Yesterday, Manhattan prosecutors accused a Canadian businessman of raping a Brooklyn bartender at the Plaza Hotel in 2010. And the businessman happens to be part of a "member of the traveling entourage of a Saudi prince." more ›

The majority of Occupy Wall Street protesters who were arrested on September 24th during a demonstration at Union Square have rejected dismissal deals, and insisted that their cases go to trial. Over 50 of the 78 protesters—76 of whom were charged with minor, disorderly conduct violations—rejected prosecutors offers that charges be dismissed in six months time. "I was falsely arrested...It's unjust, what happened," said 47-year-old Lizzi Dierken, who claims cops "kettled" her and four other protesters that day. more ›

Hugues Akassy, who is accused of raping a woman in Riverside Park in 2010, forcing a different woman to give him oral sex, and stalking numerous other women, took the stand yesterday. And though he has been portrayed as a homeless squatter, Akassy wasted no time portraying himself as an irresistible ladies man skilled in the fine art of seduction, from his love of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sex And The City to his four college degrees and sonorous French accent. “You say sex—I say ‘making love,’” he corrected his defense lawyer yesterday. more ›

The trial of accused rapist Hugues Akassy continued yesterday with testimony from a gallery director who said he stole the venue's keys and copied them, so he could hide out there. The Post reports that 25CPW's Bess Greenberg spotted him hiding behind a pillar. When asked about her reaction, she said, "Shock... And disbelief. And then -- that sort of fear, of not being able to register what was behind the mind of the person who had just broken in and who I was alone with in the back of the gallery." more ›

Viktor Bout, the Russian national whose arms dealing allegedly brought him billions and the nickname "Merchant of Death," is going on trial for terrorism charges in New York federal court. And the judge overseeing the case is making jurors sign a pledge promising they will restrict their Internet and social media urges. more ›

Over three years ago, Barbara Sheehan shot her husband in their Howard Beach home while he was shaving. At the time, neighbors alluded to various domestic disturbances coming from the Sheehan house—one neighbor even clapped when Barbara Sheehan was led out of the house by cops while another said, "There's a reason she did this. He was free with his hands and she probably couldn't take it." Now, Sheehan is finally on trial and is claiming she killed her retired cop husband Raymond in self-defense. more ›

A group of black firefighters are back in federal court this week for the next stage in the long-running lawsuit against the FDNY, which they accuse of discriminatory hiring practices. Last year, a judge blocked the FDNY from hiring recruits because he found the FDNY's previous three recruitment exams discriminated against nonwhites. The trial's current phase started off with a bang yesterday, when the plaintiffs submitted a sworn deposition by FDNY official Patricia Kavaler, who testified in 2008 about what she perceived as shady, nepotistic "back room" hiring practices that enabled white firefighter candidates to get hired despite troubling criminal records. 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 ›

Previously, one of the attorneys for Levi Aron, the man who confessed to killing and dismembering 8-year-old Hasidic boy Leiby Kletzky last week, abruptly resigned; Gerard Marrone told reporters that his conscious weighed heavy on him because of "the horrific way this boy was killed." Now, a new "heavy hitting" defense lawyer has been brought in to replace him, and she "has a reputation for being an aggressive attorney who diligently represents high profile defendants," according to fellow lawyer Pierre Bazile. more ›

A Brooklyn man currently on trial is accused of robbing his girlfriend's uncle in a terrorizing attack last year. Christopher Carmona allegedly stormed into Julio Boissard's tailor shop in Greenpoint in March 2010, and put a gun to his head while demanding money. But robbery is mere farthings compared to what he did next: Carmona allegedly stomped two of Boissard's pet doves to death. more ›

With more than 400 cops facing possible disciplinary charges, or worse, in a massive ticket-fixing probe currently being investigated, one of the biggest concerns for officials is the ramifications for other cases—prosecutors fear that once the names of those disciplined officers are revealed, it could jeopardize tons of criminal cases, casting shadows on officers' credibility. And already, those fears are being realized: a Bronx jury acquitted a man of attempted murder in the first trial involving a cop accused of fixing tickets. more ›

Almost 10 years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, the one remaining wrongful death lawsuit will start on June 13. The family of Mark Bavis, a scout for the Los Angeles Kings hockey team who was on United Flight 175, is suing United Airlines and others including Boeing and airline security companies. But there's a twist: The federal judge overseeing the trial has declared the trial will only take a month; Judge Alvin Hellerstein said, "The time is going to be expressed not in days, but in minutes," with each side getting an equal amount of time. Naturally, neither side is happy about this. more ›

The woman who accuses a NYC police officer of raping her—and his partner of acting as a lookout—was cross-examined yesterday and stood her ground. When alleged rapist Kenneth Moreno's lawyer asked about a statement where she said she believed she was raped, the 29-year-old said, "I never said I believe I was raped. I knew I was raped. I was in shock. I couldn't believe it was the cops." more ›

Six years ago, the world of La Cosa Nostra was rocked by Bonnano crime family head Joseph Massino when he agreed to testify for the government against acting don Vincent "Vinnie Gorgeous" Basciano, who was accused of killing a mob associate. Now, as Massino is expected to sing today, it's time to get sentimental about the mob. Over the weekend, the Daily News' headline declared, "Mafia legends 'turning in graves' as ex-Bonanno boss to rat out Vinny Gorgeous at trial," while the NY Times reports today, "When he takes the witness stand on Tuesday, he will make history as the first official boss of one of New York’s five mob families to break ranks and testify for the government." more ›

