6,000 packages of an extremely lethal chemical being sold in Manhattan's Chinatown as rat poison have been seized, and ten retailers have been arrested on state and federal charges. Authorities from the EPA, the city's DA's office, and the state's Department of Environmental Conservation confiscated vials and boxes of brodifacoum, an anticoagulant 61 times stronger than is legal, with the label "The Cat Be Unemployed." A woman who purchased them in the East Broadway Mall last year mistook it for medicine, and lost two-thirds of her blood volume! more ›

Sexual assault charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn were dismissed yesterday because, as the prosecution put it, "If we do not believe her beyond a reasonable doubt, we cannot ask a jury to do so." Now, because of her lies to a grand jury, the prosecution, and the federal government, it's possible that Nafissatou Diallo will face deportation hearings. "Lying on sworn statements is almost a guarantee the case will be reopened," one lawyer tells the Daily News. Another immigration attorney says, "With all the press attention, my educated guess is that they are going to look at her case again." more ›

Yesterday, the hotel maid who is accusing former IMF head Dominque Strauss-Kahn of attempted rape and forcing her to perform oral sex met with the Manhattan DA's office to discuss the case. While the Manhattan DA's office believes its case against Strauss-Kahn is on shaky ground enough to agree that he should be free on bail, a lawyer for Nafissatou Diallo the DA's office misinterpreted a recording that supposedly implied Diallo may have been trying to shake down the powerful Frenchman. And not only that, Diallo will also sue Strauss-Kahn. more ›

Dominique Strauss-Kahn won't have to show up in court until August 23, as the hearing scheduled for August 3 has been postponed by the DA's office. That August 3rd hearing was postponed from July 18 as both legal teams continued to investigate the sexual assault allegations leveled against the former IMF head by Nafissatou Diallo. "We understand the district attorney is continuing to investigate," Strauss-Kahn's lawyers said in a statement, "We are confident that when the investigation is completed Mr. Vance will move to dismiss all charges." City Room reports that Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. would soon issue a statement explaining the delay. more ›

After remaining anonymous (except in the French press) for nearly two months, the former hotel maid accusing Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault gave a televised interview, just released today, to ABC news. In many ways it paralleled the 3-hour interview she recently granted with Newsweek; speaking of the incident at the Sofitel in May, 32-year-old Nafissatou Diallo uses forceful hand gestures to describe Strauss-Kahn's alleged behavior, and offers a vivid account of her fear in the face of her attacker. more ›

The hotel maid and Guinean immigrant who is accusing former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault has revealed herself in dual interviews: In a bid to counter suggestions that she was lying and tabloid speculation that she's a "hooker", 32-year-old Nafissatou "Nafi" Diallo spoke to Newsweek about her ordeal in a three-hour session at her attorney's offices in Midtown. "Because of him they call me a prostitute," she says, "I want him to go to jail. I want him to know there are some places you cannot use your power, you cannot use your money." And in an interview with ABC News, Diallo says, "God is my witness I'm telling the truth. From my heart. God knows that." 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 ›

Much like justice, bedbugs' wrath is blind and will hit anyone, anywhere. That's why it's not surprising that they have been found at the Manhattan DA's office. Above the Law reports, "An employee in the office informs us that a bedbug-sniffing canine was brought into the 80 Centre Street building this afternoon — and that the dog alerted to the presence of bedbugs in multiple locations. Furthermore, rumor has it that (1) the powers-that-be in the office have known about bedbugs at 80 Centre Street for at least a week, and (2) the main building, at One Hogan Place, has had bedbugs for even longer." Chung chung! more ›

Over the holiday we noticed some adorable photos of a hamster riding a subway in our Flickr pool... and now it seems the familiar fuzzy face has made it all the way to the NY Post! Hopefully it's not going to her head... though she does share the first name of limelight-loving Edie Sedgwick. more ›

The two young women who were busted for scoring cocaine at Chelsea nightclubs and accused of reselling it throughout their FIT dorms look like they might have run into some good fortune due to some admitted sloppiness by the DA's office. Mickenzie Dippenworth and Christine Scafa turned down plea bargains of six months in jail for last November's coke bust. The Post reveals that investigators have admitted that they are missing $200 in "buy" money, transcripts of the contents of more than 15 text messages between the two women and the undercover cops who nailed them, and expense reports detailing how much buy money the undercovers put in their pockets. The pair have said that the cocaine sale was just the natural next step when meeting two undercover cops at the hotspot Home who claimed to be ultimate fighters and bragged about their penis sizes. The trial is set to begin this week. more ›

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." more ›

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. more ›

The family of a drunk driving victim is crying foul after it was revealed earlier this week that the driver was able to cop a plea that will only land him in jail for eight consecutive weekends. George Anderson was able to land such a light sentence after the DA's office relied on "comparative negligence" reasoning because victim Florence Cioffi was also intoxicated and stepped out from between two parked cars when she was struck by the Wall Street executive's SUV. Cioffi's companion of 18 years says, "I'm not saying that man has to go to jail for life, or 10 years or 11, but 16 days and on weekends? That's ludicrous. It's a rich man's sentence." The family disputes the DA's claim that they were consulted before the plea was struck and plan to attend the sentencing in hopes that they can get the case pushed to a trial. An attorney for the family tells WCBS, "It seems to me [the DA's office] were trying to fly this one under the radar. They didn't want to make a stink about it. They didn't want everyone to know what was going on." The News says that the Cioffis are planning to sue Anderson. more ›

When announcing manslaughter charges against three construction supervisors (pictured) in the 2007 fatal Deutsche Bank building fire, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said of the tragedy, "Everyone who could have screwed up did screw up. It's just amazing the amount of mistakes that were made here." more ›