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     Click here for Inner City Press' weekday news reports, from the United Nations and elsewhere.  Click here for a recent BBC piece on Inner City Press' reporting from the United Nations  Search This Site    Click for March 1, 2011 BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN Corruption by Inner City Press.     Click here for Inner City Press front page

  ICP has published a (double) book about a variety of Bronx-relevant topics -- a review in Commonweal magazine of Dec. 5, 2003, opines  that "Predatory Bender... is as vivid an account of life in the Bronx as you are likely to read" -- click here for sample chapters, here for an interactive map,  here for fast ordering and delivery, and here for other ordering information.  See also, "City Lit: Roman a Klepto [Review of ‘Predatory Bender’]," by Matt Pacenza, City Limits, Sept.-Oct. 2004. CBS MarketWatch of April 23, 2004, says the the novel has "some very funny moments," and that the non-fiction mixes "global statistics and first-person accounts." The Washington Post of March 15, 2004, calls Predatory Bender: America in the Aughts "the first novel about predatory lending;" the London Times of April 15, 2004, "A Novel Approach," said it "has a cast of colorful characters."   The Pittsburgh City Paper of Dec. 11, 2003, wrote that it "may, in fact, be the first great American lending malfeasance novel" including "low-level loan sharks, class-action lawyers, corporate bigwigs, hired muscle, corrupt politicians, Iraq War veterans, Wall Street analysts, reporters and one watchdog with a Web site."  And all in The Bronx!   Click here for that review; for more information, contact us.
2014: MRL on Beacon Reader

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC - Decrypt - LightRead - Honduras - Source

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Jan 10 – Orlando Mercado, charged with providing a pistol to another man named Gonzalez who shot at the owner of a parking lot in the Bronx where the duo allegedly sold drugs, argued for bail on January 10 before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Magistrate Judge Barbra Freeman. 

  It was a presumption case, given the charge of weapons in connection with drugs. But Mercado's assigned Criminal Justice Act panel lawyer Sabrina Shroff argued that Mercado is a drug addict and should be bailed to a residential drug program.  

 Shroff also contested the strength of the evidence, stating that one of the witnesses is a cooperator and that the pistol at issue was a b.b. gun. 

   When Assistant US Attorney Domenic Gentile replied that Mercado had been breaking into cars in his Bronx neighborhood to steal things to sell to feed his drug habit, Judge Freeman asked it might not be that he broken into cars to sleep in them. 

 For a moment it looked like Mercado might be bailed out. But ultimately Judge Freeman said she had no idea where Mercado would live, if he would return to court and that he was not, in fact, a danger to the community.   

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC - Decrypt - LightRead - Honduras - Source

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Jan 8 – A car owned by the Ivory Coast Mission to the United Nations ran over pedestian Donald Lewis in The Bronx on November 24, 2018. Beyond no-fault insurance, asserting the Ivorian Mission's negigence, Lewis sued in state court in the Bronx.

   Nearly immediately, the Mission snatched the case away from the Bronx state court and removed it to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In its notice of removal, the Mission's lawyers wrote that "for reference, Cote d'Ivoire is also known as the Ivory Coast, which is a country located on the south coast of West Africa."

    They did not mention French colonialism, or Laurent Gbagbo, or now the president installed after him trying to stay in power, a question on which the UN has refused to answer written questions from Inner City Press.

   The notice of removal included a letter from Ivorian Deputy Permanent Representative Desire G. Wulfran, that Mission staffer Diarra ADAMA was in fact driving the car, diplomatic license plate 0126ACD, on November 24, 2018.  

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC - Decrypt - LightRead - Honduras - Source

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Jan 2 – In August 2017 Wilson Perez and two others kidnapped a person they believe tricked them about robbing a van full of drugs in The Bronx. They pistol-whipped the person, the gun went off and the person jumped out of the car onto the Major Deegan Expressway.

   Perez was sentenced to five years, on a Guideline of 135 to 168 months, but like many defendants the Supreme Court's decision in US v. Davis put him up for re-sentencing. This took place on January 2 before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Analisa Torres, with only Perez' family and Inner City Press in the gallery.

   Perez' lawyer Sarah Kunstler argued that Torres has been working as a barber while in prison, where he was assaulted twice breaking his jaw and bones around his eye socket. When the power went off in the MDC in Brooklyn, the titanium screws in him caused extra pain.

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - CJR - PFT

NYC CRIMINAL COURT, Dec 27 – Sean Fogarty waited in the front row of Manhattan Criminal Court arraignments part on December 27, waiting with his lawyer to get the deal of his life, a deal not afforded to most defendants.

   As a detective with the Yonkers Police Department, and member of a task force executing a warrant at 3410 Barker Avenue in The Bronx in April 2018, Fogarty outright lied as to where he had searched and found drugs.

