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☆ Live Updates: Harvey Weinstein’s Conviction Is Overturned by New York’s Top Court
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Jonah E. Bromwich | Maria Cramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

PinnedNew York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 conviction on felony sex crime charges, a stunning reversal in the foundational case of the #MeToo era. Citing that decision and others it identified as errors, the appeals court determined that Mr. Weinstein, who as a movie producer had been one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, had not received a fair trial. The four judges in the majority wrote that Mr. Weinstein was not tried solely on the crimes he was charged with, but instead for much of his past behavior. It was not immediately clear on Thursday morning how the decision would affect Mr. Weinstein, 71, who is being held in an upstate prison in Rome, N.Y. Mr. Weinstein was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 100 women; in New York he was convicted of assaulting two of them.

Persons: Harvey Weinstein’s, Weinstein’s, Weinstein, Alvin L, Bragg —, Donald J, Trump Organizations: New, Appeals, Mr, Beverly Hills Locations: Hollywood, Manhattan, Rome, California, Beverly, New York

☆ Weinstein’s Conviction Is Overturned: 5 Takeaways
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Maria Cramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a 4-to-3 decision on Thursday, New York’s highest court overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 conviction on felony sex crime charges, a reversal that horrified and dismayed many of the women whose decision to speak out against Mr. Weinstein, a prominent Hollywood producer, accelerated the #MeToo movement. The New York Court of Appeals agreed with Mr. Weinstein’s defense team that the trial judge who presided over the sex crimes case in Manhattan, Justice James Burke, made a critical error when he let prosecutors call as witnesses several women who testified that Mr. Weinstein had assaulted them, even though none of those allegations had led to charges. The women became known as Molineux witnesses, a term that refers to trial witnesses who are allowed to testify about criminal acts that the defendant has not been charged with committing. In writing for the majority, Judge Jenny Rivera said permitting such testimony in Mr. Weinstein’s case had served to wrongly “diminish defendant’s character before the jury.”

Persons: Harvey Weinstein’s, Weinstein, James Burke, Jenny Rivera, Weinstein’s, ” Organizations: New, Mr Locations: Hollywood, New York, Manhattan, Molineux

The Harvey Weinstein Appeal Ruling, AnnotatedThe 2020 conviction of Harvey Weinstein on felony sex crime charges in Manhattan was overturned on Thursday by New York’s top court. The ruling by the New York Court of Appeals said the trial judge in Mr. Weinstein’s case, Justice James M. Burke, erred in letting prosecutors call some women as witnesses who said Mr. Weinstein had assaulted them, but whose accusations were not included as charges. The appeals court found that Mr. Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood producer whose case ignited the #MeToo movement, had not received a fair trial. The New York Times is annotating the ruling. Download the original PDF.

Persons: Harvey Weinstein, James M, Burke, Weinstein, “, Mr Organizations: New, Appeals, Hollywood, New York Times Locations: Manhattan, California

☆ Cities’ Efforts to Hold Police Accountable Hit a Wall: The Police
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-21 | by ( Maria Cramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Last year, a woman in Albany, N.Y., filed a complaint with the civilian board responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct by the city’s police: She believed officers had not thoroughly investigated her claim that the father of her 3-year-old daughter had sexually assaulted the girl. But when the board asked the Albany Police Department for a copy of the case file and issued subpoenas to compel the investigators to answer questions, the police refused to cooperate. Releasing investigative files, they argued, could endanger victims, according to internal emails. Eric Hawkins, the police chief, also told the board that he would not allow officers or detectives to cooperate with any of the panel’s investigations because forcing officers to respond to subpoenas would violate the police union’s contract, according to a lawsuit the board filed against the Police Department. The resistance to the Albany board’s demands is emblematic of the struggles such panels continue to face across the United States, decades after being created to increase police accountability.

