By JEREMY MYRTHIL & KURTIS RATTAY
Jurors in the federal corruption trial of a former top aide of Gov. Andrew Cuomo continued deliberations on Thursday in what appeared to be a last-ditch attempt to reach agreement after the panelists earlier had declared themselves sharply deadlocked.
“The only thing we seem to agree on is that we cannot agree,” said one juror in a note to Judge Valerie Caproni on Tuesday.
The defendant Joseph Percoco, whom the late Mario Cuomo once dubbed his “third son”, was accused of cutting sweetheart deals with state business executives in exchange for over $300,000 in bribes.
After over seven weeks of trial and seven days of deliberation in U.S. District Court, many jurors voiced frustration and fatigue. Three jurors, in fact, have pleaded with the judge to excuse them from service. Their requests were denied.
The jury interrupted their consultations to ask the judge to provide the transcript of the entire trial surprised the courtroom
“Logistically,” Caproni said, “it will be very time consuming, measured in days, to get you the entire transcripts.”
The request was denied.
The case last month was thrown into turmoil when the star witness Todd Howe, a former Albany lobbyist who cooperated with prosecutors after pleading guilty to eight felonies, was arrested in the midst of the trial after he admitted on the witness stand that he had scammed a credit card company in violation of his plea agreement, which required him to avoid further criminal acts.
The jurors who asked to be excused cited childcare and personal issues when explaining why they “physically and emotionally cannot do this anymore.”
She recently delivered an Allen charge – an instruction given by a court to a deadlocked jury to encourage it to continue deliberating until it reaches a verdict. She added that she was “incredibly sympathetic” to their plights.
The jury was excused early and was scheduled to continue deliberating Friday.
By JASMINE PERALTA
Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis and Senator Martin J. Golden on Thursday blasted Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to tax internet sales, which was expected to collect state and local taxes on at least $100 million in purchases made by New Yorkers.
“New York needs to keep its sticky fingers out of the digital cookie jar!” Golden said at a press conference in Brooklyn.
Cuomo’s recent budget proposal includes a sales tax on internet purchases on items sold through such digital marketplaces as Amazon and eBay.
Malliotakis branded the idea as a “cash-grab, looking to nickel and dime our residents” and the creation of a “big-brother situation” that would invade privacy of New Yorkers.
The language being used in this legislation would require these online marketplaces to provide a list of all the New York residents who have purchased items utilizing those marketplaces to insure that New Yorkers are paying for their services,” she added.
“Enough is enough!”, Senator Golden also emphasized that this internet sales tax will push away these major digital marketplaces from investing in the state of New York, calling the proposal immature.
Senator Golden also asked how dropping a multi-million dollar tax bomb would benefit hard-working New Yorkers?
“Now the government wants a piece of the pie by taking online consumers and businesses,” he said. “This tax will send a message to these digital companies that New York is closed for business.”
In 2012, Business Insider reported, 27 million items were sold on Cyber Monday, 306 items per second.
Golden said that marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay have created an economically convenient and efficient way of shopping. Amazon in particular, he continued, has expanded beyond the virtual world and has created a physical store in Seattle and was looking to bring a store in Brooklyn, and creating warehouses in Staten Island. But the internet sales tax proposal might kill the idea, he contended.
“We need to make New York a state where digital marketplaces are nurtured, and protected to insure the economic prosperity,” Golden said. “We need to not do this tax, nor the rest of the taxes, this governor has proposed.”
Photo of Assemblywoman Mallitakis & Senator Golden by Jasmine Peralta
By KURTIS RATTAY
The jury began deliberations on Thursday in the corruption case against Joseph Percoco—former top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo—who is accused of taking more than $300,000 in bribes in exchange political influence.
The deliberations mark the beginning of the end for a bizarre six-week trial during which the government’s star witness and former Albany lobbyist, Todd Howe, was jailed on felony charges. The defense argued the alleged bribes were actually acts of friendship between old fishing buddies. And to top it all off , the alleged bribes were code-named “ziti” in emails between Percoco and Howe, a reference to the Mafioso series “The Sopranos” in which payoffs were coded by the pasta’s name.
“You are being played hook, line and sinker,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Janis Echenberg during closing arguments to the jury, reminding them that Percoco and Howe’s relationship based on the “fondness for fishing” was no defense against bribery. “Like every fishing story, the more you talk about it, the bigger the friendship becomes.”
Howe allegedly facilitated bribes between Percoco and the three co-defendants accused of bribing him. He has cooperated with government prosecutors after pleading guilty to eight felonies, presumably in exchange for a lighter sentence.
