"Pinky" Gets 18 Months for Manslaughter

The 13-year-old boy known as "Pinky" - accused and convicted of stabbing 17-year-old Levi King Flores to death on the streets of Newburgh, NY - was sentenced by Orange County Family Court Judge Andrew Bivona to 18 months in a state juvenile facility. It was the maximum sentence allowed under the law. "Pinky" could be out by his 15th birthday. 

It was a case that highlighted the gang violence and rivalry in Newburgh. The two gangs, the BBK and La Eme - represented by "Pinky" and Levi King Flores respectively - are sworn enemies and often go out of their way to provoke and antagonize each other. This is apparently what happen on the afternoon of Jan. 13, 2010 when an incident between the two rivals escalated into a confrontation in which Flores was stabbed to death.

Before sentencing, Judge Andrew Bivona took into account a report prepared by Senior Probation Officer Bernadette Bergin. It detailed parts of the truant teen's life: Suspensions from school; Bringing a knife to school; Pictures with him displaying gang signs etc. After conducting interviews with "Pinky", Bernadette Bergin concluded: "He showed no remorse."

"Pinky" will be in the custody of the state Office of Children and Family Services, which could hold him until his 18th birthday or release him earlier.

The parents of Levi King Flores, Carlos and Martha, were disappointed not only with the sentence but also the 13-year-old's lack of remorse. They wanted to see him locked away for a much longer time and they also wanted a personal apology from him. Neither the law nor the perpetrator gave them what they wanted.

Levi's father, Carlos Flores, stood in front of the court and spoke of an emptiness in their family now that his son is dead. "My wife, Martha, is destroyed," he said.

He doesn't care, said Cynthia Herrera, Levi's girlfriend and the mother of his infant daughter. She cried in the parking lot and leaned against Martha Lopez Flores. Carlos said the law sends a message to other young boys that they can kill without consequence. Martha spoke to Cynthia in Spanish.

"We're just waiting for God to punish him," Martha said.

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The "Pinky" Trial Continues

On trial at Orange County Family Court in Goshen, NY, is the 13-year-old boy known as "Pinky". He has been charged in the stabbing death of 17-year-old Levi King Flores on Jan. 13, 2010 in Newburgh NY. The trial began on Feb. 3 with police statements that the 13-year-old "Pinky" had assisted them in recovering the knife used in the attack. See the details here.

The prosecution suffered a setback when Family Court Judge Andrew Bivona threw out much of the evidence, including the statements made by "Pinky" when he was questioned by the police and the knife used to kill Levi King Flores, which the boy had helped them find - calling them the "fruit of the poisonous tree." Here is why the judge threw out the evidence:

As previously noted both the boy and his mother were read his Miranda rights. The mother was told in Spanish and the boy, who speaks English, in English. The problem was that the police conducted the entire interview with the boy in English, which his mother did not understand.

The boy's attorney, Stuart Greenberg, argued that "the language barrier of the mother prevented her from helping her son understand what police were asking and the consequences of answering." The judge agreed and granted Greenberg's motion to suppress the boy's statements.

Since the police were unable to use the boy's statements, they were also unable to use any evidence obtained from the interview with the boy, including the knife and any DNA evidence recovered from the scene.

Prosecutors were however allowed to use identifications made by two witnesses who claimed to see the stabbing. Each picked the boy out of a photo array as the killer. They were both friends of Levi.

The trial continued with the testimony of two of Levi King Flores' friends, both of them in 7th grade. They described the events leading up to the death of the 17-year-old. Both parents of Levi King Flores were in court, silently watching the proceedings.

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The first to testify was a 13-year-old boy. This is how he described what happened:

Levi and his friends were playing on a frozen pond in Downing Park. They had a small bat and were trying to punch a hole in the ice. A group of girls approached them and started swearing at them. One of the girls was the sister of the 13-year-old defendant, "Pinky". The girls continued to belittle the gang the boys belonged to - La Eme. During the confrontation "Pinky's" sister used her cellphone to call her brother. He came to join them and they all left going in the direction of a nearby store.