Persons: Eric Hawkins Organizations: Albany Police Department, Police Department Locations: Albany, N.Y, United States

☆ Most Major Crimes Are Down. Why Are Assaults Up?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Maria Cramer | Chelsia Rose Marcius | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Just before noon last Saturday, a 9-year-old girl was with her mother at Grand Central Terminal when a man strode up to the child and, without warning, punched her in the face, according to the police. The child, dizzy and in pain, was taken to the hospital. It was the second time in nine days that Mr. Zarzuela had randomly attacked someone at the terminal, the police said. On April 4, they said, he punched a 56-year-old woman in the face, causing her nose to bleed and her left eye to swell shut. And it was among a number of recent assaults that have unnerved New Yorkers, who have seen a rash of attacks reported on the streets and on the subway.

Persons: strode, Jean Carlos Zarzuela, Zarzuela Organizations: Grand Central Locations: East Harlem

☆ N.Y.P.D. Officials Deploy Aggressive Use of Force (on Social Media)
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Maria Cramer | Dana Rubinstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A newspaper columnist was accused of being “deceitful.” A lawyer and political activist was challenged to show her face at the funeral of a fallen officer. And a city councilwoman became the target of an apparent “vote her out” campaign. The combative comments — all posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter — were nothing new for a site that has become synonymous with personal attacks and insults. What was unusual was the source: executives from the New York Police Department. “The defund crowd who will cry ‘boo hoo’ to 9-1-1 when they need us,” John Chell, the chief of patrol, wrote on X on March 31, complaining about a critical column written by Harry Siegel of The Daily News.

Persons: ”, councilwoman, ” John Chell, Harry Siegel, Eric Adams, — Organizations: Twitter, New York Police Department, The Daily News, Police Department

But the rattling shook buildings in New York City and drove startled residents into the streets. Image The command room of New York City Emergency Management. Today’s earthquake Magnitude 4.8 Conn. Pa. 1964 4.5 1994 4.6 250-mile radius from New York City Md. 250-mile radius from New York City Del. While earthquakes in New York City are surprises to most, seismologists say the ground is not as stable as New Yorkers might believe.

Persons: “, Kathy Hochul, ” Gov, Philip D, Murphy, Con Edison, Eric Adams, ”, Adams, Zach Iscol, Dave Sanders, Ron Hamburger, Valorie Brennan, Ada Carrasco, The New York Times “ I’ve, Kristina Feeley, Feeley, Folarin, “ There’s, Kolawole, Lazaro Gamio, Riyad H, Mansour, Janti, Hamburger, Michael Kemper, Clara Dossetter, David Dossetter, Dossetter, ’ ”, Lola Fadulu, Gaya Gupta, Hurubie Meko, Michael Wilson, William J . Broad, Kenneth Chang, Emma Fitzsimmons, Sarah Maslin Nir, Erin Nolan, Mihir Zaveri, Maria Cramer, Grace Ashford, Camille Baker, Liset Cruz, Michael Paulson, Patrick McGeehan, Troy Closson Organizations: ”, United States Geological Survey, Police Department, Fire Department, Con, Gracie Mansion, The New York Times, Whitehouse, New York City Emergency Management, Credit, Lamont, Columbia University, Maine CANADA, New York City Del, Lincoln Center, New York Philharmonic, United Nations, Children U.S, Security, New York Police, United Airlines, Newark Liberty International Airport Locations: Newark, New Jersey, Manhattan, Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, New York, Rockland County, Murphy of New Jersey, Whitehouse, N.J, California, Japan, Zach Iscol , New York, New, Northridge, Los Angeles, Califon, Marble, Ramapo, New York , New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Palisades, N.Y, N.H, Pa, New York City Md, Del, Va, Maine, R.I, Md, Palestinian, Gaza, East Coast, “, York, San Francisco, Gaya

A teenager was taken into custody on Thursday in connection with a shooting at a Bronx subway station earlier this week that killed one person and injured five others, a law enforcement official said. The shooting took place during the afternoon rush hour on Monday at the Mount Eden Avenue subway station in the Bronx. It occurred after a fight broke out between two groups of teenagers on a northbound 4 train at 4:30 p.m. When the train arrived at the station and people began filing off, someone fired a gun, the police said. The shooting continued as people frantically exited the train and ran for cover.

