New York
Man who won’t testify in NYC bombing is freed
NEW YORK (AP) — A 24-year-old Brooklyn man has been freed from a New York prison after he was jailed last May for refusing to testify before a grand jury looking into a small bomb that exploded in Times Square in 2008.
Federal Judge John Keenan said Tuesday that Gerald Koch can be freed immediately from prison because there is no realistic possibility he will testify.
Keenan noted Koch condemned the crime. Keenan said if Koch assists in the investigation, “he will be excommunicated by the anarchist community he cherishes.”
Koch’s lawyer confirmed that Keenan had been freed and said they was heartened by the judge’s decision.
No arrests were ever made in the Times Square military recruitment center bombing that resulted in no injuries or serious damage. Koch said the government told lawyers in 2009 that they believe he was in a bar where a patron discussed the bombing.
Wisconsin
Stradivarius of concertmaster stolen after show
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A 300-year-old “priceless” Stradivarius violin was stolen from the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s concertmaster during an armed robbery after a performance at a local Lutheran college, police said Tuesday.
The rare violin was on loan to concertmaster Frank Almond. The robber used a stun gun on Almond and took the instrument from him shortly before 10:30 p.m. Monday in a parking lot in the rear of Wisconsin Lutheran College, where Almond had just performed, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said.
Flynn said the violin was valued in the “high seven figures,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Investigators believe the instrument, known in musical circles as the “Lipinski” Stradivarius, was the primary target, the chief said.
As Almond lay on the pavement, the robber fled to a nearby vehicle, described as a maroon or burgundy minivan driven by an accomplice, which then left the scene, Flynn said.
In a 2008 Journal Sentinel story, Chicago violin dealer Stefan Hersh said the violin’s value could be comparable to another Stradivarius that sold for more than $3.5 million in 2006.
The instrument, crafted in 1715, was on indefinite loan to Almond from its anonymous owners. Almond has characterized the owners as people with “strong ties to Milwaukee.”
The violin’s previous owners include virtuoso Giuseppe Tartini, who was known for his “Devil’s Trill” Sonata, and Polish violinist Karol Lipinski.
Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh firm settles soft drink suit for $23.7M
PITTSBURGH (AP) — One of Pittsburgh’s leading law firms has settled a malpractice claim stemming from the $684 million fraud scheme at Le-Nature’s, a defunct western Pennsylvania soft drink maker.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports K & L Gates didn’t acknowledge wrongdoing and isn’t commenting on the $23.7 million settlement.
A bankruptcy court trustee had accused K & L Gates of professional negligence for its role in an investigation that failed to uncover massive fraud at Le-Nature’s.
The company’s founder, Gregory Podlucky, is serving a 20-year federal prison sentencing for an accounting fraud scheme that cost investors $684 million and bankrupted the company. Other company executives and associates also received stiff sentences.
The bankruptcy trustee sued the law firm claiming one of its attorneys overlooked evidence that could have stopped Podlucky’s scheme.
Connecticut
Lawyer appeals discipline for judge comments
WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut lawyer facing a four-month suspension of his law license for criticizing a state judge has been granted a stay of the punishment while he appeals to the state Appellate Court.
The Register Citizen of Torrington reports that Robert Serafinowicz’s license was to be suspended Jan. 2, but a state judge in Waterbury granted a stay citing the length of the suspension.
Serafinowicz filed a complaint against Judge Burton Kaplan after an Ansonia police officer he represented was acquitted of stealing a garden hose. Serafinowicz said Kaplan “plays favorites,” is “a disgrace to the bench” and doesn’t give people a “fair shake.”
Serafinowicz’s attorney, Norman Pattis, says the suspension is too long and violates free speech rights.
It’s not clear when the Appellate Court will hear Serafinowicz’s appeal.
California
Oyster farm to stay open as it files its appeal
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A popular Northern California oyster farm can stay open for at least 90 days and up to a year-and-a-half as it appeals the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case challenging a federal decision not to renew its lease.
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports that Peter Prows, an attorney for Drakes Bay Oyster Co., said Tuesday the facility has a mid-April deadline to file an appeal with the high court.
Earlier this month a federal appeals court said it wouldn’t reconsider the case.
The oyster company in the Point Reyes National Seashore has remained open since former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in 2012 refused to renew its lease. Salazar cited a 1976 congressional decision to return the waters of Drakes Estero to wilderness status.
The farm has since lost all of its appeals to overturn that decision.
Ohio
3 women claim sexual abuse by dorm mother
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — Three women have sued a county social-service agency in northeast Ohio, claiming they were sexually abused as teens by a dorm mother.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in state court in Youngstown against the Trumbull County Children Services agency in Warren.
An earlier federal lawsuit involving the same allegations was thrown out over filing deadlines.
According to the Warren Tribune Chronicle, agency director Tim Schaffner has said the claims were unfounded and no charges were filed. A message seeking additional comment was left for him Wednesday.
The women, who were teens at the time, claim the dorm mother enticed them to have sex at her apartment while under her care in county custody. The woman has resigned.
The lawsuit seeks $3 million in damages for each woman.
