Cases In The News

UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL: NY DAILY NEWS READER BLOG POSTED NOV 17, 2008 BY DOVESBLOOD, A COURTWATCHER AT THE MURDER TRIAL OF NIXZALIZ SANTIAGO

DEFENSE MEDICAL EXAMINER TESTIFIES! (CONTD)......For whatever you want to think of Kathleen Mullin for representing someone accused of being involved in a child's death, -- she's a good lawyer. She's passionate, she knows her stuff and she's not afraid to dish the dirt on someone. She's like a character straight out of Law & Order. If Kathleen Mullin has to cross examine you, BE VERY AFRAID. She will be carrying a bucket of dirt in her left hand. She'll will take her right hand, put it inside of the bucket, scoop up some dirt, raise her hand into the air and FLING THE DIRT AT YOU while you're sittting on the witness box! Like I said, for whatever you want to think of her for representing what amounts to a baby killer,-- she is a good lawyer, you can't argue with that. Her personal morals you could maybe argue with but not her lawyering skills. CONTD.

Posted by Dovesblood on Nov 17, 2008 5:16 AM

Kathleen and her friend Robin Williams back stage in Atlantic City, NJ after Robin's show at the Borgata, October 25, 2008

Attorney Kathleen M. Mullin, speaking after Nixzaliz Santiago, mother of Nixmary Brown, Acquitted of Murder Convicted on Lesser Counts Only after 5 Week Trial

"Defense Attorney Kathleen M. Mullin holds a Photo of Slain Nixzmary Brown during Summations." NYDailyNews October 15, 2008

Jury To Deliberate Fate Of Nixzmary's Mother

"The mother of Nixzmary Brown is close to learning her fate. Both sides presented compelling closing arguements in a case that shook up the city's child welfare agency........ click here to view more

Defense Witness Says Nixzmary Was Dealt One Fatal Blow

"Defense lawyers in the trial of Nixzaliz Santiago on Tuesday called their final witness, who testified that it was one final blow that killed the suspect's seven-year-old daughter, Nixzmary Brown, and not long-term abuse....... click here to view more

Nixzmary mom's case hinges on girl's time of death

"It sounded like hard bangs; my husband was hitting my daughter and she was crying," Santiago told Det. Georgina Valentin....... click here to view more

Defense Attorney Kathleen M. Mullin grills medical examiner at murder trial. NYDailyNews 9/26/08

Jury Selection Underway In Nixzaliz Santiago Trail

After being arrested more than two years ago for her daughter's death, Nixzaliz Santiago is finally getting her day in court...... click here to view more

New Evidence Questions Are Raised, Causing Nixzaliz Trial To Be Postponed Again

JAY STREET – Nixzaliz Santiago appeared before Justice Patricia Di Mango yesterday in Brooklyn Supreme Court for a pretrial hearing – as jury selection was postponed yet again...... click here to view full story

Spitzer Used Call-Girl Service at Least 8 Times

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Federal agents have determined New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer used a high-priced call-girl ring at least eight times in recent months, and agents had him under surveillance twice this year, sources familiar with the investigation said Wednesday.

Spitzer announced his resignation Wednesday, two days after reports of his connection to the Emperors Club VIP became public.

He has not been charged with a crime.

He told reporters Wednesday, "I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work."

The resignation will take effect Monday.

The sources said the investigation began when New York's North Fork Bank notified the Treasury Department about suspicious transfers of money from Spitzer's bank accounts. That investigation led agents to the alleged organizers of the prostitution ring, four of whom were charged in a criminal complaint last week, the sources said.

A grand jury in New York is likely to hear evidence in the case soon, said Kathleen Mullin, an attorney who said she represents one of the ring's employees. Mullin would not identify her client, but said she was not the woman identified only as "Kristen" linked to Spitzer in court papers.

She said her client and other women who worked for the Emperors Club have been asked to testify before the grand jury.

Asked if her client had any encounters with Spitzer, Mullin said, "We have no information regarding the governor."

Wiretaps on suspected members of the ring, authorized in January, yielded more than 5,000 telephone calls and text messages and another 6,000-plus e-mails, according to court papers. In those intercepts, the organizers told clients how to arrange and pay for their trysts, a federal agent's affidavit states.

The affidavit identified clients by number, with Spitzer designated "Client 9," a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN this week. Sources familiar with the investigation said federal authorities Wednesday were trying to clamp down on leaks of the investigation's details.