Persons: Obed Beltran, Sanchez Organizations: Mount Locations: Mount Eden, Bronx

☆ I am very sad for the NYPD's useless and purgatory-bound subway robot
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Sophie Kleeman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

But now the NYPD robot has been placed in purgatory — a barren shopfront — and I am no longer laughing. According to The New York Times, K5 has been removed from its post in the Times Square subway station, where it required constant guardianship from human police officers. "The robot for the police, or the police for the robot?" ⁦@danarubinstein⁩ and ⁦@HurubieMeko⁩ on the sad fate of the NYPD robot. Similarly, the NYPD told me that K5 "has completed its pilot deployment in the NYC subway system."

Persons: Eric Adams, @HurubieMeko⁩, ezsZJ3mgWc — Maria Cramer, @NYTimesCramer, I, it's Organizations: New York City, NYPD, The New York Times, Times, City Hall, Yankees Locations: NYC

☆ In Trump’s Bitter, Yearslong Brawl with Roberta Kaplan, He Keeps Losing
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Maria Cramer | Kate Christobek | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In October 2022, Roberta Kaplan flew to Donald Trump’s estate, Mar-a-Lago, in Florida, to question him under oath in the defamation lawsuit that her client, the writer E. Jean Carroll, had filed against him after she accused him of sexually assaulting her. “She’s not my type,” Mr. Trump said when he was asked if he raped Ms. Carroll in the mid-1990s in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York. Then he shrugged, looked at Ms. Kaplan and pointed at her. “You wouldn’t be a choice of mine either, to be honest with you,” he said, according to a transcript of the deposition. “I would not, under any circumstances, have any interest in you.

Persons: Roberta Kaplan, Donald Trump’s, Jean Carroll, “ She’s, Mr, Trump, Carroll, Goodman, Kaplan, ”, “ Locations: Mar, Florida, New York, Manhattan

Judge Kaplan said jurors should be identified only by number and even suggested they not share their actual names with one other. People were asked whether they had ever contributed money or supported a political campaign for Mr. Trump, Mr. Obama, Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden. “Have any of you ever read any books by Mr. Trump?” the judge asked. “Would that affect your ability to be fair to both sides in this case?” Judge Kaplan asked. “I want to stipulate that I am on the left,” Ms. Carroll remarked drolly.

Persons: Jean Carroll, Donald J, Trump, Lewis A, Kaplan, Carroll, Trump’s, —, Rosanna Garcia, “, Judge Kaplan, Ms, jockeyed, Alina Habba, Michael M, ”, Barack Obama, Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, “ I’ve, ’, ” Ms, drolly, Kate Christobek Organizations: E, Trump, Vijilent Inc, Facebook, Carroll, Elle, CNN, Getty, Mr, New, New York City Transit Authority Locations: Manhattan, Massachusetts, U.S, New York, Westchester, New York City, Bronx, Westchester County

☆ In Trump’s Defamation Trial, the Nine Most Important People Are Enigmas
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Maria Cramer | Benjamin Weiser | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Attorneys for E. Jean Carroll and Donald J. Trump, pitted against each other in a civil defamation trial in Manhattan, know little about the nine people considering her claim for millions of dollars in damages against the former president. So, their lawyers have been left making pitches to those nine, the jurors, about whom they have only the barest scraps of information, working on hunches and instincts to persuade people who by design are not knowable. The judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, ordered that the jurors remain anonymous as they considered how much Mr. Trump should pay for saying Ms. Carroll lied when she accused him of sexual abuse, for which he has already been found liable. Judge Kaplan said jurors should be identified only by number and even suggested they not share their actual names with one other. In a pretrial ruling, he explained his rationale, citing the potential for influence attempts, harassment or worse by Mr. Trump’s supporters — or the former president himself.

Persons: Jean Carroll, Donald J, Trump, Lewis A, Kaplan, Carroll, Trump’s, — Organizations: E Locations: Manhattan

“The thing you’ve got to do primarily is set rules and enforce them,” said John S. Martin Jr., a former U.S. District Court judge in Manhattan. In Ms. Carroll’s defamation trial, Mr. Trump seemed almost to be goading Judge Kaplan into throwing him out of the courtroom. After his two recent confrontations with the judges, Mr. Trump held news conferences before cheering supporters in the lobby of his building at 40 Wall Street. Ms. Carroll’s defamation trial is being heard by a nine-person jury in Federal District Court, with Judge Kaplan overseeing the proceedings. During his diatribe, Mr. Trump refrained from attacking any staff members.

Persons: Arthur Engoron, Donald Trump, Donald J, Arthur F, Trump, Mr, ”, Jean Carroll, Judge Lewis A, Kaplan, Ms, you’ve, John S, Martin Jr, “, ” Mr, Carroll’s, Letitia James, Kaplan “, Alexi J . Rosenfeld, Trump’s, Engoron’s, Judge Kaplan, Carroll, Jefferson Siegel, The New York Times Judge Kaplan, Bill Clinton, Sam Bankman, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, Osama, Laden, Katherine B, Forrest, Judge Kaplan’s, Michael B, Mukasey, Justice Engoron, Art Garfunkel, —, James, Christopher M, Kise, Engoron, Kate Christobek, Olivia Bensimon, Kirsten Noyes Organizations: Trump, Getty, Court, The New York Times, Mr, New York Times Locations: New York, York, U.S, Manhattan, New Hampshire, Trump’s Manhattan

His testimony, after days of anticipation, lasted less than five minutes. “Defense calls President Donald Trump,” Alina Habba, his lead lawyer, told the court. She asked the former president whether he stood by his remarks in a deposition in which he had called Ms. Carroll a liar. “One hundred percent, yes,” Mr. Trump said. Ms. Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta A. Kaplan, had written to the judge, saying Trump might see a political benefit “from intentionally turning this trial into a circus.”

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Jean Carroll’s, Donald Trump, ” Alina Habba, Carroll, Mr, “, Lewis A, Kaplan, Roberta A, ” Organizations: “ Defense

Mr. DeSantis, who endorsed Mr. Trump on his way out of the race, earned some praise and a reprieve from the former president’s persistent name-calling. In fact, most have now thrown their support behind Mr. Trump, underscoring the steep challenges she faces in securing allies to challenge the famously spiteful Mr. Trump. The betrayal of Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, a former Haley ally who endorsed Mr. Trump, seemed to particularly sting Ms. Haley. Chris Christie of New Jersey has previously signaled his reluctance to endorse Ms. Haley, and she has countered that she did not want his endorsement.) What remains unclear on the eve of the primary is just how much impact Mr. DeSantis’s withdrawal will have in New Hampshire.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis’s, Haley, DeSantis, Mr, “, ”, Ms, I’ll, ” Ms, Haley’s, Tim Scott of, Chris Christie, DeSantis’s Organizations: Republican, Sunday, Florida, Trump, Republican Party Locations: New Hampshire, South Carolina, Rochester, N.H, Seabrook, Tim Scott of South Carolina, New Jersey, Florida

The accusations by the writer E. Jean Carroll that former President Donald J. Trump raped and defamed her have been the subject of two separate trials in U.S. District Court in Lower Manhattan and have unfolded as Mr. Trump campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination. Last May, a jury found that Mr. Trump sexually abused Ms. Carroll, a former advice columnist for Elle magazine who said he assaulted her nearly three decades ago in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room. Now, Mr. Trump, 77, is back in the same federal courthouse, defending himself again against accusations of defamation. On Thursday, Ms. Carroll, the first witness in the case, ended her testimony in a trial that is expected to wrap up next week. It is still unknown whether Mr. Trump will take the stand.

