US will review death of student - Boston Globe

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Hours after a New York State grand jury declined yesterday to indict any of the police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Pace University student Danroy “D.J.’’ Henry Jr., of Easton, the US Department of Justice announced plans to examine the case.

“Consistent with our practice in cases of this kind, the Department of Justice will review all of the available evidence with respect to the death of Danroy Henry Jr., including the evidence available to the Westchester County district attorney’s office, to determine whether there were any violations of the federal criminal civil rights laws,’’ said Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for the US attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York.

Federal officials had been urged to review the case by Henry’s family, and Senator Scott Brown has called for a thorough investigation. The Justice Department, which had been monitoring the case, was awaiting the results of the state and local investigation before beginning its own.

Davis’s announcement followed a statement from Janet DiFiore, the Westchester, N.Y., district attorney, in which she said that after “due deliberation on the evidence presented in this matter, the grand jury found that there was no reasonable cause to vote an indictment.’’

The finding of “no true bill’’ indicates that the grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing by police who fatally shot Henry during the early morning hours of Oct. 17 outside a bar at a shopping center in Mount Pleasant, about 30 miles north of New York City.

The decision angered Henry’s family, whose members are pursuing a $120 million lawsuit against the Town of Mount Pleasant and Village of Pleasantville, N.Y.

“There are no words to express our disappointment in the grand jury’s decision,’’ Henry’s father, Danroy Henry Sr., said in a statement yesterday.

“Conclusions appear to have been drawn at the outset,’’ he said, “and the entire process appears now to have been nothing short of an attempt to create better optics for the DA and her office.’’

The district attorney said the grand jury, which began hearing testimony Jan. 10, had made “an exhaustive and thorough review of the evidence’’ that included appearances by 85 witnesses and more than 100 exhibits.

The Henry family members and their New York civil rights lawyer, Michael Sussman, have long questioned why local police were allowed to investigate a shooting by one of their own officers. The case has been investigated by New York State Police and local officers, along with the district attorney.

A lawyer for Pleasantville Officer Aaron Hess, who has acknowledged shooting at Henry, said that Henry was responsible for his own death and that Hess and his family were grateful for the grand jury’s decision.

“The loss of life that occurred that morning is regrettable and tragic, but any reasonable view of the evidence as to what took place that night demands recognition of the fact that Aaron Hess acted properly and D.J. Henry did not,’’ John K. Grant, Hess’s lawyer, said. “Sometimes the truth is painful, and in this case the painful truth is that D.J. Henry brought about his own death. Lost has been the fact that Aaron Hess too is a good and decent human being, who went to work that night to help keep his community safe.’’

Before that statement was issued, the elder Henry said: “This process is most analogous to a person committing a crime which their siblings investigate and for which their closest relatives determine their punishment. All the while the crime victim is left in the dark until the family decides how [to] handle the misdeed of their own.’’

During a fiery conference call with reporters shortly after the decision, Sussman also questioned the impartiality of the local district attorney, who works closely with local police.

Sussman said that the grand jury process is heavily weighted toward the prosecution and that indictments would have come down if prosecutors were truly seeking them.

“A district attorney can indict a ham sandwich,’’ Sussman said, quoting a 1985 New York appellate court judge’s comments on the grand jury process.

Speaking of police and prosecutors, he declared: “To say they rely on each other is to say that the fetus relies upon the mother.’’

Sussman called the shooting “an orgy of violence directed toward students.’’

Police responded to the bar where many students had gathered after the homecoming game between Pace and Stonehill College. Henry, 20, a junior, was shot after he hit two officers with his car after refusing to stop, police allege.

Conflicting reports have surfaced from witnesses, who have said Henry was trying to move his car at the request of a police officer. A police officer mounted the hood and fired repeatedly through the front windshield, killing Henry.

The elder Henry also accused prosecutors of softballing the grand jury, not aggressively pursuing an indictment against the officers who shot his son, who played on the Pace football team.

“We firmly believe that we have a good handle on what happened,’’ he said. “We never believed for a second that this district attorney was pursuing an indictment, so we already contemplated going around her, which is why we’re going to the Justice Department.’’

