The Smoking Gun, via a Freedom of Information Act request, received the last photograph taken of John Gotti, the former Gambino crime family head also known as the Dapper Don or Teflon Don. According to TSG, the photo - a 1"x1" "institution commissary photo" was taken on "October 17, 2001, less than eight months before he died, at age 61" and two years after cancer surgery. Gotti was sentenced to life in prison in 1992,......

Photograph of syringe and gauze pads allegedly used by Roger Clemens via The Smoking Gun It's the Smoking Garbage! Lawyers for Brian McNamee, the trainer who alleges his former client Roger Clemens did inject himself with steroids, showed off photographs of alleged injection detritus. The Smoking Gun posted to photos last night and noted, among the "syringes, blood-specked gauze pads, and drug vials, "it is unclear what the significance is of the Miller Lite......

We take this to be definitive proof that the video of a group of teen girls beating a man on an A train was not staged: The victim has emerged. Rafael Cruz, a 27-year-old Brooklyn resident who is a manager at a Midtown H&M;, told the Post, "I'm trying to get over it. It happened a month ago." Cruz isn't sure if he will press charges, noting, "Teenagers are allowed to make mistakes, but......

After a video of a man being harassed and beaten by a group of teens was publicized by The Smoking Gun, some wonder if the tape is real. The main reason why most people suspect it could be staged is because the teen who filmed the incident is an aspiring filmmaker. Seventeen-year-old Kadejra Holmes told The Smoking Gun she didn't have anything to do with the attack and then took the video off YouTube. Her......

The unofficial first and second rules of sane subway rides might be "Do not talk to anyone" and "Don't look anyone in the eye." The Smoking Gun found a crazy video of an adult being beat up by a group of teenage girls on an A train. The adult, who is white, was somehow roped into a shouty exchange with the girls, who are black, and high school student Kadejra Holmes filmed the exchange,......

The Boston priest arrested for stalking "Late Night" talk-show host Conan O'Brien has been found fit for trial. A Manhattan judge declared the Reverend David Ajemian mentally fit for trial after a court-appointed psychologist examined him. Ajemian was arrested after issuing a number of threats to the host of the NBC talk show host and attempts to get into an O'Brien taping. Ajemian was relatively more unhinged than your average show biz stalker. He was......

Former FBI agent Roy Lindley DeVecchio has been on trial for four counts of murder, as prosecutors have accused him of being a mob informant. And the trial is being described as a "blockbuster" because it's "one of the worst law enforcement corruption cases in U.S. history." But DeVecchio wasn't centerstage yesterday - news about former Mayor - and former U.S. Attorney - Rudy Giuliani riveted the court. DeVecchio worked with mob informant Gregory Scarpa......

Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire investor who New York called an "International Moneyman of Mystery" back in 2002, may be set to plead guilty to having sex with underage girls in Florida, but now there are claims that he was preying on the young in the Big Apple. Maximilia Cordero is suing Epstein for "repeatedly" luring her to his East Side townhouse for sex back in 2000. At the time, Cordero was just 16 and hoping......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a carjacking on East 108th St. and Farragut Rd. in Brooklyn, a pedestrian struck on 87th St. and Madison Ave. in Manhattan, and a carjacking/shooting at Grace Ave. and Hammersley in the Bronx. [Tough day for drivers and pedestrians] In possibly the worst idea ever a Staten Island school sub allowed her class to play a game called "Quiet," in which the first student to speak would be pelted......

The Post visited with Abner Louima, one of the city's most famous symbols of police brutality, ten years after the infamous incident at Brooklyn 70th Precinct. Louima had been arrested on August 9, 1997, after a scuffle outside a Brooklyn club. He claimed he was beaten by police officers on the way to the precinct, and later at the precinct, he was further beaten and sodomized with a toilet plunger while handcuffed. Louima had a......

Will we be hearing about lawsuits against the Borat movie for the next few years? On the heels of frat boys and transit workers suing the producers of Borat last year, a New York City businessman is suing Twentieth Century Fox for the "unauthorized and blatantly illegal use" of his likeness in the movie. Jeffrey Lemerond is best known to Borat viewers as the New Yorker who runs away from the faux Kazakh reporter......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on Hillside Ave. in Queens, commercial robbery on 16th St. in Brooklyn, and a bomb threat on 70th St. and 2nd Ave. in Manhattan. We hope some Brooklynites' leases are ironclad, because getting tatooed with an image of your building is the new fashion. Mayor Bloomberg conjures the ghost of Teddy Roosevelt and the Bull Moose Party by suggesting the likeliehood of a third party candidacy......

Get ready for this Sundays 60 Minutes, because there's an intriguing segment: Anderson Cooper interview rapper Cam'ron about the hip-hop community's code of silence when it comes to crimes. In fact, here's an excerpt of their exchange from CBS News:"If I knew the serial killer was living next door to me?" Giles responds to a hypothetical question posed by Cooper. "I wouldn't call and tell anybody on him — but I'd probably move. But I'm......

Not only do rats like gorditas, they like faux French food too! Just after the Health Department announced new restaurant inspection measures in the wake of the rat-infested, yet-Health Department-passed Village Taco Bell-KFC, WNBC found rats at an Au Bon Pain at Third Avenue and 40th Street. Rats like Midtown, too! WNBC spoke to an ABP representative who "expressed surprise over the findings." (The last time the location was inspected was last August.) A......

After the fun of seeing the 1993 Rudy Giuliani vulnerabilities study on The Smoking Gun, the Post asks if Giuliani's "woman problems" will hurt his chances. Not only was Giuliani married for 14 years to his second cousin, his marriage to Donna Hanover publicly crumbled during his second term as mayor. And he was seeing current wife Judi Nathan before he was formally divorced from Hanover! Luckily for Giuliani, most pundits believe his marrying ways......

