Reuters: U.S.: Charges dropped against banker in NYC cab fare tussle

Reuters: U.S. Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Charges dropped against banker in NYC cab fare tussle Oct 15th 2012, 15:46 By Michelle Conlin STAMFORD, Connecticut | Mon Oct 15, 2012 11:46am EDT STAMFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - Connecticut prosecutors on Monday dropped charges against a former high-ranking Morgan Stanley banker accused of stabbing a New York City cab driver in a dispute over a long-distance fare, saying the driver had concealed evidence. William Bryan Jennings, of Darien, Connecticut, had been charged with intimidation as a hate crime, theft and assault against cab driver Mohamed Ammar of Queens stemming from an argument over the fare after Ammar drove Jennings back to Connecticut from a holiday party in Manhattan last December. Jennings had pleaded not guilty. When they arrived at Jennings' driveway, a fight broke out over the fare, which the driver said had been agreed at $204. In a brief hearing in Connecticut Superior Court in Stamford, about 40 miles northeast of New York, prosecutor Steven Weiss said he would not proceed with the case because Ammar had for five months concealed from authorities the knife allegedly used to assault him. "I can't go forward with a case where the victim concealed evidence," Weiss said. Neither the cab driver, Ammar, nor his attorney, Hassan Ahmad, appeared in court for the hearing. A press conference was scheduled for later on Monday at which advocates for Ammar will call for a federal hate crime investigation of the incident. Immediately after the incident came to light, Morgan Stanley put Jennings on leave. He is no longer with the firm. Eugene Riccio, Jennings' lawyer, said: "This is a lesson in the unfortunate circumstance when someone of prominence gets arrested and the public and press jump to the wrong conclusion." Jennings, who appeared in court wearing a charcoal suit, blue shirt and blue tie, told reporters after the hearing: "The outcome speaks for itself." (Writing by Dan Burns; Editing by Dan Grebler) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions