Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore announced that Tanisha Gomez (DOB 06/18/85) of 132-39 88th Street, Ozone Park, New York, pled guilty today to all counts of a nine count indictment that charged her with:

• three counts of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide, class “B” Felonies,
• one count of Manslaughter in the Second Degree, a class “C” Felony,
• one count of Vehicular Assault in the First Degree, a class “D” Felony,
• one count of Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated, an unclassified Misdemeanor in the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law,
• two counts of Driving While Intoxicated, unclassified Misdemeanors in the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law,
• one count of Reckless Driving, an unclassified Misdemeanor in the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law.

As I continue to involve my law firm with the internet world, I have come across some very useful legal links to websites and blogs. Here are a few that I check regularly:

– Are you a U.S. Supreme Court junkie? Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute is a terrific resource. Check out this link to review the latest decisions from the highest court in the land:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/

– There are so many other useful pages on this Cornell Law School site, but in particular, there is a link for New York law, which contains the NYS Constitution and statutes, Court of Appeals and Appellate Division decisions, and a lot more. Here is the link:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/states/ny.html

– Do you have questions about the NYS Civil Practice Law & Rules, better known as the CPLR? This blog has always been helpful to my litigation practice:

http://www.thecplrblog.com/

– I just added two RSS feeds to this Blog that you can find in the right column. The first is the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, and I always find it interesting:

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/

– The second is FindLaw’s Noteworthy Decisions & Settlements Blog:

Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore announced that James Pileggi (DOB 4/06/80) of 40 Mill Road, Eastchester, New York was sentenced today to an indeterminate term of three to nine years in state prison on his conviction after a jury trial of: one count of Manslaughter in the Second Degree, a class “C” Felony, for causing the death of Andre Everett.

On the evening of November 3, 2009, the victim, a New Rochelle realtor, was inside his home on Albert Place in New Rochelle.

He went out onto his driveway to talk to a group of acquaintances who were seated in the defendant’s car.

The car was owned by James Pileggi who at the time was an off-duty Eastchester Police Officer.

Pileggi was seated in the front passenger seat of his car and was playing with his off-duty gun, a Glock 9mm, with a laser sight affixed to it.

At some point while the victim was standing by the rear driver’s door, the defendant discharged the weapon and the bullet struck the victim in the throat.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Fevang Case will be the topic of discussion on tonights Talk of the Sound radio show at 7 p.m. Listen by clicking the link to the right, call-in to sound off at 805-830-8302.

Richard Fevang. who was facing a 66-Count Indictment for Fraud related to his work as DPW Fleet Manager for the City of New Rochelle, was sentenced today to 5 years probation and time served (1 day) by Judge Robert A. Neary under an agreement negotiated with Judge Albert Lorenzo. Under the deal, Fevang plead guilty to Tampering with Public Records, a Class D Felony. Judge Neary also approved a permanent order of protection to stay away from the entire population of New Rochelle. Neary warned Fevang that any contact, on any form, direct or indirect, with anyone from New Rochelle would be a violation and could result in a separate prosecution.

"That's the last thing you need right now", said Judge Neary.

One of the hot issues being debated in Congress is the Stop Online Privacy Act or SOPA (a similar bill in the U.S. Senate is called Protect IP Act).  The internet world is waging a fierce battle against it, and I am pleased to see the opposition.

It is my view that SOPA is deeply flawed and being rushed through Congress without the proper due diligence of a substantive review.  I believe it creates a prior restraint of free speech on the internet and grants way too much power to the federal government to regulate speech and commercial activity, while eliminating rule of law safeguards to those regulated and sanctioned by the law.  I strongly urge opposition to this law as currently drafted.

I don’t deny that internet piracy is a real problem, but this law is a massively overbroad remedy to the problem.  Unfortunately, it appears to be moving quickly through both houses of Congress since it is backed by the massive money and power of the media corporate world.  The U.S. Senate vote is currently scheduled for January 24.

Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore announced today that Ralph Redding (DOB 07/16/88) of 89 Horton Avenue, New Rochelle, was found guilty following a jury trial of two counts of Burglary in the First Degree, Class “B” Violent Felonies, one count of Robbery in the First Degree, Class “B” Violent Felonies, one count of Robbery in the Second Degree, a Class “C” Violent Felony, two counts of Assault in the Second Degree, Class “D” Violent Felonies, and one count of Assault in the Third Degree, a Class “A” Misdemeanor, relating to his primary role in an armed home invasion.

On December 14, 2010, at approximately 12:30 am, Redding and two co-defendants who previously pled guilty, Chad Jones (DOB 8/28/87) and Sean Gray (DOB 9/6/89), all approached a home on 43 Treno Street in New Rochelle.

Talk of the Sound has uncovered another campaign donation made by Judge Susan Kettner under a corporate name that raises new questions about her partisan political activity while a judge or judicial candidate. Talk of the Sound previously reported on an illegal $500 campaign contribution to Council Member Barry Fertel. Kettner made public an email requesting the return of the money but, so far, the Fertel campaign, has yet to issue a statement confirming the money has been returned.