Criminal Trials

Why the Police in Michael Premo's Occupy Wall Street Trial Are Unlikely To Face Perjury Charges

Many of the readers who commented on last week's story about Michael Premo, the Occupy Wall Street protester who beat his criminal charges last week thanks to video evidence, wanted to know: Would the police officer whose testimony was contradicted by the video face any consequences? Would he be cha ... More >>

Nicholas Garaufis, Federal Judge, Calls Brooklyn Murder Prosecution "Rotten," Orders Release of Man Falsely Imprisoned for 22 Years

"The case of William Lopez began twenty-three years ago. It was rotten from day one." So begins U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis' epic 95-page dissection of the justice system's failures in wrongly arresting, prosecuting and imprisoning Lopez for the 1989 murder of a drug dealer in a crack hou ... More >>

Brooklyn D.A. Charles Hynes Responds to Voice Cover Story; We (Still) Rest Our Case

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes sent us a lengthy letter in response to our story about his reign as Brooklyn District Attorney ("Brooklyn Deserves a New D.A."). How lengthy? 2,005 words. Basically, he didn't like the article so much. And with the zeal of a Talmudic scholar, Hynes (or someo ... More >>

Brooklyn Deserves a New D.A.

Why the 23-year reign of Charles Hynes must end

Four More Hasids Accused Of Interfering With Orthodox Sex Abuse Trial

For the second time this year, four Orthodox Jews have been arrested for allegedly interfering in the trial of prominent Jewish leader/"therapist" Nechemya Weberman, who allegedly sexually abused one of his patients for several years, starting when the girl was only 12 years old.The four men arrest ... More >>

'Killer' Nanny Yoselyn Ortega Hit With First-Degree Murder Charges

The Upper West Side nanny accused of brutally stabbing two children in her care has been formally indicted on first-degree murder charges -- a charge reserved for the state's most heinous criminals, including those who murder cops and judges.In addition to the two first-degree murder charges, 50-yea ... More >>

Former NYPD Officer Nicholas Mina Cops Plea; Admits To Stealing NYPD Guns And Selling Them To Drug Dealers

A former NYPD officer admitted in court today that he stole several NYPD-issued firearms from fellow officers and sold them to a Queens drug kingpin over a six-month period earlier this year.The plea deal accepted by former officer Nicholas Mina, 32, includes a 15-year-prison sentence when he's sent ... More >>

Delloyd Hill, Alleged Doctor Impostor, Possibly Carried Out Similar Schemes in Multiple States

It could be a coincidence -- but it probably isn't. Delloyd Thomas Hill was arraigned yesterday in Queens criminal court on charges relating to a signature forgery scheme that netted him at least $415,000 in medical equipment loans. Hill's alleged crimes are awfully similar to the Delloyd T. Hill w ... More >>

The Weird Story of Jimmy Meng's Sting Arrest

The $80,000 Fruit Basket

Michael "Rape Cop" Pena Pleads Guilty To Additional Charges; No Time Added To Extreme Life-Sentence

Michael "Rape Cop" Pena did something today that's somewhat admirable; rather than put his victim through the torture of another trial, he pleaded guilty to additional charges stemming from his attack on a 25-year-old teacher -- charges on which a jury deadlocked when he was convicted of three count ... More >>

Eight Occupy Wall Street Protesters Found Guilty of Trespassing, One Sentenced To 45 Days In Jail

The week-long trial of eight Occupy Wall Street demonstrators concluded yesterday afternoon with guilty verdicts and a jail sentence. The eight men were part of a crowd that entered a fenced-in parcel controlled by Trinity Church December 17, hoping to turn the space into a new camp for the movemen ... More >>

Bail is Busted: How Jail Really Works

Thousands of New Yorkers are stuck behind bars because they're too broke to get out

Dawa Lama, Queens Monster Who Threw Newborn In Hospital Trash Can, Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter; 10-Year Prison Sentence Expected

​When Dawa Lama, 24, gave birth to a healthy baby boy in the bathroom at a Queens hospital last year, she could have easily turned him over to hospital staff if she felt she couldn't care for the boy. But she didn't -- she threw him in a trashcan. He died seven days later -- and now Lama is likely ... More >>

Cops Crack 23-Year-Old Decapitation Case; Murderous Rapist Philip Ward Hit With New Charges

​The New York Police Department has linked the 1989 decapitation murder of a pregnant Manhattan woman to Philip Ward, the father of two of the victim's children, who currently is a guest of the state doing a life sentence for rape and murder convictions.According to the Manhattan District Attorney ... More >>

Crooked Cop Michael Carsey Convicted Of Lying To Get Search Warrant

​It sure is disappointing when the people we trust to keep us safe from the dregs of society turn out to be the dregs of society.Enter New York City police officer/convicted crooked cop Michael Carsey, 31, who was convicted this afternoon of lying under oath in order to get a search warrant for th ... More >>

The Lamest Attempt To Get Press Off Whitney Houston's Death

This press release came in, moments after the body turned cold: "CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY AVAILABLE ON WHITNEY HOUSTON "So-and-so, NY based leading criminal defense attorney, is available for comment on Whitney Houston.

