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Ron Kuby

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Ron Kuby
Kuby in 2014
Born(1956-07-31)July 31, 1956(age 67)
Cleveland,Ohio,U.S.
EducationUniversity of Kansas(BA)
Cornell University(JD)
Occupation(s)Trial attorney, radio talk show host, television commentator
SpouseMarilyn Vasta (m. 2006)

Ronald L. Kuby(born July 31, 1956) is an American criminal defense andcivil rightslawyer,radio talk showhost and televisioncommentator.He has also hosted radio programs onWABC Radioin New York City andAir America radio.[1]

Kuby currently leads the Law Office of Ronald L. Kuby in Manhattan.[2]

Early life and education[edit]

Kuby was born inCleveland, Ohio,the son of Ruth Miller, a secretary, and Donald Kuby, a salesman. His mother was from a Jewish family and his father, who died in 1990, was a Franciscan friar who converted to Judaism and became a militantZionistbefore becoming Christian again. His parents divorced when he was five years old, after which Kuby lived with his mother and grandparents. At 13, he joined theJewish Defense Leagueunder the influence of his father, who was a follower ofMeir David Kahane.As a teenager he emigrated to Israel, but returned to the U.S. after being disillusioned by what he describes as "anti-Arab racism"[3]

He returned to Cleveland and lived in a commune for the next several years. In 1973, he briefly attended an accredited alternative high school. After graduating, he attendedCleveland State Universityfor one year.[3]

Kuby dropped out of college in 1974 and moved toSt. Croix,in theU.S. Virgin Islands,where he worked on a tugboat and developed an interest in West Indianethnobotanyand medicinal plants. He moved briefly toMaine,then toKansasin 1975, where he completed his degrees incultural anthropologyand history at theUniversity of Kansas.Kuby was a free-speech and anti-apartheidactivist while at KU, where he graduated with highest distinction, had a 4.0 average, and conducted and published original fieldwork, including the 1979 "Folk medicine on St. Croix: an ethnobotanical study", after returning to St. Croix several times. Kuby alleged theUniversity of Kansaspolice intentionally broke his arm when they responded to an anti-apartheid protest during a commencement ceremony. Protesters were urging the KU Endowment Association to divest itself of investments in companies doing business inSouth Africa.[4]

Kuby earned hisJuris DoctorfromCornell Law Schoolin 1983.[5]Kuby claims his grades entitled him to a position on the prestigiousCornell Law Review,but he declined the invitation.[6][7]He also claims to have graduated as one of the top students in his class.[8]

Personal life[edit]

On January 23, 2006, Kuby married Marilyn Vasta, a psychotherapist and climate activist, on the 20th anniversary of their first date.[9][10]They have one daughter, Emma Vasta-Kuby, who is a lawyer with the D.C.-based Second Look Project, working on de-incarceration.[11]

Partnership with William Kunstler[edit]

While in college, Kuby interned withWilliam Kunstler,a senior lawyer with 20 years' experience, notable for many of his sensational cases including the defense of theChicago Seven.From 1983 until Kunstler's death in 1995, Kuby worked as a partner in Kunstler's law firm, with both men taking up "the fight for the poor, the oppressed and the downtrodden". The two men declared they were not only colleagues, but best friends as well.[12]

Kunstler and Kuby never formalized a partnership with a contract or tax filings. Despite a letterhead that read "Kunstler and Kuby", Kuby was paid as an employee and never shared in the firm's profits and losses. On this basis Kuby was denied ownership rights to the firm's case files, accounts, and name after Kunstler died, and Kunstler's widow, Margaret Ratner, put her late husband's archives under lock and key. Kuby filed a complaint against her with the attorney disciplinary committee; the committee dismissed the complaint in August 1996. In December 1996, a court case brought by Ratner to restrain Kuby from using the name "Kunstler & Kuby" resulted in Kuby's being denied any rights in the Kunstler firm.[13]

Notable cases[edit]

[Kuby] was, nonetheless, every prosecutor's worst nightmare; a defense attorney who could charm and incite a jury, and bully most any witness. Not to mention his gift for making cops look like liars and fools. It was Kuby who had found to keep the courtroom open, a guerilla tactic...