Persons: Jean Carroll, Donald J, Trump, Carroll, Elle, Goodman Organizations: Republican Locations: U.S, Lower Manhattan

During a break after Ms. Carroll had spent the morning testifying about what happened after she accused Mr. Trump of raping her, one of her lawyers complained, out of the jury’s presence, that Mr. Trump had been overheard speaking at the defense table. He said “witch hunt” and “it was a con job,” loudly enough that jurors could hear, said Shawn Crowley, one of Ms. Carroll’s lawyers. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who had sparred all morning with Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, over her objections to Ms. Carroll’s testimony, appeared to be losing his patience. Trump has a right to be present here,” Judge Kaplan said. “That right can be forfeited and it can be forfeited if he is disruptive, which is what has been reported to me, and if he disregards court orders.”

Persons: Jean Carroll, Donald J, Trump, Carroll, ”, Shawn Crowley, Judge Lewis A, Kaplan, Trump’s, Alina Habba, Carroll’s, “ Mr, ” Judge Kaplan

☆ E. Jean Carroll Says Trump ‘Shattered’ Her Reputation as He Watches in Court
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Maria Cramer | More About Maria Cramer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Since E. Jean Carroll accused Donald Trump of raping her in a dressing room in Bergdorf Goodman, he has made dozens of posts on social media accusing her of lying — although a jury last year awarded her $2 million in damages for the assault. On Wednesday, the former president watched and listened for the first time as Ms. Carroll, 80, described how those statements affected her. “He shattered my reputation,” Ms. Carroll said in a federal courtroom in Lower Manhattan as Mr. Trump sat at the defense table, attending the proceedings for a second straight day. In a trial this week, the former Elle magazine advice columnist is seeking $10 million in damages for two statements he made as president in 2019, accusing her of lying about claims he assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s. Mr. Trump called Ms. Carroll’s rape claim “totally false,” said that he had never met Ms. Carroll, and that she had invented the story to sell a book.

Persons: Jean Carroll, Donald Trump, Bergdorf Goodman, Carroll, ” Ms, Trump, Goodman, ” Organizations: Elle Locations: Lower Manhattan

Image A watch party for Mr. Trump in Des Moines on Monday night. Credit... Haiyun Jiang for The New York TimesInstead, if Mr. Trump wins next week’s New Hampshire primary, a march to a third nomination is all but certain. Some in the news media were reluctant to direct their audiences to Mr. Trump, especially shortly after he left office, for fear that it would only amplify his lies about his election loss. Since 2016, both Republican and Democratic leaders have often agreed that it helps Democrats to have Mr. Trump at the political fore. Mr. Biden has signaled his plans to highlight Mr. Trump’s efforts to subvert his loss in the 2020 election, invoking the attack on the Capitol and Mr. Trump’s revisionist history of what happened.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, codifying, —, he’d, Haiyun Jiang, ”, David Axelrod, Barack Obama, “, victimhood, Mr, Trump’s, Axelrod, Biden, Maansi Srivastava, Liam Donovan Organizations: Fox News, Republican, Trump, Republican Party, The New York, Democratic, Republicans, New, New York Times Democrats, Capitol, Washington Post, University of Maryland Locations: New York, Iowa, Florida, Des Moines, Hampshire, Clive , Iowa, New Hampshire, Washington, mattering

