Results tagged “legalaid”

The Brooklyn resident whose name caused him $2.1 million of trouble is still being held at Rikers, but a judge lowered his bail from $1 million to $10,000.

The Legal Aid attorney who secretly videotaped his female colleagues while they changed clothes pleaded guilty yesterday to unlawful surveillance. Peter Barta, a Stuyvesant High debater and Georgetown Law graduate, attempted to have the felony charge reduced to a misdemeanor, saying in a letter, "I'm not asking for forgiveness, but an opportunity to earn it." He also said his behavior was "creepy, disrespectful, juvenile and stupid," and wrote, "I offer no excuse or justification for my action. My behavior was inexcusable."

When a colleague at the Legal Aid Society discovered that Peter Barta had been secretly recording his co-workers changing clothes with the use of a hidden camera placed in their offices, police were called to investigate. The cops eventually searched the 32-year-old lawyer's apartment and collected boxes of material they considered possible evidence. The New York Post ferreted out the contents of these boxes from what it describes as "wacky court documents."

A judge dismissed photographs of a woman's butt in the case of alleged subway groper Darnell McGee. Judge Anthony Ferrara said the photographs and video footage found on McGee's cellphone of a victim he allegedly groped was essentially "illegal search without a warrant."

The Post got varying opinions from neighbors of Peter Barta, the Legal Aid lawyer accused of secretly videotaping his female colleagues. Barta was charged with four counts of unlawful surveillance and six counts of attempted unlawful surveillance after he allegedly planted a Sharper Image Security Camcorder Clock in his colleagues' offices to film them while they changed in their offices for the gym or court appearances.

A Legal Aid Society lawyer was arrested yesterday for allegedly planting a clock with a hidden surveillance camera inside it in a female co-worker's office. WNBC reports that 32-year-old Peter Barta's distaff co-workers told police detectives that they regularly used their offices to change into work clothes (like a suit for court) or for after-work activities. Barta had videotape in his home of one of his workers with her breasts and buttocks bared.

Yesterday's reports about the number of people arrested during the 50th annual Puerto Rican Day Parade were incorrect: While numbers like 80 and 173 were offered, today the NY Times reveals 208 people were arrested, due to police concerns about the Latin Kings. However, there's some question as to whether more people without gang connections were arrested during the sweep.

The barter system is thriving when it comes to payments to off relatives. An Astoria man who has been serving a drug-possession sentence at Rikers was charged with conspiracy to commit murder after he tried to hire a hit man last week to kill his mother. And how was Joseph Salvio, who was actually a few days from release, going to pay for the hit? By using three of his mother's fur coats, worth $10,000, as the payment.

The NY Times has a good article about the second trial of Steven Johnson, who unleashed his anger by shooting people and taking others hostage in an East Village bar almost five years ago. Johnson, who has AIDS, was unemployed at the time and was allegedly looking for "happy people" to "avenge the oppression of black people like himself," according the Times.

On Friday, a 16 year old girl was arrested for attempting to rob the First Central Savings Bank on Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria. Chrystie Almestica used a note to demand money from a teller and passed the money to an accomplice. Now the teen says other robbers threatened to kill her parents if she didn't rob the bank.

After last week's claim from an upstate man who said Greenpoint warehouse fire suspect Leszek Kuczera was working for him during the incident, and therefore couldn't have started the 10 alarm blaze, Kuczera himself is coming around to this story. In a few interviews, the Polish immigrant maintained his innocence, saying he was hungover during the interrogation and thought the police were interested in him giving details about the warehouses. Kuczera says that he told the police he reported a 2005 fire caused by other immigrants burning insulation off metal, and that's what confused the police into thinking he confessed about May's devastating fire. The police maintain that Kuczera is one of two firestarters - the Daily News reports that two NYPD interpreters (one Polish born and raised) were present when Kuczera signed his confession.

Aw, the Daily News has a feature on - and photograph of - a tabby cat who survived last month's Greenpoint warehouse fire. Smokey, a male cat who suffered "burns and lost the tips of his ears and whiskers," is currently at BARC Shelter in Williamsburg. He was found by a volunteer in her Noble Street backyard in mid-May, and BARC's vet Dr. Elaine Felton says, "He looked worse than he really was. He looked terrible." Smokey looks so sweet - we hope he finds a loving owner to take him home. More: You can see how far Smokey has progressed, as BARC's blog had photos of the kitty on May 22 and May 25 (warning - it's heartbreaking because he looks bad, but it's great to see him looking good now).

- Lauren

The Post has been loving the Julia Diaco story since the beginning. They dubbed her the "Pot Princess" and today's headline, "See Ya Tater, Pot Princess" certainly has a bit of fondness for the co-ed drug dealer. Today, the Post runs a photograph of Diaco going to court (left), looking quite polished and put together, and emphasizes that Diaco's family wealth played a part in her getting a sweet probation deal. A Legal Aid attorney tells the Post, "I would love for our clients to be offered the same deal. But Legal Aid wouldn't be representing a princess." Well, of course - money talks in this world. It's not right, but that's what happens. Diaco's lawyer says the probation at Clear View is not "the lap of luxury" and notes that while Diaco was selling a variety of drugs, Mary Jane was her biggest problem: "She had a very heavy marijuana habit. The morning began with marijuana, and the day ended with marijuana." Gothamist hopes that Diaco manages it through probation; she's the most high-profile bust of a college drug dealer we've heard of, and let's face it, they are a dime a dozen. We'd actually be interested in Law & Order: Class of 2009 where undercovers have to attend NYU, Columbia, Fordham, St. John's, Brooklyn College, Hunter, you name it - it's totally Law & Order meets 21 Jump Street.

Christopher Rocancourt, the dashing Frenchman who convinced people he was a Rockefeller and swindled them out of money, is back in the NY area, facing charges. Times reporter Andy Newman's article is full of great description, like how Rocancourt "wore a look of wary, weary sulkiness" when he was read his rights. Court TV has extensive coverage of Rocancourt's dalliances.