— David Nocienil[14]
With Kunstler

Kuby, with Kunstler, representedGregory Lee Johnson,a protester whoburned a U.S. Flagat the1984 Republican National Convention.[15]

SheikhOmar Abdel-Rahman,the blind cleric who headed the Egyptian-based militant groupAl-Gama'a al-Islamiyya,accused of planning and encouraging terrorist attacks against Americans.[16]

Colin Ferguson,the man responsible for the1993 Long Island Rail Road shooting(who chose to represent himself at trial).[17]

Nico Minardos,the Hollywood TV and movie actor, accused in an FBI sting operation of conspiracy to ship arms to Iran.[18]

Qubilah Shabazz,the daughter ofMalcolm X,accused of plotting to murderLouis Farrakhanof theNation of Islam.[15]

Glenn Harris, a New York City public school teacher who absconded with a 15-year-old girl for two months.[19][20]

Darrell Cabey, a youth who was acquitted of assault onBernard Goetzand successfully sued Goetz for shooting Cabey.[15]

Yu Kikumura,a member of theJapanese Red Army,and associates of theGambino Crime Family.[21]

During theGulf War,the pair represented American soldiers claimingconscientious objectorstatus. They also representedEl Sayyid Nosair,assassin of the lateRabbiMeir Kahane,whom Kuby's father had admired, and the leftist radical turned health care activist Dr.Alan Berkman.[22]

After Kunstler's death

After Kunstler's death, Kuby continued the work of his late mentor. In 1996, he won a judgment of $43 million for Darrell Cabey against Bernhard Goetz in connection with the1984 New York City Subway shooting.[23]He also won nearly a million dollars for members of theHells Angelsmotorcycle club who were wrongfully arrested by theNew York City Police Department.[24]He won the 2001 release of two men imprisoned 13 years, for a murder they did not commit, and a judgment of $3.3 million for the pair. He secured a reversal of a murder conviction for a mentally ill homeless man whose candle accidentally caused the death of a firefighter.[25]In 2005, Kuby won close to a million dollars for another wrongfully convicted man who spent eight years in prison.[26]

In 2006, Kuby wassubpoenaedby the defense to testify at the second trial ofJohn A. Gotti,the son ofGambino crime familyleaderJohn Gotti,which included the charges for thekidnapping and attempted murderof Kuby's then on-air co-host, Curtis Sliwa. Kuby testified that in a 1998 conversation, Gotti said he had wanted to leave organized crime. "He told me he was sick of this life", Kuby told the court. "He wanted to rejoin his family and be done with this."[27]Sliwa reacted angrily to his longtime co-host's testimony for the defense, calling him a "Judas",though Kuby was following the law by answering a subpoena to testify.[28]

In April 2009, Kuby spoke about the capture ofAbduwali Muse,a Somali teenager apprehended during the rescue ofRichard Phillips,theCaptainof theMVMaersk Alabama,a freighter briefly captured bySomali pirates.[29]Kuby said he was discussing organizing a team to defend Muse, suggesting he was invalidly captured while immunized by aflag of truce.[30]

In September 2009, Kuby appeared on behalf ofAhmad Wais Afzali,animamaccused of lying to authorities in a terrorism related case.[31][32]Afzali had toldNajibullah Zazithat authorities were asking questions about him. Kuby mocked the charges against Zazi as internally inconsistent and the very idea that Afzali would deny having a conversation that he knew had been taped. Kuby won Afzali's release on bail and negotiated a plea bargain to a reduced charge of lying to agents, with deportation in lieu of imprisonment.[33]

In 2010, Kuby defendedRaphael Golb,the son of a biblical scholar. Golb had sent emails wherein he impersonated critics of his father's and falsely admitted committing various defamatory acts, includingacademic fraud;he was arrested in 2009. Charged with multiple felonies and misdemeanors, Golb was convicted at trial and appealed to New York's Supreme Court, which affirmed the charges. Golb then appealed to theNew York Court of Appeals,the highest court in New York State. They dismissed some of Golb's convictions, such as identify theft and aggravated harassment (striking down the latter as unconstitutionally vague and overbroad), but they upheld others, including criminal impersonation andforgery.[34][35]