The problems faced by the government’s star witness and his arrest during the trial have led his lawyers to curtail their defense and boosted their confidence that the prosecution’s case was weak, said courtroom observers. During cross-examination, Howe admitted he tried to defraud his credit card company, which broke the terms of his deal with prosecutors that he would keep clean. He is being held in jail.
The defendants’ “best defense is to make you focus on Howe” and to “forget the evidence against the defendants,” Echenberg said. “See the defense arguments for what they are. They are asking for a free pass.”
Percoco allegedly accepted hundreds of thousands of “ziti” from his three co-defendants in exchange for favors regarding Competitive Power Ventures who wanted to build a power plant in Hudson Valley, and upstate developers COR Development, who were seeking state contracts.
“They like this ‘ziti,’” Percoco’s attorney Barry Bohrer said to the jury on Wednesday. “But it’s not the language of criminals just because someone watches the Sopranos and picks up language from the Sopranos. Millions of people would be wearing jumpsuits.”
Percoco received payment through a $90,000-a-year salary paid to Lisa Percoco, his wife, U.S. Attorney’s said. According to prosecutors, Lisa Percoco’s job itself—which they implied she never actually worked—was in exchange for the favors or “official action.”
Although Joseph Percoco was a former top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the governor is not charged with any crimes.
By RADHIKA VISWANATHAN & DYLAN CAMPBELL
The mother of two children stabbed to death by their nanny in 2012 took the stand today giving an emotional testimony and describing a scene she says was like a “horror movie.”
Marina Krim was crying and finding it hard to breathe in the Manhattan courtroom as she wrestled with reliving the day she viewed the bloody bodies of two of her children while she came face to face with the defendant, Yoselyn Ortega.
“She’s a liar,” shouted Marina Krim as she took the stand, glaring at the emotionless defendant. “She killed my best friends.”
Throughout her testimony, Krim often broke down, sobbing uncontrollably and turning to glare at Ortega, who stands accused killing Leo, 2, and Luisa (Lulu), 6.
The witness cried saying she was trying to get in the “zone” to testify but couldn’t.
Choking back tears, Krim described the day of the murder:
It was five years ago when Krim’s regular routine with her nanny went differently, sparking worry. Krim said she knew something was wrong when her 6-year-old daughter Lucia wasn’t at the dance lesson her nanny was supposed to drop her at.
She repeatedly called her nanny and rushed home to Upper West Side apartment, dragging along her other daughter, Nessie, then 4. She returned to a completely dark apartment except for a crack of light from under the bathroom door.
“I go down, I walk down the hall and I see the light on under the back of the door, and I’m like oh God it’s so quiet in here, Oh god. Why is it so … quiet?”
She walked in to see the bloodied bodies of her children, stabbed to death in the bathtub and Yoselyn Ortega, the nanny she hired to care for her children, was in the act of stabbing herself in the neck.
“It was so awful,” she said, still weeping. “Like a total horror movie.”
“I was destroyed,” added Krim, describing hitting her head against in the pillars in her lobby “to wake up from this nightmare.”
When the witness left the stand she turned to the defendant and hissed, “You’re disgusting.”
Ortega is charged with two counts of first degree murder and two counts of second degree murder. The trial was delayed as defense lawyer Valerie Van Leer-Greenberg argued that Ortega was not responsible due to mental illness. But the judge found her fit to stand
Her lawyers were expected to mount an insanity defense. In New York a mental health defense comes with high barrier. Ortega’s lawyers must prove she did not understand her actions or the difference between right and wrong.
In opening statement to the jurors the defense cited depressive episodes and psychosis. the prosecution argued Ortega’s actions that day including “avoiding” Krim and committing the murders in a dark and empty apartment showed that Ortega was aware of her actions.“You will know a diseased mind when you see it,” said Van Leer-Greenberg. She also argued that her illness wasn’t taken seriously in her home country, the Dominican Republic. and that the lack of clear motive reinforces her client’s mental instability.
Asst. DA Courtney Groves in her opening statement portrayed the killing as stemming from of resentment by Ortega against her employers for giving her cleaning jobs in addition to child care. She said Ortega slit the throats of the children to keep them from screaming and fought off Lucia’s struggles, citing the child’s wounded hands, and then laid their lifeless bodies in the bathtub.
“You may believe you have not heard a satisfactory answer (to a motive), because there just isn’t a satisfactory answer,” Groves said. “But not knowing why the defendant slaughtered Lucia and Leo Krim does not mean that she is not responsible for those actions or for those murders. It merely means there is no good answer.”
Since the murders the Krims have had two more children, Felix and Linus, and founded the Lulu & Leo Fund, an organization that offers parents and schools a creativity curriculum.
