Results tagged “testimony”

As long as he lives, U.S. Airways Captain Chesley Sullenberger will travel the land to tell the amazing story of his successful emergency landing on the Hudson River in January; this morning found him in Washington to testify during hearings held by the National Transportation Safety Board on air safety and the growing threat of bird strikes. (According to the Times, researchers counted 229 people killed and 210 aircraft destroyed as a result of bird strikes in the last 20 years.) And yesterday the Smithsonian Institution announced that isotopic analysis of goose remains found in Flight 1549's engines confirmed that the birds were migratory, thus suggesting that habitat destruction would not have prevented the accident.

Yesterday, a woman described a rape and attack very similar to how John Jay College student Imette St. Guillen was attacked. St. Guillen was found dead in 2006, and a bouncer at the bar she was last seen, Darryl Littlejohn, is on trial for her murder. While the woman was unable to pick out Littlejohn in a lineup, a judge allowed her to testify because the attack was so similar to St. Guillen's and another woman's. The Daily News reports that the woman described being "snatched off" Queens Boulevard, and then "the attacker handcuffed her and bundled her into a car," threatening her with a gun. "Warning her to shut up, the attacker drove her to a bedroom that sounded similar to Littlejohn's basement apartment in his mother's Jamaica home. The attacker taped a knit cap over her eyes - a key detail because Littlejohn allegedly taped over St. Guillen's eyes." After raping her, her attacker "forced her to clean up and change into shorts and a T-shirt," which had LIttlejohn's mother's DNA on it.

The Flight 1549 crew received a standing ovation before they testified before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The crew members, Captain Chesley B Sullenberger III, First Officer Jeffrey B. Skiles, flight attendant Sheila Dail, flight attendant Donna Dent, flight attendant Doreen Welsh, appeared before the committee alongside LaGuardia air traffic controller Patrick Harten, who gave his first statement about the flight that eventually splash-landed into the Hudson River with everyonen surviving.

After the first day of grand jury testimony, things do not look good right now for Officer Richard Kern, one of the cops accused of sodomizing Michael Mineo while he was being detained in the Prospect Park subway station last month. Yesterday Officer Kevin Malone, one of the other officers who arrested Mineo on October 15th, testified that he saw Kern place his metal baton against Mineo's left side and run it from left to right across his buttocks as Malone was handcuffing him. That baton is about 2 feet long and 1-1/4 inches in diameter.

A 24-year-old woman took the stand and began to relive a terrifying ordeal as she described how she was raped, tortured, and held captive in her own Hamilton Heights apartment in April 2007.

Dina Matos McGreevey is having her days in court this week, as the divorce proceedings between her and former NJ Gov. Jim McGreevey drag on ever-longer. Having settled the child custody portion of the divorce, Dina and Jim are now squabbling about the important stuff: money.

For her testimony against stalker Jack Jordan yesterday, The NY Times described Uma's appearance as being "pared-down," as she donned "a gray shawl thrown over black slacks and a black sweater. Her golden hair was carelessly knotted in back, with long strands hanging down both sides of her face. She wore no makeup and looked thin and hollow-eyed."

Following her parents testimony, Uma Thurman herself showed up at court today to face her stalker. The NY Post reports back that Thurman read excerpts from stalker Jack Jordan's notes to her, as "she pulled a shawl over her shoulders and hunched over as though overcome with a chill." She said Jordan's behavior was distressing, "It wasn't just a red herring or a fluke or a bad day. The fact that he had my parents home number and had arrived at the set and come back when he was told to leave started to paint a picture much worse than some isolated moment."

A Queens DA took the stand yesterday, to testify about a detective who fired at Sean Bell, an unarmed man killed in a barrage of police gunfire hours before his wedding. DA Michelle Cort, who took Detective Marc Cooper's statement after the November 25, 2006 shooting, said, "He told us he fired a single shot. He was certain he fired one time."