Mata and Moreno's Previous Late-Night Incident

What the jury didn't hear: the recently acquitted NYPD officers had another reported issue with a young woman

Franklin Mata and Kenneth Moreno, NYPD Cops Acquitted of Rape, Likely to Have Sentencing Postponed

​Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata, the two New York City police officers convicted of official misconduct last month (while being acquitted of the rape of an East Village woman) will likely have their sentencing postponed, the New York Times reports. This is at least partly so that defense law ... More >>

NYPD Rape Trial Accuser Releases Statement: 'Public Opinion Will Be the Ultimate Verdict'

​The trial of Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata, the now-former NYPD cops accused of rape by a fashion executive who lived in the East Village at the time, has been much publicized, and, as such, it's perhaps no surprise that the accuser, who still has a civil suit against the city, has now iss ... More >>

The Innocence Project's Poster Child with a Past

They hailed Alan Newton's exoneration—without mentioning his other case of attempted rape

Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata, NYPD Officers, Found Not Guilty of Rape

Moreno on the stand​There is a verdict in the trial of NYPD officers Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata, who had been accused of raping a 27-year-old East Village woman they were called to help home on a drunken night in 2008. This comes on the seventh day of deliberations. Moreno, 43, and Mata, ... More >>

Criminals Who Look Nerdy Are Less Likely to Go to Jail

​It's probably not in legal textbooks or on Law and Order (at least, not explicitly) but there is a legal reality called the "nerd defense," which basically means that if you look like a nerd -- i.e., wear glasses at your criminal trial -- the jury will be less likely to think you did the horr ... More >>

Grinding Justice

Operation Streamline Costs Millions, Tramples the Constitution, Treats Migrants Like Cattle, and Doesn't Work

Two Jail Imams Under Investigation for Carrying Illegal Firearms

On the heels of a scandal involving a Department of Corrections Muslim chaplain who was charged for sneaking razor blades into a Manhattan jail, the Voice has learned that two imams on the Riker's Island jail complex are currently under investigation for carrying illegal firearms. Both imams continu ... More >>

David Johnson, Gov. Paterson Aide Surrenders to Authorities, To Be Arraigned Later Today

​The Bronx District Attorney's office tells us that David Johnson, a former aide to Gov. Paterson, is going to be arraigned later today in Bronx criminal court on charges stemming from an alleged domestic incident last October with an ex-girlfriend, identified as Sherr-una Booker. Johnson (pi ... More >>

Crime Beat: SEC Renews Vow to Take Acquitted Bear Stearns Duo Tannin and Cioffi to Civil Court -- Shades of O.J. and Scrushy!

Hedge fun: Matthew Tannin and wife Joyce were all smiles after his acquittal last month on criminal charges. The Bear Stearns hedge funders Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, found not guilty last month of fraud in the only major criminal prosecution even indirectly related to Wall Street's meltdown ... More >>

Crime Beat: SEC Renews Vow to Take Acquitted Bear Stearns Duo Tannin and Cioffi to Civil Court -- Shades of O.J. and Scrushy!

Hedge fun: Matthew Tannin and wife Joyce were all smiles after his acquittal last month on criminal charges. The Bear Stearns hedge funders Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, found not guilty last month of fraud in the only major criminal prosecution even indirectly related to Wall Street's meltdown ... More >>

Did The Jury Foreman Know the Accused Armed Robber? Charlie Hynes' Office Is On the Case

​Here's another reason why we love the Brooklyn criminal court system: a guy's on trial last month for felony armed robbery. One day, a paralegal for the Brooklyn District Attorney's office wanders into the courtroom to drop off some papers. The robbery defendant, Corey Hinds, she notes, look ... More >>

The Alarming Record of the F.B.I.'s Informant in the Bronx Bomb Plot

How the Mob Hoodwinked D.A. Candidate Leslie Crocker Snyder

Robbins, Yaeger Earn Top Journalism Honors

The Sean Bell Curveball For Cops on Trial

Prosecutors' 'acting-in-concert' theory in chaotic shooting of Sean Bell misses the mark, observers say

Blood Brothers

Mob mistress Linda Schiro told one murder tale the same way to everyone. Despite the holes in her story.

The Schiro Tapes

Tale of the Tape

Rewind: The story behind my story of the FBI murder case

Teacher in Queens Sends Graphic Emails to Students: DA

Tall Tales of a Mafia Mistress

A witness for the prosecution of an ex-FBI agent once told a different story

Name That Criminal

In a notorious murder case, Rohan Bolt is doing the time. Did someone else do the crime?

Baby Madness

How one young woman's delusions cost her years of freedom

Deviled Jam

Prosecutors backing off on hate crime charge in beating of Queens Satanist

Schwarz Silenced—Vinegrad Caves

Charles Schwarz Has the Edge

Will Morgenthau Do Justice?

The First Trial Judge Was Over His Head

‘A New Form of Slavery’

Equal Protection for Whom?

Queer on Death Row

In Murder Cases, Being Gay Can Seal a Defendant’s Fate

Shake the Trees

After the Latest Police Killing of Another Unarmed Black Man, The Feds Need Little Convincing to Intervene in New York

Blaming the Bronx D. A.

Al Sharpton Privately Accused Robert Johnson of... "Throwing the Diallo Case"

WABC Talk Show Hosts Shamed

Trippin' On A Hooker

Pushcart James Says He Saw a Man Beat a Prostitute Named Pork Chop. Pushcart Is a Dope Fiend. The Alleged John Is a Policeman.

The Company He Keeps

Chelsea candidate Chris Lynn's suspect pals

A Town Possessed by Satan

'We were a family. Then all of a sudden, there's nobody left.'