Starting in 2000, Kuby began working to exonerate innocent people in non-DNA cases. He secured the exoneration of Anthony Faison and Charles Shepherd, wrongfully convicted of murder, who served close to 14 years for a murder they did not commit.[36]The actual killer was subsequently caught and plead guilty.[37]In 2008, Kuby exonerated Michael Clancy, an elevator mechanic wrongfully convicted of murder in the Bronx. Clancy served 13 years.[38]The actual killer was subsequently indicted, having been named by a federal informant, but was not prosecuted successfully due to the Bronx DA's wrongful conviction of Clancy. In 2013, Kuby won the exoneration of Thomas Green, serving 35 years for child sexual assault and rape. All of the prosecution's evidence was proved to be false, and Green was released after five years. His time in the prison system left him with undiagnosed and untreated cancer; he died days after his release.[39]In 2013, Kuby took on the case of Johnny Hincapie, wrongfully convicted in the infamous Brian Watkins murder case.[40]After 25 years in prison, Hincapie was exonerated.[41]In 2015, Kuby secured the exoneration of Shabaka Shakur, who served 27 years of a 40 to life sentence for two murders that he did not commit. Shakur began his case pro se in 2012, and Kuby agreed to represent him pro bono later that year. The evidence against Shakur consisted largely of an uncorroborated confession allegedly given to Detective Louis Scarcella. Kuby had faced Scarcella in 1996 in the high-profile "Money Train" case. Scarcella's testimony in that case led Kuby to believe that the much-decorated detective perjured himself and suborned perjury through witness manipulation. The judge who exonerated Shakur found there was a reasonable likelihood that Scarcella had fabricated the confession.[42]Exonerations in two other Scarcella cases quickly followed, based upon Scarcella's misconduct. Jabbar Washington was freed in July, 2017 after 20 years in prison as a result of a joint investigation with Kuby and the Brooklyn DA's Conviction Review Unit.[43]Sundhe Moses, who spent almost 20 years in prison for another high-profile murder, was exonerated after extensive hearings concluded in January, 2018.[44]In October, 2020, Kuby and the CRU exonerated another innocent man, Gerard Domond, who spent 27 years behind bars due to the prosecution's withholding of crucial exculpatory evidence.[45]On July 15, 2022, one of Scarcella's biggest cases, the "Money Train" murder, was overturned and charges dismissed against three men, Thomas Malik, Vincent Ellerbe, and James Irons, all of whom served over two decades in prison. The exonerations were the culmination of almost ten years of re-investigation by Kuby and the CRU.[46]In January, 2023, a Brooklyn judge vacated a murder conviction against Kareem Mayo, who had served 23 years of a 25 to life sentence, along with his cousin, Donnell Perkins (represented by Joel Rudin). The decision followed six months of hearings on newly-discovered evidence.[47]

In keeping with Kunstler's tradition of representing political defendants, often subjected to show trials, Kuby and associateRhiya TrivedirepresentedPatricia Okoumou,who famously climbed the Statue of Liberty on July 4, 2018, protesting family separation policies of the Trump Administration.[48]Kuby and Trivedi also represented the environmental lawyerSteven Donzigerin his 2021 trial for criminal contempt for failing to turn over sensitive materials to Chevron Corporation.[49][50]

Radio and television personality[edit]

From 1999 to 2007, Kuby andCurtis Sliwaco-hosted a daily radio show titledCurtis and Kuby in the MorningonWABC-AM 770, inNew York City.After an eight-year run, WABC replaced the show withDon Imusand retained Sliwa.[51]Kuby and Sliwa then shared a short-lived midday television program onMSNBC.[52]Kuby began broadcasting onAir AmericaRadio in 2008, at first as a replacement forRandi Rhodes,then later with a regular show,Doing Time with Ron Kuby.[53]In May 2009 Air America moved Kuby's show to a new time slot, which took him off of the schedule for many affiliates. By June, his show was removed from Air America's schedule.

On January 2, 2014, Curtis and Kuby returned to WABC in the noon-3pm (Eastern) timeslot. He was released from WABC in late May 2017 for budgetary reasons.[54]

Kuby is also a frequent pundit and substitute anchor onCourt TVand has appeared several times on theDiscovery ChannelprogramOddities,offering legal advice.[55]

On May 16, 2008, he was interviewed on the WBGO programConversations with Allan Wolper.Kuby discussed how the media sometimes convicts criminal suspects in the court of public opinion.[56]

Unlike defense lawyers who usually suppress specifics about their residence, family, and habits, Kuby agreed in 2012 to be featured in the weeklyNew York Times"Sunday Routine" photo report on prominent or colorful New Yorkers.[57]

