Aaron Hand, already in jail for 8 1/3 to 25 years for his role in a fraudulent $100 million mortgage scheme, is now facing 25 years to life for allegedly trying to hire a hitman to whack a witness who testified against him. Hand's big problem? Like so many hit men these days, the one Hand tried to hire was actually an undercover investigator from the DA's office wearing a wire. The office had been tipped off that Hand wanted somebody dealt with. more ›

When a New Jersey court ruled last week that eyewitness testimony would be easier to challenge from now on, it was a splash in the water of criminal law that is now sending ripples out to police departments across the country. The bottom line: Police lineups — and the way they are conducted — are unreliable and must be changed. more ›

Jabbar Collins was freed yesterday after 15 years in prison. A day earlier, a judge had overturned his 1995 murder conviction after evidence that the Brooklyn DA's office never turned over crucial information to the defense. Information like how one of three witnesses was allegedly threatened by the lead prosecutor to testify against Collins and how another witness testified after getting a deal from the DA's office in another case. Collins said outside his mother's Queens home with his family, "I can't even describe how good I feel right now. I'm dream-walking. ... I'm just happy to be home." more ›

NYPD detectives claim a special Internal Affairs Bureau tow truck team that has been "unfairly" hauling away their unmarked cars left a murder witness stranded outside a courthouse. After the homicide witness—who had been threatened about cooperating with police—finished giving anonymous testimony in court, a detective was supposed to quickly and surreptitiously drive the witness home, said detectives union president Michael Palladino. But that couldn't happen, because the detective's car had been towed. more ›

Last week the Daily News published a sensational quote from an anonymous source that completely refuted claims that alleged drunk-driving cop Andrew Kelly worked feverishly to save his victim's life, performing mouth-to-mouth and even resuscitating her momentarily. The source said, "That story is a bunch of bull. He barely touched the girl. His hands were almost on her stomach, not her chest. His mouth never even touched her mouth." Well, that was last week... more ›

A high-profile Manhattan defense lawyer took the stand yesterday to defend himself against charges that he hired a former gang member to threaten witnesses, their relatives and their lovers, and to bribe them to lie. Attorney Robert Simels met repeatedly with ex-gang member Selwyn Vaughn, who once worked for Simels's drug lord client Roger Khan. But Vaughn was actually an informant for federal investigators, and he caught Simels on tape suggesting that a key witness should "just fall off the face of the Earth... I'm gonna leave it to you to figure out what's going to be best to get to him." more ›

The four officers accused of sodomizing a man with a radio antenna or baton after he resisted arrest in a Brooklyn subway station have been stripped of their guns and badges, an NYPD source tells the Post. The officers were ordered to report to the 71st Precinct station house in Brooklyn yesterday to be put on "modified duty." A lawyer for a fifth officer, who is believed to be supporting the victim's explosive allegation, reportedly met with prosecutors yesterday to brief them on his client's account of the incident. more ›

Things are not looking good for the officers who have been accused of sodomizing Michael Mineo in the Prospect Park subway station on October 15th. The NY Post reports that three of the officers accused have had their police lockers removed. The paper says that the NYPD has also taken away the badge and gun Officer Alex Cruz, the cop whose radio and baton are currently being tested for forensic evidence to support Mineo's accusations. As for the anonymous transit cop who is speculated to be in the process of breaking ranks and testifying to the DA against his fellow officers in the case, his lawyer talked to the press yesterday and emphasized that his client was in no way involved with the arrest and assault that allegedly took place. more ›

Sources in the NYPD say that a transit officer who participated in the arrest of Michael Mineo in a Brooklyn subway station earlier this month has broken ranks and will support Mineo's explosive sodomy allegation. more ›

A 29-year-old woman scheduled to testify in a kidnapping case today was possibly thrown from a Harlem building yesterday morning. Joy Blackman, who was a witness to a kidnapping and was also a witness against her accused rapist in a separate case, was found dead in an alleyway at 145 West 145th Street. more ›

Prosecutors having intimate relationships with defense lawyers happens on TV shows all the time, but a real life drama is playing out in Brooklyn. Former prosecutor Sandra Fernandez, accused of using her position in the Brooklyn DA's office to give information to her defense lawyer fiance, was arraigned on 12 counts of criminal charges. Fernandez allegedly ran criminal history and motor vehicle checks on three prosecution witnesses in cases handled by fiance - and now... more ›