The affidavit states "Client 9" paid $4,300 for 2½ hours with a call girl he arranged to meet at Washington's Mayflower Hotel, with some of that a deposit on a future session. Court papers state he also paid for train tickets, cab fare, mini-bar and room service charges for Kristen -- a 5-foot-5, 105-pound brunette he arranged to meet the night of February 13.

Kristen is a 22-year-old would-be singer from New Jersey, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The newspaper said Ashley Youmans -- now known as Ashley Alexandra Dupre -- was identified in court documents as Kristen.

Dupre has not been charged with a crime. She made a brief appearance Monday in U.S. Magistrate Court as a witness against four people charged with operating the Emperor's Club, the Times said.

In an entry on her MySpace page, Dupre says she left "a broken family" and "abuse" in 2004, eventually settling in Manhattan "to pursue my music career."

"I am all about my music, and my music is all about me," she writes on her MySpace page. "It flows from what I've been through, what I've seen and how I feel."

Dupre's mother, Carolyn Capalbo, told the Times she and her daughter were close, adding that "she obviously got involved in something much larger than her."

Spitzer, whose squeaky-clean image as a corporate corruption-buster made him a rising Democratic star, testified to the House Financial Services Committee the next day about the effect of the mortgage meltdown. He took a state plane from Buffalo, New York, to Washington and back to New York, his office confirmed Tuesday.

Sources told CNN that FBI agents had Spitzer under surveillance at the Mayflower that night -- and on an earlier occasion, on January 26, when no prostitute showed up.

His resignation is unlikely to affect decisions about whether he will face prosecution, the sources said. His attorneys were negotiating Wednesday with the U.S. attorney's office in New York in an effort to avoid criminal charges, a source told CNN.

But in a statement issued after the governor's resignation, U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said no agreement had been reached between his office and the governor "relating to his resignation or any other matter."

The resignation could be a factor in the U.S. presidential race. Spitzer was a superdelegate, one of nearly 800 party leaders and officials who cast their votes at the Democratic National Convention. They are free to vote for any candidate they wish.

Spitzer was a political ally of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, who is currently in a tight race with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama to win the Democratic nomination.

A candidate must get 2,024 delegates to clinch the Democratic nomination. With the race so close, superdelegates could play a larger role in determining the Democratic presidential candidate than in past elections.

According to two sources who spoke Tuesday with CNN, Spitzer hit the federal radar when a bank reported to the Internal Revenue Service that a significant amount of money had been suspiciously transferred from one account to another.

Late last year, upon investigating the movement of money that the bank initially reported, the IRS found that the accounts were connected to Spitzer, the sources said.

The IRS contacted the FBI, which joined the case to investigate the possibility of government corruption.

Federal law requires a banking institution to file a suspicious activity report when the institution suspects a transaction is linked to a federal crime. More specifically, banks are required to report to the IRS any transactions totaling $5,000 or more if the transactions "involve potential money laundering or a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act."

The act requires businesses to keep documents that are useful for identifying and investigating money laundering.

After receiving the IRS report last year, the FBI Corruption Squad linked the account transfers to a prostitution ring, according to sources. The FBI criminal division joined the probe to look into the prostitution ring, while the federal corruption team continued its investigation into Spitzer.

Legal experts not involved in the case have said Spitzer could face some type of money-laundering charge, such as structuring a financial transaction to evade federal bank reporting requirements by breaking up a large transaction into smaller ones.

Sources tell CNN that prosecutors have considered pursuing a structuring charge, but have run into some difficulty. And Richard Smith, a former Justice Department official, said structuring charges are "fairly difficult to prove."

"You are going to have to prove that he withdrew sums of money with the intent to evade the reporting requirements, to conceal the fact that he is withdrawing the money," said Smith, the former deputy chief of the Justice Department's fraud section.

"Because if the money was withdrawn, it appears if his lawyers are correct, in a manner that he didn't conceal anything, it begs the question whether or not they can prove the reckless intent that he withdrew this money in small sums to avoid the reporting requirement."

Spitzer also could face charges related to the Mann Act, which makes it a federal offense to transport someone across state lines for the purpose of prostitution. But sources tell CNN that the government is less interested in pursuing charges for prostitution than on following the money.

CNN's Kevin Bohn contributed to this report.

