A layman might think that when somebody gets accused of rape, one of the investigators' top priorities would be to interview the suspect, to get his side of the story on record. But it seems this is not the way it works, at least not for Greg Kelly, a local TV news host and son of the NYPD Commissioner. An unidentified woman filed a complaint against Kelly more than a week ago, but investigators have still not spoken to Kelly, whose attorney says he's innocent. more ›

Remember Jose Pimentel, the "lone wolf" terrorist the NYPD arrested last year after a tip from a questionable informant? The one whose first lawyer said he was entrapped and whose case the FBI absolutely, to the NYPD's embarrassment, wanted nothing to do with? Well, the Manhattan's DA office is reportedly working on a plea deal for the "stoned squirrel" as you read this, despite the fact they haven't actually indicted him yet. more ›

The NYPD has arrested almost 2,000 protesters since the Occupy Wall Street movement began, and some of those arrested have refused to go the usual route taken by demonstrators. Typically, someone arrested for disorderly conduct at a protest will agree to an ACD (Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal), which means that the charges are dropped after six months if the individual stays out of trouble (or whatever our police state considers "trouble" these days). But some of those arrested are refusing the routine plea deal and are demanding a trial, because they insist the charges are bogus. And yesterday, prosecutors decided to back down and drop the charges against 21 of them. more ›

The 20-year-old woman who was charged with self-abortion for the death of her 24-week fetus arrived in court today to find out that the Manhattan DA's office was dropping the charges. DNAinfo reports the prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to charge Yaribely Almonte. more ›

A sad truth for cyclists in New York is that when one is struck dead by a motor vehicle most of the time no charges are filed. Unless, it seems, the victim is the sister-in-law of a famous defense attorney. Though earlier this summer charges against the Postal Service employee who fatally struck cyclist Marilyn Dershowitz were considered unlikely, the Manhattan DA yesterday surprised us all by charging 62-year-old Ian Clement with leaving the scene of an accident. It is a start. more ›

Gothamist is proud to announce the publication of our first long-form non-fiction feature: Confessions of a "Rape Cop" Juror, by Patrick Kirkland, who was one of the jurors. Patrick gives an unflinching insider's account of 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, and after reading this piece, you may understand why.  more ›

While Dominique Strauss-Kahn's accuser isn't set to meet with prosecutors until 3 p.m. today, Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance, Jr. has "decided to ask a judge to dismiss the case," the Times reports. more ›

Dominique-Strauss Kahn's accuser, Nafissatou Diallo, will meet with Manhattan prosecutors on Monday afternoon for what her attorney describes as a conference "to announce that they're dismissing the case entirely, or some of the charges." Diallo's attorney, Kenneth Thompson, who has been waging a media campaign with his client to pressure Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance to move forward with the sexual assault case, tells the Times, "If they were not going to dismiss the charges, there could be no need to meet with her." Strauss-Kahn is due in court on Tuesday. more ›

The legal saga of Nafissatou Diallo, the hotel maid who is accusing former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn of a violent sexual assault, continues. Today, the Wall Street Journal and Daily Beast published articles reporting that Diallo's lawyer was seeking a financial settlement with Strauss-Kahn's lawyers. more ›

Yesterday, a convicted Virginia drug dealer was sentenced for 20 years for raping a 16-year-old girl on the Lower East Side in 1993. It took nine years for DNA evidence at the crime scene to be analyzed and then last year, the DNA was entered into a national database—bringing up Alberto Barriera. more ›

The Manhattan DA's Office announced that a man who allegedly pleasured himself on female subway passengers in crowded trains has been indicted. And he was caught because of the DNA left behind. more ›

Famed defense attorney Alan Dershowitz is getting fed up with the Manhattan DA's office. He understands that charges will likely not be placed against the U.S. Postal Service driver who hit and killed his sister-in-law, lawyer and a retired court-appointed referee Marilyn Dershowitz, and that is okay. But he also knows there is a video in existence that may help his family discover who was driving the other vehicle involved in the accident—and he says the DA's office is stopping him at every pass. more ›