      The warrant covered only the first and second floor, but Fogarty illegal searched the third floor, and then lied that the drugs he found were come from the floors below.   

 Calvin Powell spent five months in jail after Fogarty's perjured grand jury testimony. He had been on federal Supervised Release. Now he is suing.

   Inner City Press, which was in the arraignment part for Fogerty's plead-down to a misdemeanor with no jail time, live streamed his exit from the courtroom in the imprompty media pen set up in the lobby, here.

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - The Source

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Dec 19 – Defendant Ernest Horge on December 19 said in open court that there are stabbings in the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

 His court appointed lawyer Matthew D. Myers described non-functional computers to review discovery in the MCC, requiring him to print out nine inches of documents from a hard drive the US Attorney's Office provided him.

   U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Laura Taylor Swain, who has also received handwritten letters from Horge's family members and filed them in the docket after redacting children's names, patiently asked Horge about his medication.

   But Horge had more to say. He insisted that the gun was found in someone else's room, in someone else's apartment.

     He said the prosecutors, here represented by AUSA Frank Balsamello, were just "using 924(c) as a bargaining tool." He said everybody loves him, he has a great sense of humor. He rhymed Prosecutors lying and kids crying, and called the whole situation a "Star Spangled Banner blueprint for genocide."

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
Honduras - The Source - The Root - etc

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Dec 11 – On the second day of 2014 in The Bronx, New York Shaquille Malcolm was repeatedly shot and killed in a building in the Allerton section.

In arraignments that followed, Inner City Press reported that the death penalty was on the table, including as to a co-defendant who has since pled guilty to a superseding indictment, Gyancarlos Espinal.   

On December 4 the two remaining co-defendants Arius Hopkins and Theryn Jones a/k/a Old Man Ty were on trial before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.

On December 11 the trial culminated with Arius Hopkins taking the witness stand to testify on his own behalf.

He was cross examined by Assistant US Attorney Danielle Sassoon, with other AUSAs and US Attorney Geoffrey Berman himself in the gallery along with, as the only media, Inner City Press. (The US Attorney's Office has thrice declined Inner City Press' request they make available their admitted exhibits for this trial and for the OneCoin trial, still withheld).

  AUSA Sassoon hammered away at Arius a/k/a Scrappy: doesn't his gang have rules?

 He asked, like what kind of rules?

  Does it have rules, yes or no?

 Not necessarily.

  Judge Kaplan admonished Hopkins, but it's his life, and if he is found guilty, it will be his sentence.

  After the cross examination, in the hall Inner City Press remarked to US Attorney Berman on Sassoon's appellate argument earlier in the day, which it also covered, defending one of Judge Kaplan's sentencings, in a brothel finance case.

 "Ten a.m.," he said, clearly aware.

 Inner City Press waited for the next elevator. On December 12 the government may or may not put on a final rebuttal witness. Then the closings, no jury on Friday - and then, one imagines, a verdict. Inner City Press will request notice, and report on it. Watch this site.

  On December 10 the lawyer for Arius Hopkins a/k/a Scrappy wrote to Judge Kaplan why his Instagram expert should be allowed, despite or because of Facebook refusing to even answer about it customer: "I write to provide an offer of proof regarding testimony about Instagram. The proof is that Arius Hopkins held himself out and/or was known as a MacBalla before the murder of Shaquille Malcolm. This proof refutes the government’s contention (advanced through witness testimony) that Ty Jones made Hopkins a MacBalla as a reward for the killing of Malcolm. It is therefore relevant under FRE 401. The testimony is also admissible under FREs 701 and 702. If Justin Cuomo the witness discussed in court today testifies, he will say that he is a senior analyst at John Cutter Investigations Inc. (“Cutter),” a licensed private investigations company bonded in New York and elsewhere. Part of the investigatory work of Cutter is searching and analyzing communications and posts on social media and the use and operation of different platforms, including Instagram. Mr. Cuomo was taken seminars on social media, including Instagram, and has conducted research about Instagram’s operation and functionality. He is also an Instagram user and has been so for the past seven years. He thus has practical knowledge about how it works. Notably, Hopkins opened his Instagram account on 7/28/2013, less than seven years ago. See AH DX P (subscriber information about Hopkins’ account provided by the government in discovery). Mr. Cuomo would further state that: • “scrappyballa” is an active Instagram account • Anyone can log in and search the account • A post with a photograph was made of Hopkins on 9/10/13 and the username “scrappyballa” appears (AH DX Q) o Under the photo it says: “scrappyballa OUT HERE LATE NIGHT ! MACCIN WIT THA GOONS” • Associated with the 9/10/13 post is a comment that reads: rebeccaxmariex3 @scrappyballa uncle arius don’t make me f*ck you up!!!!”