Levi and his friends also left, heading in the same direction. The argument continued culminating in a fight between "Pinky" and another 12-year-old boy. At the same time, Levi himself, was arguing with "Pinky's" sister and eventually got caught up in ongoing the fight. No one knew at the time that "Pinky" had a knife - hidden in one of his sleeves - until it was too late.

"After that Levi was limping, and we carried him to St. Luke's," he said.

After relating the story the boy was crying. "Pinky's" lawyer, Stuart Greenberg, gave the boy time to recover before starting the cross-examination. Under cross-examination the boy said that Levi King Flores was indeed a member of the Newburgh street gang known as La Eme. He said that he did not know what had happened to the bat used to break the ice on the pond. He also said that it was not used in the fight.

When the second witness - a 12-year-old boy - took the stand he recounted the same story as the previous boy. When the Assistant District Attorney Allan Drian asked him to lift up his shirt, he revealed the scars left from the three puncture wounds he had received during the knife attack. This provoked an audible gasp from Martha, Levi's mother.

The trial continues.......

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Ex-Boyfriend Gets Woman Raped

Jebidiah James Stipe, 27, from Carbon, Wyo. broke up with his 25-year-old girlfriend but he was far from finished with her. In fact he hatched a scheme that would eventually make her life a living hell; destroy the life of not-so-innocent Ty Oliver McDowell, 26, from Bar Nunn, Wyo.; involve Craigslist in another scandal; give prosecutors a headache and the general public an insight into the depravity of a sick, conniving, malicious individual. 

This all began after Jebidiah Stipe, a Marine stationed at Twentynine Palms, Calif., broke up with his girlfriend from Casper Wyo. He then posted an ad in the "adult services" section of Craigslist, pretending to be his girlfriend. The ad said:

"Need a real aggressive man with no concern for women"

Stipe also included the woman's picture and personal information. The ad remained on Craigslist for two days before the ex-girlfriend saw it. She contacted the Natrona County Sheriff's Office, complaining that someone had posted a false Craigslist ad about her. She also complained to Craigslist, which took down the ad. But the damage had already been done.

The ad was spotted by Ty Oliver McDowell, a medical technologist, employed at the Wyoming Medical Center's radiology department. He e-mailed a response to the address given in the ad and began corresponding with whom he thought was a woman, but was really Jebidiah Stipe.

During the exchange of messages, Stipe, posing as his ex-girlfriend, explained exactly what "she" wanted - "humiliation, physical abuse, sexual abuse" - and gave Ty McDowell his ex-girlfriend's address. 

Taking this for an invitation, Ty McDowell went to the woman's house. When she answered the door he said "I'll show you aggressive," and immediately began to assault her. He forced her into the living room and bound, blindfolded and gagged the 25-year-old woman. Then he raped her as he pressed a knife to her throat.

Later, he told detectives he thought he was fulfilling her rape fantasy.

McDowell was arrested and charged with first-degree sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated burglary. Stipe was also arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree sexual assault.

According to a Marine Corps spokeswoman, Jebidiah James Stipe - a maintenance mechanic who had enlisted in the Marines in 2001 - was in the process of being ejected for an undisclosed pattern of misconduct at the time of his arrest. Documents related to Stipe's arrest have been sealed.

Craigslist has also come under fire for allowing the ad to be placed on its site. "Although Craigslist officials had cooperated with the investigation, the fact that they published sexually suggestive ads also facilitated the crime" said Natrona County Dist. Atty. Mike Blonigen:

"If I were king, I'd like to see them not run these personal ads," he said. "This is a debate we've had for a long time: . . . Do we censor the Internet?"

Steve Patterson, a spokesman for the Cook County sheriff who had sued Craigslist before, said the website wasn't blameless:

By hosting an adult services forum, "they create this specific place for criminal activity to take place," he said.