Yesterday, jury selection began for the trial of three construction supervisors of the former Deutsche Bank building demolition, which was the site of a 2007 fire that killed two firefighters. The supervisors are charged with manslaughter, and the Post reports, "The courtroom full of 130 prospective jurors echoed with gasps when Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Rena Uviller announced that they were under consideration for a trial likely to last four months." more ›

The trial of the two police officers accused of raping a drunk East Village woman has been delayed another week because the cops have been hit with new charges. Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata now face "11 [more] charges against the officers, including official misconduct and falsifying business records," for their alleged role in the 2008 incident—and there's new evidence, a video showing them entering the woman's apartment building a fourth time." The prosecution and a defense lawyer each claimed that the evidence would help them. 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 ›

Yesterday, jury selection for the trial of police officers accused of raping an East Village woman was supposed to begin, but the prosecution asked that it be delayed for two weeks in order to present evidence to a grand jury. A judge agreed to it—grudgingly, noting, "I'm not sure why it took this long to figure this out"—and one of the cops' lawyers crowed, "They simply overlooked a piece of evidence that we believe is very favorable to the defendants in this case." more ›

A man who allegedly beat his mother-in-law's cat to death with an umbrella went on trial yesterday. Lordtyshon Garret, 31, is accused of poking, stabbing, and puncturing the lung of the six-year-old cat named Madea in October 2009. "The cat was severely beaten and was slowly suffering for more than a day. This case is about the sadistic and brutal acts of this defendant," said prosecutor Ayanna Blake. more ›

Jury selection for one of the creepier medical malpractice suits in recent history begins this week. Mikhail Sorodsky, 63, made headlines in 2009 when the alleged phony Brooklyn doctor was accused of sexually abusing his dying cancer patients and was smacked with an $11 million cash bail or $33 million bond—more than Bernie Madoff got and quite possibly the highest in State history. Now Sorodsky is getting ready to face a jury of his peers, with his 13th lawyer in tow (he apparently goes through attorneys quickly). more ›

Our mayor may be against guns, and New York may have some very strict anti-gun laws, but apparently our fellow New Yorkers at least have some common sense when it comes to enforcing them. A jury today acquitted 29-year-old Floridian Jonathan Ryan in a criminal weapons possession case involving a 9mm pistol he had in his truck's glove compartment when he drove up to New York last February to help his girlfriend move. more ›

A few years ago artist John Chamberlain and former Warhol assistant Gerard Malanga were battling it out, both claiming they owned a work of art called 315 Johns (a series of images of Chamberlain). The former had just sold the piece, as a Warhol original, for $5 million; he had it in his possession because (Malanga claims) it was being stored at his apartment. Now the NY Times reports that the case is finally going to trial. more ›

A Long Island speech therapist claims that an Australian sheep farmer who picked her up at a bar in 2005 drugged and raped her in a midtown hotel. The 28-year-old woman, who was not identified, admitted to jurors on Wednesday that she had had at least six drinks at two West Village bars with sheep farmer David Green, but believes he must have slipped her a roofie that led to her being "lights out." She claims she woke up in the middle of the night at the Affinia Hotel with Green "on top of me and having sex with me." more ›

The suspect in last month's Good Stuff Diner murder, who was apprehended after his face and diamond-studded moneybag necklace caught the eye of the JumboTron at a Charlotte Bobcats game, was arraigned in court yesterday. Prosecutors allege that Barranco and Scott, aka "Young Classik," had a falling out over money involved with a bank scam they were running. Barranco's lawyer put forth their foolproof two-fold defense strategy: Earle Barranco only shot Corey Scott in self-defense, and, um, Scott had it coming anyway. "Simply put, Corey Scott got what he deserved. Anyone in the defendant's position would have done what Earle Barranco did," said Howard Greenberg, Barranco's lawyer. more ›

Yesterday, Rep. Charles Rangel walked out of his House Ethics hearing, after begging his colleagues for a postponement so he could find a lawyer. As the Washington Post reports, "No, they said, and quickly began deliberations, saying the facts were so clear they didn't need to call witnesses." The panel, made up of four Democrats and four Republicans, deliberated for hours yesterday and will continue deliberations today. Update: Rangel was found guilty of ethics violations; more details below. 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 ›

Yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder said he's "close to a decision" on how (and where!) 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his cohorts will be tried. Holder explained, "The process is an ongoing one. We are working to make a determination about the placement of that trial. I hope that whenever the decision is, it is one that will be based on the merits and what is best for the case and justice in that case." more ›

Two years ago, a Pace University student was found strangled in a West 15th Street apartment, and police soon arrested drifter Jeromie Cancel, who told police he smothered Kevin Pravia because he was "bored" and then watched the horror movie Saw in his victim's apartment. Yesterday, the police officer testified at a hearing that he didn't believe the 22-year-old when he started bragging about killing. Officer Sean Hynes said, "I just sort of brushed it off. Anyone can read the newspaper." more ›

Yesterday, a Brooklyn jury watched videotape of a 16-year-old explaining how he killed WABC Radio newsman George Weber. John Katehis, who is now 17 and on trial for Weber's murder, claimed it was an accident, saying on tape, "The knife just goes and jabs him in the neck. We're fighting over the blade and it jabbed him in the neck," but a doctor testified that Weber was stabbed eight times in the neck, not to mentioned dozens more times elsewhere. more ›