Kuby is also featured in the 2019 Crimetown PodcastThe Ballad of Billy Ballswhich deals with the murder of William Heitzman at the hands of the NYPD in June 1982.[58]

Pop culture references[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Ron Kuby To Join Air America Radio".HuffPost.2008-06-11.Retrieved2023-06-19.
  2. ^"Ron Kuby Official Site - Criminal Defense - Civil Rights".Law Office of Ronald L. Kuby.New York City.
  3. ^abJULIE SALAMON (June 7, 1995)."AT LUNCH WITH: Ronald L. Kuby; Crispy Fries and Radical Causes".New York Times.Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.
  4. ^Ric Anderson (August 17, 1996)."KU Edition".Lawrence Journal-World.
  5. ^"Former WABC N.Y. personality Ron Kuby chosen host of" American Afternoon "by Air America Radio".Business Wire.New York, New York. June 9, 2008.Retrieved29 April2017.
  6. ^"Ronald L. Kuby".CUNY TV.Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2022-09-28.
  7. ^Ron Kuby - Original air date 11-13-95.mp4,archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19,retrieved2022-09-28
  8. ^"Left-Wing Lawyer Carves Niche as Radio Radical".Los Angeles Times.2000-08-27. Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2022-09-28.
  9. ^"Cityfile: Ron Kuby".Cityfile.Archived fromthe originalon 5 October 2011.Retrieved18 May2018.
  10. ^Wadler, Joyce (January 15, 1998)."Public Lives: Leftist Lawyer Reaches Right for Audience".The New York Times.Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2009-06-01.
  11. ^Finn, Robin (2012-01-21)."Coffee, Couch Time and a Trip to Jail".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2023-06-19.
  12. ^Tobias, Ted. "In Tribute", Pg 84
  13. ^Hoffman, Jan (Dec 19, 1996),"Ruling Curbs Use of Name of Kunstler",The New York Times,archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19,retrieved2009-06-01
  14. ^David Nocienil,The Brass Wall' ", p. 252
  15. ^abcWECT Staff (2018-05-31)."News Now on Friday: Law and (financial) order".wect.Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2023-06-19.
  16. ^"Sheik Rejects 2d Lawyer".The New York Times.1993-11-28.ISSN0362-4331.Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2023-06-19.
  17. ^Archives, L. A. Times (1994-12-10)."Defendant in Long Island Train Massacre to Represent Self at Trial".Los Angeles Times.Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2023-06-19.
  18. ^Rempel, William C. (1989-01-05)."12 Freed of Charges in 'Brokers of Death' Arms Case".Los Angeles Times.Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2023-06-19.
  19. ^Writer, Rob Haeseler, Chronicle Staff (1995-05-17)."N.Y. Teacher Turns Himself In After 2-Month Trek With Girl".SFGATE.Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2023-06-19.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^Pierre-Pierre, Garry (1995-07-26)."Teacher Accused of Kidnapping Pleads to Lesser Charge".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2023-06-19.
  21. ^Hanley, Robert; Times, Special To the New York (1989-02-04)."U.S. Links Man With 3 Bombs To a Terror Plot".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2023-06-19.
  22. ^Michael Steven Smith (June 8, 2009)."Remembering Activist and AIDS Hero Dr. Alan Berkman".The Rag Blog. Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.
  23. ^Nossiter, Adam (April 24, 1996),"Bronx Jury Orders Goetz to Pay Man He Paralyzed $43 Million",The New York Times,archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19,retrieved2009-06-01
  24. ^Gearty, Robert (September 11, 2001),"Angels Shine in Lawsuit",New York Daily News,archived fromthe originalon August 11, 2007,retrieved2009-06-01
  25. ^Dewan, Shaila K. (2000-10-31)."Guilty Verdict Is Overturned In Fatal Blaze".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2023-06-19.
  26. ^Ron Kuby on the Exoneration of the Wrongfully Convicted | Bob Herbert's Op-Ed.TV,archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19,retrieved2023-06-19