A Manhattan jury will be asked a narrow question this week: How much money must former President Donald J. Trump pay the writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her after she accused him of raping her? Ms. Carroll’s chance encounter decades ago at the Bergdorf Goodman department store, in which she said Mr. Trump shoved her against a dressing room wall, pulled down her tights and forced himself on her, was already the focus of a trial last year. At the time, Mr. Trump called her claim “totally false,” saying that he had never met Ms. Carroll, a former Elle magazine advice columnist, and that she invented a story to sell a book. Now, Mr. Trump says he wants to attend and testify at Ms. Carroll’s trial, something he didn’t do in the earlier case. That’s sparked a bitter dispute between lawyers for Ms. Carroll, 80, and Mr. Trump, 77, over what the former president could say if he took the stand, and whether he would stray beyond strict boundaries the judge has set.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Jean Carroll, defaming, Carroll’s, Goodman, Carroll, Trump’s, ” Organizations: Elle Locations: Manhattan, New York

At a town hall in Coney Island, Brooklyn, on Monday night, the mayor said the cuts were real but that he did not want to make them. The police commissioner, Edward Caban, has yet to make a public statement about the implications of a proposal that would bring the number of officers below 30,000 for the first time in decades. There were nearly 35,000 officers in the department in 2022. is stretched as thin as it could go right now,” said Paul DiGiacomo, president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association. Every agency would be affected, including the Department of Education, which would see its budget cut by $1 billion over two years; the Sanitation Department; the city’s libraries; and popular programs like summer school and universal prekindergarten.

Persons: ”, “, Yell, Edward Caban, Paul DiGiacomo, ’, Mr, Adams Organizations: D.C, ”, Police Department, ’ Endowment Association, Department of Education, Sanitation Department Locations: Coney Island , Brooklyn

Don’t touch me.” “Give me your ID.” “Don’t touch me. You ask me for my ID, I’m going to give you my ID, but don’t touch me. Stop touching me.” “Keep your hands out of your pocket.” “Stop touching me.” “Keep your hands out of your pocket.” “Stop touching — my hands are in my pocket. Do what you got to do.” “Please, please, please, stop, stop, stop. Guys, please, guys, stop, stop, stop.”

Persons: “, ”, You’re, —, It’s, ain’t, ” “ I’m, Delaney, ” “, “ I’m, — Vasquez

In December 1982, four armed men burst into a bodega in Brooklyn serving as a front for marijuana dealing and ordered two men working inside to hand over drugs. The men then shot the clerks, killing one of them, Jairam Gangaram, a 32-year-old father of four girls. Five years later, a jury convicted Detroy Livingston of second degree murder following the testimony of a troubled young woman with an addiction to crack cocaine who claimed to be at the scene. Mr. Livingston, who had rejected a plea deal that would have set him free within 12 years, was sentenced to 25 years to life. On Friday, prosecutors from the office of the Brooklyn district attorney, Eric Gonzalez, agreed that Mr. Livingston’s conviction should be vacated and the charges against him dismissed.

Persons: Jairam, Edward McClean, Detroy Livingston, Livingston, Eric Gonzalez, Livingston’s, Gangaram’s, Karen Dannett Locations: bodega, Brooklyn

The unprovoked attack has unnerved a city deeply reliant on the subway as its lifeline. On Wednesday, the woman was on the platform of the Fifth Avenue-53rd Street station waiting for an E train. Mr. Jones approached and shoved her against a departing train, sending her onto the subway tracks after her head hit a car, Chief Kemper said. He saw Mr. Jones screaming and was quickly walking away when Mr. Jones came up from behind, he said. Mr. Jones punched him in the left side of his face and fractured his jaw before fleeing, the man said.

Persons: Jones, Kemper Organizations: Street, Queens

“He’s known to us in the subway system,” the chief said, adding that video from security cameras in the station had helped investigators identify Mr. Jones as the suspect. Being shoved suddenly on a subway platform in particular is a perennial urban nightmare. Through Oct. 15, there had been 15 people pushed off subway platforms in New York City this year, compared with 22 in the same period last year, the police said. In May, a woman was critically injured after a man shoved her head against a moving subway train at the Lexington Avenue/63rd Street station. The woman, Emine Yilmaz Ozsoy, 35, was partially paralyzed in the attack.

Persons: “, Jones, Emine Yilmaz Organizations: Bowery, Committee, Lexington Locations: New York City

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