a conservative stance on immigration as evidence they couldn’t make a fair decision in the killing of an illegal resident. As one prospective juror after another was dismissed, the scene may have reflected more about the community than about the case. One, who was dismissed for other reasons, said, “I don’t care whether the man was legal, illegal, white, black, purple or green. There was a murder. It almost seemed like the poor victim was the one going on trial.” more ›

After it was reported that a juror felt intimidated to convict Astor heir Anthony Marshall, the juror accused of the intimidation has gone to the press: Yvonne Fernandez tells the NY Times that even though she yelled at fellow juror Judith DeMarco, "she and the other woman made up, hugged and cried together in the bathroom." more ›

The verdict from the five month long Astor trial last year may be challenged by the defense, as the NY Times reports, "A holdout juror...has told defense lawyers that she voted to convict him and an estate lawyer for crimes she did not believe they committed out of fear for her safety." Why was she so scared? Because another juror allegedly flashed gang signs at her! more ›