  27. ^Zambito, Thomas (March 7, 2006),"Sliwa Radio Pal Backs Jr.'s Story",New York Daily News,archived fromthe originalon August 11, 2007,retrieved2009-06-01
  28. ^"LIVID SLIWA CURSES KUBY AS A JUDAS".NY Post.2006-03-11. Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2023-06-19.
  29. ^ "Somali pirate being flown to New York to be tried in U.S. federal court".CBC News.2009-04-20.Archivedfrom the original on 2013-10-24.
  30. ^"Somali Pirate Cries In Court, Will Be Tried As An Adult".Gothamist.2009-04-22. Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2023-06-19.
  31. ^Tina Susman,Josh Meyer(2009-09-21)."Lawyer for imam charged in alleged terrorism plot says he is a scapegoat".Los Angeles Times.Archived fromthe originalon 2009-09-22.Retrieved2009-09-22.
  32. ^ Anthony M. Destefano (2009-09-21)."Flushing imam ordered held without bail in terror case".Newsday.Archived fromthe originalon 2009-09-25.
  33. ^"Imam leaves United States under plea deal in terror case".CNN.Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2023-06-19.
  34. ^"People v Golb(2014 NY Slip Op 03426) ".Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.
  35. ^"Strange case of online impersonation in Dead Sea Scrolls feud set to end".The Times of Israel.Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2023-06-19.
  36. ^"Innocent Men Freed After 14 Yrs. In Jail".15 May 2001.
  37. ^"REAL KILLER PLEADS GUILTY AFTER INNOCENT MEN DID TIME".buffalonews.9 January 2002.Retrieved2023-04-10.
  38. ^"Judge overturns Michael Clancy's murder conviction | ABC7 New York | abc7ny".ABC7 New York.
  39. ^"Thomas F. Green - Innocents Database of Exonerations".
  40. ^"The Murder That Changed New York City".26 October 2010.
  41. ^Jr, James C. Mckinley (6 October 2015)."Judge Orders Retrial for Johnny Hincapie, Convicted in '90 Subway Killing".The New York Times.
  42. ^Surico, John; Clifford, Stephanie (5 June 2015)."Judge Orders Shabaka Shakur Freed from Prison After 27 Years".The New York Times.
  43. ^"Conviction overturned for NYC man in prison for 21 years".
  44. ^Feuer, Alan (11 January 2018)."Another Brooklyn Murder Conviction Linked to Scarcella is Reversed".The New York Times.
  45. ^"Brooklyn judge tosses murder conviction of man who spent 29 years behind bars after prosecutors admit they have no case, withheld evidence".New York Daily News.30 October 2020.
  46. ^Piccoli, Sean; Shanahan, Ed (15 July 2022)."3 Imprisoned for Fiery 1995 Subway Murder Are Exonerated".The New York Times.
  47. ^"Brooklyn Judge Vacates Two 1999 Murder Convictions | New York Law Journal".
  48. ^"Patricia Okoumou, Statue of Liberty Climber Sentenced - PAPER Magazine".
  49. ^Paz, Isabella Grullón (28 October 2021)."Lawyer Who Won $9.5 Billion Judgment Against Chevron Reports to Prison".The New York Times.
  50. ^"BREAKING: Steven Donziger REMOVED From Home, Forced Into Halfway House-Lawyer Talks to Jordan".YouTube.February 12, 2022.RetrievedJune 28,2023.
  51. ^Hinckley, David (November 5, 2007),"Kuby says he's loved every arguing minute",New York Daily News,retrieved2009-06-01
  52. ^"Woes of 'Donahue' Cast Shadow Over MSNBC",The New York Times,August 19, 2002,retrieved2012-05-11
  53. ^"Air America Hires Ron Kuby",The Star-Ledger,NJ, June 3, 2008,retrieved2009-06-24
  54. ^"Eboni Williams will replace Ron Kuby on WABC radio talk show".New York Post.NY. 2017-06-05.
  55. ^"3 men cleared in 1995 killing of NYC subway token clerk".Court TV.Retrieved2023-06-19.
  56. ^"Listen On Demand".WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM - Jazz Public Radio Station.NJ and NY. Archived fromthe originalon 2014-06-09.
  57. ^"Coffee, Couch Time and a Trip to Jail",The New York Times,January 22, 2012,retrieved2012-05-11
  58. ^"The Ballad of Billy Balls / The RFK Tapes: S2 [8] Cops Tend to Shoot | the Ballad of Billy Balls on Apple Podcasts".28 March 2019.
  59. ^Sokol, Tony (2018-06-08)."Wrong Man Criminal Defense Lawyer Ron Kuby Takes a Stand".Den of Geek.Archived fromthe originalon 2023-06-19.Retrieved2023-06-19.

External links[edit]

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