By ALAIN GAILLARD
The defendant who pleaded guilty two days ago to the horrifying 2008 murder of a 14-year-old girl was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison in Queens Supreme Court Thursday, concluding a difficult case that had baffled detectives for almost a decade.
Rashon Venable, 25, was escorted into the Queens courtroom by two policemen, his hands cuffed behind his back and holding a manila envelope containing a sheet of paper with a few words of apology he would later read to victim Sabrina Matthews’s family members and friends present in the courtroom.
“Why did you do that to me? You took away my baby. I miss my baby, I miss her voice,” said the victim’s mother, Sherida Matthews with tears in her eyes, as she was given permission to say a few words to her daughter’s killer. “Do you know what she could have accomplished? She wanted to be a teacher and a doctor.”
On Nov. 9, 2008, Sabrina’s father found the lifeless body of his half-naked daughter in a pool of blood with her throat slashed in the bedroom of her Cambria Heights home. It took investigators eight years to finally match the DNA from Sabrina’s crime scene to Venable’s DNA on file from a sexual assault he committed in Pennsylvania in 2009, on his 17th birthday. Venable was arrested on Nov. 7, 2016.
“All I can say, I have regrets and remorse for my action eight years ago,” said Venable. “An innocent life has been lost because of my action. I am sorry for your loss. I will try to be a better person than I was in 2008.”
Judge Kenneth Holder spurned the killer’s apology, saying that he was one of the most violent people to ever stand in his courtroom. “What is stunning,” the judge continued, “is that you say she was your friend. She made you angry and that is why you killed her.”
Speaking to journalists after the sentencing, the mother also rejected out of hand the killer’s apology. “This guy was born criminal,” she said. “It is a good thing he is behind bars, so he won’t be able to kill other young girls,” she said.
By MICHELLE CUMMINGS
Marking Black History Month 150 students in the Bronx were treated to a free screening of the Black Panther movie Thursday as part of City Councilman Andy King’s and the Bronx Youth Empowerment Program’s initiative to empower students of color by highlighting African greatness.
King united students from across his district at a movie theater in Co-op City to thrill to the Black Panther phenomenon firsthand.
The aim was to ensure black and brown children were comfortable in their own skins by seeing themselves in positions of power and grace on the big screen. King aide Brian Melford said that leaders must create experiences that unveil the community’s strength.
“I feel energized seeing black people in power,” said one student.
Although the film’s story is based in the fictional city of Wakanda, elements of Africa’s exceptional accomplishments are reflected in the plot. “This is what African beauty is, powerful,” said one girl who attended the screening.
Clip of excited children shouting “Wakanda” from CM King’s Instagram. Permission to publish granted by Brian Melford.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfgRiLHFxUf/
The movie became a blockbuster, setting a record $235 million debut in the U.S. over the holiday weekend. This cultural phenomenon brought awareness of black culture and fortified students inundated with negative storylines about Africa and black people.
Attendees were moved to reject the Eurocentric narrative that African-American history is only about slavery and resignation. Erik Killmonger’s last words in the film resonated with audience members when he said, “Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from ships, ’cause they knew death was better than bondage.”
After attending the screening, the Bronx students exuded a deep sense of pride and gratitude.
“We can move forward and reimagine our future and tell history more honestly,” said another student.
Educators across the country are stressing the importance of having young people see the movie. “Congrats to the entire #blackpanther team! Because of you, young people will finally see superheroes that look like them on the big screen,” said former first lady Michelle Obama in a tweet Monday. “I loved this movie and I know it will inspire people of all backgrounds to dig deep and find the courage to be heroes of their own stories.”
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By ALAIN GAILLARD
Low-income tenants from neighborhoods such as Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Greenpoint have felt the effects of gentrification for about two decades. Unable to cope with the increases in rent and influx of affluent new neighbors many have had to move to neighborhoods they can afford.
However, does gentrification have a silver lining?
Speaking to a room filled to capacity Thursday at the Brooklyn Historical Society, at the kickoff of an exhibit for the 100th anniversary of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce to showcase the development of business in Brooklyn over the past century, Borough President, Eric Adams, deplored the popular opposition to gentrification, saying it was used to “demonize the evolution of a community.”
“Brooklyn is going to evolve and change; what we must do is make sure that we do not forcefully move people out, which allows the natural transition of a community,” he said.
He praised the ethnic diversification in Brooklyn, which has contributed to the development of the borough: “Instead of the attitude, I don’t want another person who doesn’t look like me, talk like me, speak like me, and eat the same food as me, listen to the same sound, the same music. We should be open and welcome the beauty of this thing we have in Brooklyn,” he said.
His words contrasted sharply with the general tenor of many neighborhood activists who portray gentrification as an unadulterated evil in low-income and minority areas.