The officers involved in the shooting have taken criticism from police specialists, who have said that there is no training module in policing that involves jumping on a moving car and firing at the driver. In a notice of claim filed with both communities in December, Sussman alleged that police were improperly trained and unqualified to serve as armed officers.

While Sussman said he was confident the whole story will come out during the coming civil lawsuit, he said yesterday’s ruling was a reminder of racial inequity in the criminal justice system. Henry was black, and the officers who shot him are white.

“We have no lack of confidence in our ability, but the criminal justice system is supposed to be here for every American, and today is a sign that it’s not, regardless of who’s president of the United States,’’ Sussman said.

“To me, it sends a clear message to every parent of color who has a child away at college that they better be darn worried if something happens to them.’’

Bonita E. Zelman, a New York civil rights attorney lawyer representing five other Pace students, also criticized yesterday’s finding. “No citizen should accept a murder committed by anyone, certainly not a murder committed by a person sworn to protect the public good,’’ Henry’s father said.

Martin Finucane of the Globe staff contributed to this report. John M. Guilfoil can be reached at jguilfoil@globe.com.

© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.

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IBM's Watson bores as 'Jeopardy' big shot Sherlock - CNET

Watching IBM's Watson supercomputer make its debut tonight on "Jeopardy," one thought dominated: why, oh, why did they make him sound like Hal's diffident nephew?

This was the future freaks' big chance to make themselves acceptable to the human race. This was national television.

Watson had been created by human beings who pride themselves in their ability to teach a machine, rather than a child, to be as smart as they are. So why did they not think about giving Watson a little character? A shock of long, green hair, perhaps. Oversize purple ears would have been a plus.

At the worst, a voice resembling Morgan Freeman with a lisp would have been welcome.

Instead, this technological Trojan Horse presented himself to a nationwide audience with all the presence of boiled soot.

To be fair, it wasn't even Watson before the cameras. It was an avatar created to represent him, as his vast bulk and din wouldn't have made this a TV event for the aged, never mind the ages.

I understand that many scientists will have felt entirely giddy at the idea that a computer could compete against two "Jeopardy" superstars: a nice man from Seattle and an equally nice man who used to live in Pennsylvania but is now is hoping to be a TV star in LA.

But if this is the future, some might wish to google details of that elegant euthanasia clinic in Switzerland.

Watson performed very well. If, by performance, you mean getting quite a lot of "Jeopardy" conundrums correct.

Watson in rehearsals. He's the one in the middle.

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET)

Former "Jeopardy" champion Ken Jennings, the man with a preacher's side parting and the remnants of Conan's ginger hair, stood transfixed as Watson beat him to question after question, answer after answer.

However, this is a best of three. And Jennings and fellow humanoid competitor Brad Rutter allowed the machine to strut its stuff. They knew he had to falter. This machine had never seen the bright lights before.

Perhaps sweating backstage while his avatar faced the orchestra, Watson suddenly managed to repeat one of Jennings' wrong answers.

"No, Ken said that," explained Alex Trebek, the professorial host of "Jeopardy."

If Watson had wanted to endear himself to the world, his programmers might have given him a line like: "Silly, me. I'm just a stupid ole' piece of metal."

Instead, he stood there like a nerd who's been looking for the local chess club and has stumbled into the Playboy mansion.

This first show was a little stunted, as Trebek spent considerable minutes explaining to the audience why the less familiar contestant was less expressive than some but more expensive than all.

It was a fine ad for the forthcoming IBM empire, though those with eyes for these things would have been more warmed by the footage of IBM's engineers preparing for Watson's big day. Most of them had PCs, but one was definitely stroking a Mac.

Watson's dilemma, which became increasingly clear as the show went on, was that he has to have a certain level of probability before pressing his button. Machines don't guess. That would be far too blessedly human.

The mean-spirited (i.e. excessively human) might have rejoiced on one particular exchange.

The contestants were asked to find the question to: "From the Latin for end, this is where trains can also originate."

Watson, still impassive, but allegedly 97 percent confident (his confidence levels were shown on screen when the clues were given), replied: "What is finis?" He should have considered terminus.

This was only the beginning. Tomorrow is Double and Finis Jeopardy. Wednesday, there's more. Even now, Watson is tied with Rutter on $5,000 and $3,000 ahead of the mesmerizing Jennings.