CNNPolitics.com

Escort's Attorney: $5,500 was Supposed to Buy Anonymity

BY AVNI PATEL and ANNA SCHECTER

March 12, 2008—

The lawyer for an escort who is mentioned in the federal government's criminal complaint against the Emperor's Club VIP involving New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer says the johns who used the high-end escort service paid "exorbitant" prices for anonymity.

"You're paying for the girl to leave and forget. That's what the $5,500 buys you -- a very low-profile visit to a club like this," said attorney Kathleen Mullin.

Mullin says her client, who has not been charged with anything, did not know Spitzer, but she has talked to one other escort who had "dealings" with Spitzer, known to investigators as "Client 9."

Mullin said all of the girls will be considered potential witnesses and brought in to find out what, if anything, they can contribute to the federal government's investigation.

"There are some very frantic girls running around worrying about their exposure in the light of the identity of Client No. 9, and there are frantic men running around Client 1 through 8 and thereafter who also are running around," she said.

Some of the escorts who advertise themselves on Web sites like the Emperor's Club VIP's said that escort agencies, as opposed to independent call girls, risk the johns' anonymity because of the middlemen involved.

Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Venture

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer Resigns

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has announced his resignation.

The announcement comes two days after he was publicly linked to a high-priced prostitution ring.

Federal authorities now say that Spitzer spent tens of thousands of dollars on the high-price escorts offered by the so-called Emperor's Club.

"There was some suspicion about the way money was being moved through 'Client 9,' a.k.a. the Governor's account," said Kathleen Mullin, an attorney for the Emperor's Club.

"And they began to realize where this money was going."

And it's the alleged illegal movement of the money that prosecutors are focusing on.

"In this case if you're talking about money that's in the 40- to 50-thousand dollar range, you could be talking about jail terms of one to two years in that range," explained former Federal Prosecutor, Sean O'Shea.

As the negotiations went on, Spitzer spent the day inside his Fifth Avenue apartment in New York as political enemies took their shots.

"What arrangement he works out with the Justice Department is really up to him and his lawyers," stated Representative Peter King, (R)-NY.

"Unlike Eliot Spitzer, I take no delight in someone else's misery."

But some of Spitzer's allies also began to emerge in his defense.

"He's a very smart man, and what happened here is clearly irrational behavior and we have to sympathize with him," said former NYC Mayor, Ed Koch.

And Spitzer also received support from an unlikely source.

This 23-year old woman, featured on yet another escort web-site told ABC News Spitzer had been a customer of hers two years ago when he was still State Attorney General.

She called him a nice guy who tipped well and "didn't do anything that wasn't clean."

"All of the girls will be considered as potential witnesses and brought in to find out what, if anything, they can contribute to the Federal Government's investigation," stated Mullin.

Spitzer made the announcement of his resignation in his Manhattan office on Mar. 12.

He will be replaced by Lieutenant Governor David Paterson, who will become New York's first black Governor.

The change of power will take effect on Mar. 17.

WBKO.com

New York City Attorney Will Represent Quets

A high-profile New York City attorney is now representing a birth mother accused of fleeing to Canada with the twins she put up for adoption.

Kathleen Mullin tells WRAL that she has been retained to represent Allison Quets, who was indicted Wednesday on two counts of international parental kidnapping.

Authorities say Quets, 49, of Jacksonville, Fla., took the children during a scheduled visitation days before Christmas and fled to Canada. Prosecutors have said that Quets planned for months to take the children.

Quets' previous attorneys, Bruce Mason and Dennis Sullivan, both of Wilmington, have maintained that Quets changed her mind about the adoption after a difficult pregnancy and that she has been fighting to get her children back since they were born.

Mullin, who also serves as a legal analyst for network news shows such as CNN, Court TV and Fox News, told WRAL that her goal is to get Quets acquitted and help her retain custody of her children.
Copyright 2007 by WRAL.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

Grand Jury Indicts Quets

 Eyewitness News

(02/21/07 -- RALEIGH) - A federal grand jury has indicted Allison Quets on two counts of international parental kidnapping charges.

At least three women who are all supporters of Quets showed up at federal court Wednesday to testify in front of the grand jury. But prosecutors and defense lawyers are keeping quiet about what was said.