Yesterday, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and his lawyers met with the Manhattan DA's Office. But don't worry—the former head of the IMF is not going to take a plea deal! His lawyer Benjamin Brafman said, "We had a constructive meeting with Mr. Vance and his colleagues," while Manhattan DA's Office spokeswoman Erin Duggan said, "The investigative process is continuing, and no decisions have been made." And to round things out, the accuser's lawyer spoke out yesterday, too. more ›

Manhattan DA Cy Vance at least had a tiny bit of good news, for once, yesterday. The cold case squad he helped create last year has made its first arrest. Investigators say they have linked the 25-year-old murder of Antoinette Bennett—who was found dead in St. Nicholas Park on Nov. 10, 1986—to a Rikers inmate, Steven Carter, who was days away from being released. more ›

It appears that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. is gently reminding his constituency why they elected him. The timing—when his office is under scrutiny after the "Rape Cop" verdicts, the Deutsche Bank fire acquittals, the departure of the sex crimes unit chief, and the disintegrating rape charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn—is anyone's guess. But we received an email from Cyrus Vance Jr. earlier today with the subject line "Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance in the news." more ›

Following Dominique Strauss-Kahn's release from house arrest last Friday, we were inundated with claims from the Post's sources that his accuser was a lying prostitute who was placed in the Sofitel by her union as an "earner" and had continued to have sex for money in the hotel room provided for her by the DA's office. Now, a "top investigator in the case" tells the Post it is "a certainty" that the case will be dismissed, noting, "We all know this case is not sustainable…She is not to be believed in anything that comes out of her mouth." The source continues: "Did [Strauss-Kahn] use force? Was there actually a crime? I don't think we'll ever know." more ›

As the sexual assault case against Dominque Strauss-Kahn seems to be faltering, due to concerns that the accuser has been lying to investigators (plus, there are the more scurrilous rumors), he may actually face a new set of charges in his native country: Writer Tristane Banon, who has said in interviews that the former IMF head and leading Socialist politician of trying to rape her in 2002, is going to formally accuse him of rape. However, his lawyers suggests that Strauss-Kahn may countersue for slander. more ›

French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy is friends with Dominique Strauss-Kahn. When Strauss-Kahn was arrested in May, Lévy complained about his treatment, "I resent the New York tabloid press, a disgrace to the profession, that, without the least precaution and before having effected the least verification, has depicted Dominique Strauss-Kahn as a sicko, a pervert, borderlining on serial killer, a psychiatrist’s dream" and also got the Daily Show treatment. And now, with Strauss-Kahn's release, Lévy has some thoughts about the latest turn of events. more ›

Not long after a man stabbed two men to death on the No. 2 train with a kitchen knife last year, the NYPD stepped up its enforcement of the city's illegal knife ban, and Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance got Paragon and Home Depot to stop selling illegal switchblades. Former Pulino's chef Nate Appleman was caught up in the crackdown, as was artist John Copeland, who was arrested in October for allegedly carrying a gravity knife in a belt clip as he walked home in the East Village. Now Copeland has filed a lawsuit to block these kinds of arrests, and he's teamed up with the Arizona-based group Knife Rights. Their slogan: Sharper Future™. more ›

After the disappointing setback to the Manhattan DA's office that was last month's alleged rape cop verdict, Cy Vance has set his sights on a much bigger target: the "vampire squid sucking the face of humanity" that is Goldman Sachs. The District Attorney's office today subpoenaed the firm in relation to a recent report from Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. And while some analysts don't think the subpoena will lead anywhere, a source tells the Daily News the office is "very serious" about the case and is "throwing resources at it." more ›

As Dominique Strauss-Kahn sits in his new luxurious house arrest abode (complete with blingy mob movie art), his lawyers are now claiming they have evidence that could "gravely undermine" the Manhattan DA's sexual assault case against the former head of the IMF. To which prosecutors basically say, are you kidding? more ›

Ex-WABC weather anchor Heidi Jones' charges for allegedly falsely reporting a near rape could be thrown out: The Manhattan DA's office admitted she was never read her Miranda rights while being questioned by cops. Her lawyer says Jones' admissions that she made up the rape story should be thrown out, but prosecutors think they should stay in. more ›