Can this possibly end well?

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Subway slash victim's harrowing tale: 'I can't die on this train' - New York Post

Joseph Lozito, blood pouring from a gaping slash on his head, had a harsh warning for Brooklyn butcher Maksim Gelman after taking him down aboard a packed No. 3 train .

"You better hope I f---ing die, because I’m going to kill you if I don’t," he screamed as two hero cops subdued the 23-year-old accused killer, who allegedly stabbed three people to death and fatally ran another down during a blood-soaked 28-hour crime spree Friday and Saturday.

MADMAN'S RANT: 'SHE HAD TO DIE'

STALKER COULDN'T TAKE NO FOR ANSWER

TIMELINE: GELMAN'S 28-HOUR TRAIL OF CARNAGE

Joseph Lozito, 40, was attacked by alleged murder-rampage madman Maksim Gelman on a No. 3 train.

Lozito, speaking today from his hospital bed at Bellevue, gave The Post a harrowing account of his brush with death as he came face to face with the drug-addled psycho.

Lozito, a married father of two boys age 7 and 10, said he was sitting on the train on his regular commute from suburban Philadelphia to his box office job at Avery Fisher Hall when Gelman caught his eye.

"I was on the seat right near the door (to the motorman’s compartment). This guy walked by and he looked creepy. He looked shady," said Lozito, a burly 40-year-old who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 265.

The suspect tapped on the motorman’s door. Transit cops were inside, and Officer Terrence Howell asked "Who are you? " recalled Lozito, his wife Andrea by his side.

"He said ‘Police! Police!’ and the cop said ‘No you’re not,’ " Lozito said. "He’s two or three feet away from me, and he pulls this knife out, looks me in the eye and says ‘You’re gonna die! You’re gonna die!’ And he lunged at me with the knife."

Gelman swung wildly and stabbed Lozito on the back of the head. As Gelman drew his arm back for what might have been a fatal cut, Lozito saw an opening.

"There was a split second, as soon as I saw his arm go back, I knew it was my chance to move. I tried to take him down with a wrestling move called a single leg takedown, but it ended up more like a football tackle," Lozito said.

As the pair scuffled, Howell and Officer Tamara Taylor sprang into action, with Howell jumping on Gelman and Taylor grabbing the blood-smeared carving knife, one of six the suspect carried during the violent rampage.

"I was begging everybody, cops and passengers, to get me off the train. I said ‘I got a wife and two kids, I can’t die on this train,’ " he said.

One passenger applied pressure to his head wound to stanch the flow of blood.

"I owe him a debt of gratitude. To me, he’s the reason I’m alive," he said.

Despite his wounds, a courageous Lozito said he was glad Gelman targeted him.

"I’m glad he didn’t go after a child, or after a woman, or after an elderly person, because I can defend myself," he said.

Gelman, who has a lawyer and is not talking to the police, was expected to be arraigned later today. The Brooklyn DA’s office said he would be charged with four counts of second-degree murder, single counts of first-degree and second-degree assault and three counts of counts of first-degree robbery.

Another victim, Arty DiCrescento, told The Post today he’s lucky to be alive, but it was pure bad luck that put him in the Gelman’s path in the middle of his murderous rampage.

"I’m lucky in one sense," he said today from his hospital bed at Brooklyn’s Lutheran Medical Center. "But in another sense, I never should have been there and it never should have happened."

An angry DiCrescento, 60, said it was clear to him that the madman who hacked three people to death, fatally mowed down another and stabbed three more was out for blood.

"He’ll probably use the insanity defense but it was premeditated. He went after three people he knew first," said the burly DiCrescento, his hands and wrists bandaged and a large bruise on his neck.

DiCrescento was double-parked in his Pontiac Bonneville on E. 24th Street in Brooklyn Friday afternoon when Gelman, who’d already allegedly fatally stabbed his stepfather Alexsandry Kuznetsov, 54, a one-time date Yelena Bulchenko, 20, and her mother Anna, 56, pulled one of six kitchen knives he was carrying and stabbed him in the chest.

Gelman then sped off in DiCrescento’s car and mowed down Steve Tannenbaum, 60 , who was crossing Ocean Avenue near Avenue R. Tannenbaum later died at Kings County Hospital.

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