Gail Quets, Allison Quets' sister, and Kimber Macgibbon were two witnesses called to testify. Macgibbon runs an organization that helps women cope with a rare, life-threatening illness that affects a small percentage of women during pregnancy. An illness Quets reportedly suffered from when she was pregnant with the twins she allegedly kidnapped.

The third witness was Marianna Leman, a friend of Quets and a former neighbor in Florida who in the past offered to have Quets stay with her until trial.

All three women have publicly supported Quets. He sister even appeared on cable news programs in Quets' deffense.

"This adoption has not been finalized," said Gail Quets. "The Needhams are no the parents of these children, they are merely people who have custody of the children."

But Wednesday, upon leaving court, lawyers for all three women refused to let their clients' comment to reporters. Their testimony to the grand jury is kept secret and grand jurors hear only one side of a case -- the prosecution's side.

But whatever the jury hear, it was enough to return a decision quickly, indicting Quets on two counts of international parental kidnapping. The twins are living with their adoptive parents in Apex.

Quets was not present in court Wednesday. She remains in a Franklin County jail and no trial date has been set. 

Lawyer Allegedly Had Sex with a Third Girl

BY Staff Reporter of the Sun
April 19, 2006
A new indictment alleges that a former Cravath, Swaine & Moore tax attorney had sex with a third child in addition to the two sisters he has been accused of raping.
The Manhattan district attorney's office announced the indictment yesterday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan with the defendant present. When he was arraigned on the new charges, James Colliton, 42, said in a loud voice: "Absolutely not guilty."

The new indictment alleges that between Christmas Day 2000 and January 2002, Mr. Colliton committed 38 counts of third degree rape and four counts of sodomy. Mr. Colliton's attorneys, Howard Greenberg and Kathleen Mullin, said they did not know for certain the identity of the alleged victim.

Assistant District Attorney Rachel Hochhauser said in court that the victim was 15 when Mr. Colliton's relations with her began.

Ms. Hochhauser said the victim included in the new indictment was not related to Mr. Colliton's other two accusers, who are sisters. The two sisters, who are now 21 and 15, allegedly each had sex with Mr. Colliton and one is said to have lived for a time in his Manhattan apartment as a young teenager. The mother of the two girls had been accused of being complicit in her daughters' alleged involvement with Mr. Colliton. She pleaded guilty to a charge of endangering the welfare of a child last week.

Ms. Mullin said the length of time between the alleged crime and the current indictment "casts credibility issues" on the latest accusations.

Mr. Colliton was arrested in the East Village on March 3. Days earlier, Canadian law enforcement officers had apprehended him and then inexplicably released him. Since his arrest, Mr. Colliton has been detained at Rikers Island and has not yet filed for bail. Mr. Colliton is from Poughkeepsie, where he has a wife and five children.
April 19, 2006 Edition > Section: New York

   Nursing-home administrators took the stand yesterday in the trial of a Monticello couple accused of draining their grandmother's bank account.
   Theresa and Wayne Vandermeulen are on trial in Sullivan County Court, facing second-degree grand larceny charges. Theresa Vandermeulen also faces other felonies in the case.

   The Vandermeulens' lawyer, Kathleen Mullin, said they are hard-working people who were trying to care for Theresa Vandermeulen's grandmother, Helen Palko, now 83. She said they accounted for all the money that was spent, and that $75,000 of it was a gift from Palko.

   Palko, came from Florida to Monticello after Palko's son died in December 2002. In May 2003, the Vandermeulens bought Palko a small house in Monticello, using Palko's money.

   In February 2004, Palko needed surgery for an aneurysm in her stomach. Pamela Hurley, the administrator at the Sullivan County Adult Care Facility, testified that Palko stayed there from March 3 to March 24, 2004, so she could get stronger before surgery. She didn't require physical therapy, Hurley said, just some help with everyday tasks.

   Donna Mullin, the admissions coordinator for Catskill Regional Medical Center's Skilled Nursing Unit, recalled a conversation she had with Theresa Vandermeulen after Palko was admitted there April 2, 2004, for post-surgical rehabilitation.

   "She made it clear to me that she did not want her grandmother coming back home with her," Mullin testified.

   Under questioning from the Vandermeulens' lawyer, Kathleen Mullin (no relation), Donna Mullin said that families are often very emotional over the prospect of placing a relative in a nursing home.

   The trial continues today.

Heather Yakin
 November 5, 2004

Goshen