Last month, Jason Kidd filed for divorce from his wife, Joumana, citing extreme cruelty. The Nets point guard claimed his wife kicked and punched him, as well as put tracking devices on his cars and computers, not to mention taunted him during games. The Kidds' relationship had its patches and other allegations of spousal abuse - back in 2001, Joumana Kidd had some called 911 while Kidd played for the Phoenix Suns (she said......

The Smoking Gun has decided to bookend the weekend with Rudy Giuliani tidbits. On Monday, The Smoking Gun printed parts of Giuliani's 1993 "vulnerabilities study" which, among other things, offered suggestions on how to answer questions about the former mayor's marriage to his second cousin. Today's installment is Giuliani's tour rider for speaking engagements. At $100,000 for one hour Giuliani time (45 minute speech, 15 minutes of Q&A;), one also has to provide certain......

Just in time for whenever Rudy Giuliani decides to announce he's running for President, The Smoking Gun has excerpts from his 1993 vulnerability study that offered rebuttals whenever certain charges were levied. For instance, the whole "marrying his second cousin" thing. Or avoiding military service. Or being racist. Clearly, the study helped some, as Giuliani did defeat Mayor David Dinkins.......

The drug dealer Kenneth McGriff, who was convicted last year for killing two rivals, was sentenced to life in prison "without the possibility of release" in federal court yesterday. McGriff led a violent drug crew, the Supreme Team, in the 1980s and then became a hip-hop world fixture, working with Murder Inc. While prosecutors were unable to prove that McGriff laundered money through Murder Inc., they did try to convince jurors that he deserved death......

Busta Rhymes surrendered to police last night for for beating his ex-driver. He was charged with assault in the third degree (a misdemeanor). He was expected to be held over night, but was only at the 1st Precinct station house from 7:30 to 11:30 pm. His ex-driver, Eddie Hatchett, says he was attacked in Busta's 84 West Broadway office while trying to collect 19 days worth of pay. An argument began and Busta attacked him.......

We'd describe recently resigned State Comptroller Alan Hevesi's expression (and posture) as "Worst Day Ever." Danny Hakim at the NY Times' Empire Zone blog says the two biggest bombshells from this morning might be that Hevesi now admits he never intended to reimburse the state for the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on chauffeuring his wife and that Albany County DA David Soares says, "Since attaining these convictions, we've received a number of......

The divorce proceedings of a bubblegum-snapping Britney Spears were spoofed on Saturday Night Live (video - click the one of Amy Poehler in a blunt cut wig) last night. While we can only wish that Kevin Federline had opened up a club just for pit bulls - which failed because, you know, pit bulls don't have money - it turns out that Britney might not be that dumb given her pre-nup. The NY Post, by......

This is probably the first September 11-related lawsuit involved nudity. Queens resident Mark DelCore is suing various Fire Island officials for the right to have his rat terrier along when he sunbathes nude. Why does he want to sunbathe nude? The Smoking Gun explains:DelCore said that he was in a lower Manhattan gym on the morning of the World Trade Center attack and, when the planes hit, was forced to leave the facility while still......

Yes, Daily News, it must be your birthday. After charges of alleged extortion and over shilling certain establishments, Page Six is certainly on a roll: Richard Johnson, the editor of the influential gossip page, was arrested for driving while intoxicated. He was pulled over during yesterday's wee hours in the Meatpacking District and according to the criminal complaint, which can you read at The Smoking Gun, Johnson "had watery and bloodshot eyes, had slurred speech......

- The NY Times' big NY Region story is the heartbreaking lives in the murder of the Bronx 15 year old by two 13 year olds - Trekkies, mark your calendars: Christie's will auction Star Treak memorabilia October 5, 6, and 7; the items will be on view from September 29 - October 4 in New York, and admission is allowed with ticket (puchase a catalog) - and you can also pre-order your catalog......

Hot 97's landlord is suing in order to evict the troublemaking station from its Tribeca building. This comes after the NYPD installed a camera to surveil/scare away activities outside the studio (Hot 97, for their part, says they like the camera). The District Council of Carpenters Benefits's lawyer claims that "Hot 97 is a public and private nuisance to the people of New York. They are fostering a level of violence to ensure a high......

- $36 million in funds have been announced to clean up Bush Terminal Piers in Broolyn - Tangling with jerky smokers and maybe hookers is all part of a day's work for New York Hack - Interesting corner of Park Slope history - Sterling and 7th Avenue - Opie & Anthony may come back to NYC radio to replace David Lee Roth - Hee hee - we cannot get enough of lawsuits against Lenny......

The cockpit recording from United Flight 93 on September 11 was played in the courtroom of Zacarias Moussaoui's death penalty trial. The 31 minute tape details, as the Daily News puts it, "the charge toward the cockpit, yelps of pain, groans, crashing sounds and the panic of the hijackers as the Americans tried to shove their way in," as well as hijackers yelling "Sit down!" and someone saying, "I don't want to die." The hijackers......

- The Smoking Gun has a transcript of United Flight 93; prosecutors also showed a collage of almost all the September 11 victims to the jury - Good one, NYPD: The assistant chief of police was driving the SUV that plowed into another car, pedestrians and dos Caminos - Embattled gossip writer Jared Paul Stern talks to the press and we learn that he has a dog and many bars - Romona Moore's murderers......

The necropsy report for Hal, the coyote whose visit to Central Park confounded authorities (of the animal control kind), transfixed NYers, and then died while being tagged for transport upstate, has been released and The Smoking Gun has it. While some people wondered if rough handling caused his death, it turns out that Hal was "greatly compromised," with his heart's right ventricle severely infected by heartworms and traces of rodenticide found in his system, causing......