nylisa
My Children
Member since 5/05 7905 total posts
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MaMa
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Update on Murder Trail of DH's Uncle
As most of you know, DH's uncle was the banker from Garden City who was murdered last year. Here is an update on the trail. There is going to be jury selections Wed - Fri and the trail begins next Monday. DH's aunt is going to be the first witness.
Here is an article are the trail from today's Newsday.
Past fake-cop cases raised in killing
In a snapshot of arguments yet to come in the trial of the man accused of impersonating a cop and killing a banker driving home, attorneys fenced over whether testimony given by the defendant in a similar crime involving police impersonation in Queens would be admissible as evidence.
Reginald Gousse's testimony on how he handcuffed a Staples manager, put him in a vehicle dressed up like a police car and forced him to hand over the store's keys and tell him the alarm code is similar to the techniques used in trying to get James Gottlieb to release keys to the HSBC in Cedarhurst where he was a bank manager, Assistant District Attorney Fred Klein argued.
But Gousse's attorney, Martin Geduldig of Hicksville, said there were significant differences that would require too much speculation on the jury's part. And Geduldig said police impersonation is not a unique crime. In fact, one witness, another Cedarhurst area bank employee, said he was also followed in a black SUV the day before prosecutors say Gousse rented a similar car.
"At least it would appear, there may have been somebody else," Geduldig said.
Jury selection in Gousse's trial begins this week.
Nassau County Court Judge Jerald Carter said he'd allow Gousse's earlier testimony as evidence, information Klein called critical because it demonstrates a distinct pattern of behavior. He said it originally led police to believe Gousse was involved in Gottlieb's shooting death in January 2005 as he was driving home to Garden City South from the bank. Police say Gousse pulled over Gottlieb in Franklin Square and shot him to death.
Elizabeth Gottlieb, the victim's wife, sat in the first row of the Mineola courtroom, her face slightly trembling as Gousse walked into the room, handcuffed and surrounded by four officers.
"Every time I see him I look at him and want him to feel my thoughts and know that I'm there and hopefully get some bad vibes," Gottlieb said.
Gousse pleaded not guilty after police received a tip from an attorney in the Staples case explaining the similarities and suggesting Gousse might merit investigation.
Police were able to definitively tie Gousse to five similar police impersonation incidents and to three others that fit his pattern since he was released from prison in April 2004 after serving time for the 1998 Queens Staples robbery. Gousse served 5 years in exchange for providing information about another inmate's crime and giving testimony of his own criminal history, prosecutors have said.
Klein cited the similarities between the Queens and Long Island cases, including the slashing of a store manager's tires, the use of rented cars and impersonating police. But Geduldig said it was another HSBC bank manager's tires that were slashed and the car was stolen, not rented.
Gottlieb said she plans to attend every day of the trial.
"I owe it to my husband," she said, "I owe it to my family. I owe it to myself."
Message edited 2/28/2006 11:48:42 AM.
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