In
SDNY A Prison Strip Search To
Find A Hidden Blade Results In
Civil Rights Trial
By Matthew
Russell Lee
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Sept 4 –
Chance
McCurdy
was in
prison on
Riker's Island
on February
19, 2015 when
someone was
slashed by the
commissary, with
a surgical blade.
McCurdy ended
up beaten and
his lawsuit against
the City of
New York
finally
reached trial
on September 4
before U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of New
York Judge
Gregory H.
Woods.
The
courtroom was
almost empty.
In fact plaintiff
McCurdy wasn't
there, not
produced from
the MCC.
Instead on the
stand was
Captain Cheryl
Bell, being
questioned by
McCurdy's
lawyer Fred
Lichtmacher about
the
three prior
disciplinary
actions
against her
for excessive
force
and failure to
supervise the
use of force.
In
response
she called
the plaintiff
a member of
the Bloods street
gang, who had
to be housed
in a special
Bloods unit on
Riker's
Island in the
Anna M. Kross
Center or
AMKC.
The
City's lawyer
described McCurdy, when
facing
a strip search
to find the
missing blade,
as yelling
"I'm not
stripping...
F.U... It's
lit."
Inner City Press
has asked to
be informed when
the six-member
jury comes
back with a
verdict. Watch this
site.
Earlier
this year in the
SDNY Johnny
Morgan was
suing
the United States
for a rectal search he
endured
in the
Metropolitan
Correctional
Center at 150
Park Row,
right next to
the U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern District of
New York. On
April 4 before
SDNY
Magistrate
Judge Debra
Freeman, the
government
presented an
expert Roy
Lubit who said
that Morgan is
a "malingerer" and blamed
his pain on
abuse suffered
earlier at the
hand of
his own mother. But
even
government
expert Lubit
said that the
rectal entry
should not
have happened.
It is,
in fact, an outrage. While
some might
question
taxpayer money
going to pay damages for
what happened
to Mr. Morgan,
what about
public money
for an expert
witness to
insult the
torturee?
We'll have
more on this.
The
Federal
Defenders
scored a big
win in a
misdemeanor
proceeding
that only
Inner City
Press attended
and covered on
April 2. They
defeated the
U.S.
Attorney's Office
which argued
that the
simple assault
they agreed to
on a dispute
on a cruise
ship required
allocution to
actual
physical
conflict.
There was case law on
the Federal
Defenders'
side, and a
plea to making
a threat on
the cruise
ship - in
"international
waters" -- was
found
sufficient.
The case was United
States v.
Batista, 18
Cr. 730 (NRB). The
Federal
Defenders
lawyer was
Sabrina P.
Shroff, whom
Inner City
Press has
previously
covered in the
UN bribery
cases of
Patrick Ho
(new Hong
Kong documentary
here),
getting
bail for Cheikh Gadio, and
of Ng Lap
Seng,
representing
hapless Jeff Yin. The
issue in
Batista was whether
simple assault
requires the
defendant to
"strike or
choke." Ms.
Shroff cited
the US v
Denis and US v
Chestaro
cases, and the
matter was
quickly
disposed by
Judge Naomi
Reice Buchwald in her
relatively
small
courtroom on
the 21st floor
of 500 Pearl
Street. The question
is why the
U.S.
Attorney's Office
in this case
had not
researched basic
case law - and
whether the
defendant
Carlos Batista, Junior,
from the Dominican
Republic, must
now be deported.
We hope to
have more on
this.
Earlier
on April 2, in
40 Foley: "I
was a street drug
dealer in from
of my building
in the Bronx,"
a defendant
told U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern District of
New York Judge
Paul A.
Engelmayer on
April 2.
Defendant Gonzalez
was pleading
guilty to a
lesser
included
charge, with a
guideline
sentence
of between 120
and 150 months
in jail. But
he won't be
sentenced
until July 11 at 2:30
pm, after the
Probation
Department
does its
interview and
issues a Pre
Sentencing
Report that
will remain
sealed until,
somehow,
Gonzalez
appeals. We'll
have more on
this - there
were no family
members in the
courtroom,
no media other
than Inner
City Press. Back on
March 28
an
insider
trading action
by the SEC was
under heavy
fire in SDNY
courtroom of
Judge Richard
M. Berman.
The SEC had in
2017 grand
alleged that
"Ariel Darvasi
and Amir
Waldman were
in possession
of material
nonpublic
information
about the
impending
acquisition
when they
purchased
Mobileye
securities"
just prior to
its
acquisition by
Intel.
But on March 28 the defendants'
lawyers,
moving for
summary
judgment,
mocked the
arguments. They
said Waldman
was "not a
direct insider;"
they said
suspicious
trades are
not enough,
mere contact
with an
insider is not
enough. The
SEC lawyer responded
with tales of
MobileEye's
founders
private jet
flight to New
York to nail
down the Intel
deal. Much of
the argument
came down to
whether a
response by
Waldman during
deposition,
that he had
been aware of
the trip -
"yes" - before
the words, for
the merger,
were said,
should go to a
jury.
The defendants
insisted on their video.
There was no
other media in the
court room
but Inner City
Press, still
without
its
electronics. So
what of
general deterrence?
What of
transparency?
In the SDNY
there is no
comprehensive
calendar,
and for now
the Press that
seeks to
report on as
much as
possible is still
restrained. We'll
have more on this.
***
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