New York Desk

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun
NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

MANHATTAN


‘SPIDER-MAN’ TRIAL WINDS UP


The alleged “Spider-Man” burglar, known for scaling construction scaffolding and shimmying down drainpipes during a well publicized uptown robbery spree last summer, sat perfectly still in a Manhattan courtroom yesterday as lawyers presented final arguments in a six-week-long trial. Rufus Graham, a 41-year-old ex-convict with 14 arrests on his rap sheet – including six burglaries – confessed to 10 high-wire thefts of jewels, furs, and computers from tony addresses on the Upper East and Upper West Sides. He has been charged with 22 counts of robbery in various degrees.


In state Supreme Court yesterday, Graham’s state-appointed attorney, Christopher Boyle, argued that police officers had failed to properly investigate the pattern of robberies and that the district attorney’s office failed to investigate other suspects identified by victims.


Graham’s confession, he added, was coerced by police and given after 14 hours without a lawyer in an interrogation room. Citing blurry photographs taken from video stills, different police sketches, along with other conflicting evidence and shoddy police work, Mr. Boyle concluded that Graham had been framed. “Once they had their man, [the police] had to make their case stick,” Mr. Boyle said.


The courtroom erupted in a shouting match at the end of the day when Assistant District Attorney Martha Stolley lashed out at Judge James Yates for keeping jurors late due to scheduling matters.


“How can you expect jurors to pay any attention to a word I say?” she pleaded, to which Judge Yates fired back that the reason all were staying late was because Ms. Stolley was tardy to court dates.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun


CITYWIDE


RETAILERS FOUND SELLING CIGARETTES WITHOUT LICENSES


As many as 875 New York City retailers have been selling cigarettes without licenses, according to an audit report released yesterday by State Comptroller Alan Hevesi’s office, which pushes for improved coordination of licensing by state and city agencies.


Cigarette vendors and wholesalers in New York City must obtain licenses from the state and city. The Comptroller’s audit, conducted between January 2001 and October 2003, found little coordination between the two city agencies and the state agency over the licensing of cigarette sellers, even though more than half of the state’s retailers and wholesalers are located in the city.


The state’s Finance Department and the city Department of Consumer Affairs “do not compare their records to ensure that retailers applying for a NYC license have the required [state license] and that the information for all retailers is correctly entered in each database,” the report concludes.


Comparing state and city records, auditors discovered 3,583 retailers with a state license but no city license. After investigating a random sampling of 85 of these resellers, they estimated that between 8% and 20% of retailers were selling cigarettes without a city license. Auditors also discovered that as many as 148 of the 764 retailers with a revoked or suspended city license were selling cigarettes.


A spokesman for the state Tax Department, Tom Bergin, said the problems are significant. “We have to make sure we capture the revenue we’re losing.”


– Special to the Sun


REGION


MAN PLEADS GUILTY AFTER DISRUPTING BASEBALL GAME


A New Jersey man pleaded guilty yesterday to charges of interference in a professional sporting event after he was arrested for running out onto the field at Shea Stadium during a Mets-Giants game, the Queens district attorney’s office said.


John McCarthy,38, of Totowa, N.J., was sentenced to nine weekends in jail, three years probation, and $2,000 in fines and civil penalties. Prosecutors said Mr. Mc-Carthy ran out onto the field on May 4 carrying a sign that said “Howard Stern, Here’s Johnny.” The game was stopped while he was removed from the field.


Mr. McCarthy was the first person charged with a new city law that prohibits interference in professional sporting events. New Yorkers can be fined up to $5,000 for running onto the field.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun

NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.


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