Craigslist had no comment on the case. But Federal law protects Internet sites from liability for their users' actions, said M. Ryan Calo, residential fellow at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society.

"The idea was that these website platforms were truly communities assembled of random users, with no editorial control over what users were doing. Craigslist is like a hotel with millions of rooms, but it doesn't have the ability to figure out what's happening in those rooms," Calo said.

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13-Year-Old "Pinky" on Trial

"Pinky" is of course not his real name, but that is what he is called on the streets of Newburgh. His real name has not been released by the police because of his age - he is only 13 years old. "Pinky" has been accused of stabbing 17-year-old Levi King Flores to death in a street fight in which three other teens were also stabbed but survived.

Read about the details of the case here and here.

"Pinky" was originally charged with murder but because of his age and other factors he now faces:

1 Count Second-Degree Manslaughter (felony) 

3 Counts of Second-Degree Assault (felonies)

1 Count of Fourth-Degree Misdemeanor Criminal Possession of a Weapon.

For his own protection "Pinky" is being held in a secure youth detention center in Erie County. He had previously been jumped by other teens while in a Westchester County youth detention center. Also because of his age and the charges against him, "Pinky" is being tried as a juvenile in Family Court. According to the Times Herald-Record:

The longest sentence the boy could face is 18 months at a stretch in secure detention, but the state Office of Children and Family Services can return to court to keep a juvenile in secure detention until age 18.

His trial began on Wednesday, Feb.3, 2010 in front of Judge Andrew P. Bivona in Orange County Family Court. Senior Assistant County Attorney Allan Drian is the prosecutor in the case. The boy's lawyer is Stuart Greenberg. The trial is expected to last about two weeks.

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On the first day of the trial, police testified that before they began to question "Pinky", his mother was advised, in Spanish, of the boy's rights. They say the boy assisted them by returning to the crime scene - at the corner of First St. and Carpenter Ave. in Newburgh - and helped them find the weapon he had used and then tossed away. Evidence against the 13-year-old includes a videotaped interview, DNA evidence and eye-witness statements.

Hinting at possible previous confrontations, the defense attorney, Stuart Greenberg, requested that the judge order the prosecution to turn over any documentation of arrests in connection with a gang assault on the 13-year-old and his sister prior to the stabbings.

The trial continues......

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Noisy Sex Gets Woman in Trouble

Caroline Cartwright, 48, really enjoys having sex with her husband, Steve, just ask her neighbors how enthusiastic she can be. Caroline is a screamer and she doesn't care who hears her. After hundreds of complaints from the neighbors and passers-by (even the local postman and a woman taking her child to school complained about the levels of noise) she was ordered by the court to stop disturbing the peace under an anti-social behavior order (ASBO).

It was an order she broke at least three times in just 10 days, landing her in jail and back in court. Caroline just can't understand what all the fuss is about.

"I did not understand why people asked me to be quiet because to me it is normal," she said. I have tried to minimize the situation by having sex in the morning - not at night - so the noise was not waking anybody," Cartwright noted.

After a series of complaints, the local council's Environmental Health department placed recording equipment in a neighbor's apartment. The neighbor, Rachel O’Connor, pressed a button on the machine every time she was disturbed by noise from next door.  In the subsequent 23 recordings that were made - through a soundproofed wall - and played to the court, the sound of slapping and screaming was clearly audible.

“I heard sounds of a sexual nature, they were really loud, and there was a lot of moaning and groaning and screaming as if in pain. It wasn’t just the woman, it came from both parties,” said Rachel O’Connor.

The equipment recorded noise levels of 30-40 decibels, peaking at 47 - as loud as a conversation in the same room. The 48-year-old Caroline acknowledged she made noises, but wasn't aware how loud she had been. The judge, in giving her a break, said she had not tried hard enough to refrain from making excessive noise.

"It's quite clear from the small extract I heard that you made no attempt to silence yourself," the judge said.

He stressed that if she disturbed her neighbors again with her sexual sounds, she would spend eight weeks in jail.

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