During the ceremony, the former Brooklyn Borough presidents, Howard Golden and Marty Markowitz, extolled the attractiveness of Brooklyn that was built on ethnic diversity.
Based on three themes—local, global, and labor innovation—the exhibition, which opens to the public on Friday, will show the work of pioneering community organizations in Brooklyn and the changes in the evolution of consumer culture over the past decade.
According to Andrew Hoan, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, 1,000 visitors are expected to visit the exhibit, which will run throughout 2018. “We had an exhibit for the ninetieth anniversary of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and that was a success. We decided to have it again to show tourists, our children, and Brooklynites the history of the borough,” he said.
Photo by Alain Gaillard
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By KURTIS RATTAY
Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday flatly accused the leader of the National Rifle Association of being responsible for the shooting deaths of students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, responding to NRA head Wayne LaPierre’s earlier criticism of him and other Democratic leaders.
“My answer to Wayne LaPierre is you are one of the people responsible for this massacre and all the massacres before,” de Blasio said.
At a City Hall press conference announcing that J. Phillip Thompson would be the new Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives beginning next month, the mayor swiftly shifted attention to gun safety regulations, the NRA and active shooter preparedness at middle and high schools.
“The leaders of the NRA are in league with the gun industry and it’s not just a political question here, this is a question of profit,” the mayor said. “We have to understand at this point in history the NRA is the problem.”
De Blasio also found it “stunning” that NRA leadership expressed no penitence in the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School which left 17 dead on Valentine’s Day, and reignited the gun debate.
Earlier at a Conservative Political Action Conference at the National Harbor in Maryland LaPierre had said, “Their (Democratic politicians’) goal is to eliminate the second amendment and our firearms freedoms so they can eradicate all individual freedoms,”
De Blasio also announced initiatives to combat school shootings and prepare city students for an active shooter. Middle and high schools will have safety drills four times a year. Additionally, all middle and high schools will undergo random weapon scanning “for at least a day,” while some schools will have them regularly.
“If ever there is an indication that there is something wrong, it’s that we have to teach our young people to get ready for a mass shooting,” de Blasio said.
The mayor’s announcing safety preparedness and random screenings comes after President Trump recommended arming teachers as a measure to deter school shootings.
“The president doesn’t know anything about public schools,” de Blasio said. “I have no reason to believe he went to a public school or his kids went to a public school. There is nothing more terrifying than putting more guns in our children’s schools.”
New York City high schoolers are also following the trend of students acting to demand gun reform by planning a walkout for March 14. Participating students had de Blasio’s respect, he said.
“If I was a high school student today I would be walking out, there is no question about it,” he said. “The current leadership in Washington has not protected our young people and they have every right to stand up.”
For Mayor de Blasio, the Florida shooting has a different tone from the Sandy Hook elementary shooting.
“The difference in Florida is these students are older,” he said. “They can speak for themselves now and they have. They have their own voices and they’re not waiting on anyone else.”
Photo of mayor by Kurtis Rattay
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By RYAN THAXTON
Borough President Eric Adams welcomed students, teachers, and activists to Borough Hall on Thursday to map Brooklyn’s plans to join the March For Our Lives movement and coordinate participation in the nationwide student walkouts scheduled for March 14 to protest school gun violence.
This support includes providing buses to shuttle Brooklynites to Washington, D.C. on March, 24 to attend the national March For Our Lives and cooperation with any marches planned that day in Brooklyn.
The March For Our Lives movement is organized by students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida where a gunman killed 14 students and three staff members at the school on Feb. 14 and has quickly been taken up by students and activists across the nation.
The Borough President vowed to “do the navigating [he] needs to do to make these young people’s voices heard. The ideas here are amazing.”
Adams called on Brooklyn schools to set an example for the rest of the city. “We are the largest borough of Brooklyn, so we’re the big brother of the city,” he said. “The other boroughs are going to absorb into what we’re doing here.”
Adams suggested Prospect Park as a convening space for the March, 14 walkout. “Central Park does not allow demonstrations of this magnitude,” he said. “That’s fine for them. Prospect Park, we do. And we are going to call the rally to be here in Brooklyn right here in Prospect Park.”
Many students called for more civics classes and emotional support to make students feel more comfortable in schools. “We have to reshift the department of education,” Adams said in response. “Not only must our children be academically smart, they must be emotionally intelligent.”
Adams also advised students on how to engage with their elected leaders and suggested schools attempt to register as many high school seniors eligible to vote as possible. “No elected official is going to hear you if you don’t have a ballot in your hand,” warned Adams.
However, Adams also noted that the actions taken by young people in response to the Parkland shooting “has sent shivers through the entire legislation process. They all understand now, the jig is up!”
Photo by Ryan Thaxton
