Trial Division Cases

The Trial Division has principal responsibility for prosecuting misdemeanor and felony street crime, ranging from tunstile-jumping in subway stations to murder to drug-related crimes and domestic violence. Over the years, many of the cases prosecuted by the Division have attracted national and even worldwide attention.

• People v. William Van Luvender
  A cyber-stalker of children, Van Luvender engaged in sexually explicit internet chats and met with detectives posing as 12- and 14-year-old girls.
• People v. Hector Ramirez
  Ramirez was sentenced to 37 years to life in prison for beating and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old hospital patient.
• People v. Norman Spencer Gary
  Gary, a doorman on the Upper West Side, hired a "hit man" to murder a friend's girlfriend.
• People v. Sean Salley and Andre Smith
  In an attempted robbery, the two defendants brutally murdered three people and wounded others in an apartment above the Carnegie Deli.
• People v. Eric Louissaint and Connie Leung
  The two defendants, boyfriend and girlfriend, each received prison sentences of 30 years to life for strangling Leung's parents to death.
• People v. Robert Bierenbaum
  Although Dr. Robert Bierenbaum was strongly suspected to have murdered his wife, who went missing in 1985, the investigation into his wife's death was stymied until new evidence turned up years later. The exhaustive investigation resulted in a conviction of Bierenbaum of second degree murder, despite the fact that the victim's body was never recovered.
• People v. Anthony Bello et al
  Bello and other members of a violent drug gang called Blue Top Mob, which terrorized East Harlem in the '90s, were convicted of murder, sale and possession of crack-cocaine.
• People v. Paris Drake
  In the so-called "brick attack" case, Drake, a homeless man, was convicted of first degree assault for throwing a paving stone at a 27-year-old woman, seriously injuring her.
• People v. Arohn Kee
  Kee was a serial murderer and rapist who preyed on young women (all between the ages of 13 and 19). After both raping and murdering three women and raping four other women, Kee was convicted when his DNA was linked to all seven of these crimes.
• People v. Edmund Ko
  For the first time in New York State, the results of mitochondrial DNA typing were introduced in a criminal trial; they were used to convict Ko of murdering his ex-girlfriend.
• People v. Sante and Kenneth Kimes
  This mother-son con artist team was convicted of murdering an 82-year-old wealthy widow as part of an elaborate scheme to steal her $8 million Upper East Side townhouse. The widow's body was never found.
• People v. Andrew Goldstein
  Goldstein, who had a long history of mental illness, threw a young woman in front of a subway train, killing her instantly.
• People v. Alvin Weiss
  Weiss, a crooked owner and manager of more than 20 Lower East Side properties, contracted a drug dealer to murder one of his tenants by means of an "accidental" drug overdose.
• People v. Corey Arthur
  Arthur received a sentence of 25 years to life in prison for murdering his former high school English teacher, Jonathan Levin.
• People v. Jose Rosario
  Rosario raped a 17-year-old girl and through DNA testing was linked to a second, previously unsolved rape.
• People v. John Royster
  After vicious attacks and rapes of four women, one of whom died as a result of the attack, Royster was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
• People v. Frank Koehler
  Koehler, who shot and killed two restaurant owners in 1970 and then disappeared without a trace for almost 30 years, was located in California following an extensive investigation by the Manhattan DA's Office.
• People v. Awilda Lopez
  In a tragic, nationally-publicized case that brought to light the flaws of the child welfare system, Awilda Lopez, a drug addict and horrifically abusive mother, beat to death her daughter, Elisa Izquierdo.
• People v. Edward Leary
  Leary twice set off bombs in the New York City subway, the second time seriously injuring 47 passengers.
• People v. Daniel Rakowitz
  Rakowitz killed and mutilated the body of his roommate and, after being found guilty by reason of insanity, was committed to a maximum security mental hospital.
• People v. Richard Yarmy
  Yarmy ran a large-scale firearms trafficking operation that supplied guns and ammunition to hundreds of criminals.
• People v. 42 members of Wild Cowboys drug gang
  Members of the Wild Cowboys, a notorious drug gang that sold crack-cocaine throughout the city and committed dozens of murders and other violent acts, were convicted on numerous counts including murder, conspiracy, and felony drug sales.
• People v. Seven members of Flushing Top Society gang
  Twenty-two-year-old Utah tourist Brian Watkins, who was visiting New York City with his family to watch the U.S. Open, was stabbed to death in the subway by a gang member during the robbery of his family.