Under the comment is a reference “325w”, which means the comment was made 325 weeks ago1 Mr. Cuomo would also testify that the reference or tag @scrappyballa contained in the comment is a static thing and that it was made 326 weeks ago. It does not change, and even if the username was changed or created after the post and comment (which the defense does not believe to be the case) any change is unrelated to the @scrappyballa reference or tag in the comment, and cannot cause the reference to or tag to change. Consequently, as of 326 weeks ago around the time of the posting on 9/10/13 Hopkins was going by or being referred to as scrappyballs on Instagram. In addition, the Instagram user information indicating that Hopkins opened the account on 7/28/13 (Ex. A), also suggests that Hopkins opened the account with username scrappyballa. .However, we have not been able to confirm this fact through Facebook/Instagram. Two subpoenas were served on them – returnable 12/5/19 and 12/10/19 – and Facebook/Instagram failed to comply both times in violation of the subpoenas. It was the expectation that in addition to explaining the user information document, a representative of Facebook/Instagram could also have explained the @scrappyballa reference or tag in the rebeccaxmariex3 comment." Inner City Press will continue to cover this.

 Earlier on December 10, after cooperator Costello described his non prosecution agreement for crimes in the Courtlandt Avenue area he said that defendant Old Man Ty (Jones) told him that Scrappy (Hopkins) was "the young 'un that handled that for me." The "that" being the killing of Shaquille Malcolm.

 There were several rounds of lawyers' arguments, with Judge Kaplan denied Article 29 motions and recounting stories from previous trials. He recalled a long gun being pointed at the jury and, when he said don't point there, at him. He quoted Judge Rifkin, When you're ahead, get out of the courtroom.
 
  But he was delayed by several "just one more thing" interventions by lawyers. There were jury notes asking why El Dorado and Fat Boy were not subpoened and made to testify; there were medical procedures for jurors and alternates. On December 11 the trial doesn't start until 10:45 am, so that AUSA Sassoon can argue before the Second Circuit, an appeal from Judge Kaplan no less. Watch this site.

 December 9 saw the testimony of the cooperator whom shooter Alexander Melendez recruited to make a call to police to sent them elsewhere in the neighborhood looking for a gun. He didn't make the call. But on March 9 he was played his jail house call with Arius Hopkins and said because it was recorded he spoke in "subliminals."

  Later came a medical examiner, though not the one who conducted the autopsy. The prosecution insisted that the defense say on the record they had waived their confrontation rights, something they declined to do beyond noting they had not objected to the witness. She said the wounds on Shaquille Malcolm's forehead were most probably gazing wounds.

  A women who found Shaquille Malcolm in his building's lobby said when she called 9-1-1 they told her to kick the body to see if it moved. She did not do so.

   Testifying against the two defendants has been cooperator Alexander Melendez. On December 4 he described using a .22 to shoot and kill Shaquille Malcolm, with orders and firepower given by the two men with six lawyers sitting at the defense table.

 On December 5 Arius Hopkins' lawyer Glenn A. Garber prepared stacks of transcripts and other documents in order to cross examine Melendez. But to question after question, Melendez said "I don't remember." He didn't remember what he had said in proffer sessions.

  This resulted in a Q&A straight out of Becket:

Garber: "You remember you said you didn't remember?"

Melendez: "I don't remember that."

  One thing Melendez did remember was what prisons he has been in. After state prison in Elmira, where those who allegedly ordered him to commit murder put money in his commissary for food and clothing and he apparently had a television set stolen, he's been in the MCC, MDC and GEO, which he said is in Queens.

  Melendez is represented by CJA lawyer Matthew Kluger, who has been in the gallery throughout his testimony, sometimes behind Inner City Press, sometimes on the other side. Judge Kaplan asked those in the back of the courtroom not to remonstrate; regardless, Melendez kept glancing back at them. In the hall, some said, "That [N-word] be lying." We'll have more on this.

 And on this: early on December 5 Inner City Press asked the US Attorney's Office press department to make available its exhibits in this case, and in the completed OneCoin / US v. Mark Scott trial, as they have in other Mafia, rapper and other cases. At day's end, no exhibits, not even a response. We'll have much more on this.

   An issue is the use of a rap or hip-hop song as evidence. Arius Hopkins' lawyer Glenn A. Garber had asked that prospective jurors be asked if they were familiar with "the genre of music called gansta rap."  

On December 4, Assistant US Attorney Danielle R. Sassoon argued that questions about the song - a copy of which does not appear to have been uploaded by the US Attorney's Office unlike with GUMMO and Billy in the #6ix9ine trial also known as US v. Jones - should be limited.