Pre-trial hearings opening today in the case of Jose Arroyo, a retired New York City police detective accused of drugging and raping a woman at a Greenburgh motel a year ago.

Arroyo, 47, is facing a five-count indictment for rape, kidnapping and assault and up to 25 years in state prison on the top counts. He is accused of chatting up the 31-year-old Texas woman Nov. 14 at Doyle’s Pub in the Bronx and slipping a drug in her drink that caused her to pass out. Prosecutors say her then took the unconscious woman to the Alexander Motel on Tarrytown Road in Greenburgh, beat and raped her. The woman, after waking up the next morning, grabbed a key and tried using it on several cars in the parking lot. That prompted the motel manager to call  Greenburgh police.

At today’s evidentiary hearing before acting state Supreme Court Justice Robert A. Neary, a Greenburgh police officer testified that the woman was “clearly distraught … mostly scared” when she told him that she woke up with a man she didn’t know and had no idea how she got to the motel. The woman had visible bruises and scrapes to both cheekbones, the officer said. When police entered the room, they found Arroyo sleeping and the butt of a handgun sticking out from a pillow next to him. They took the giun and told him he could have it back after he sobered up.

Arroyo claims the sex was consensual, but authorities say she was incapable of consent because she was physically helpless because of the drug. Prosecutors say they have videotape showing Arroyo spiking the woman’s drink, stirring it up and handing her the glass when she returned to the bar.

Assistant District Attorneys Christine Cervascio and Patricia Murphy are prosecuting the case. Defense lawyer Peter Tilem is representing Arroyo.

Vance Major is a happy man today, having been found not guilty of gun charges that his attorney said could have sent the Yonkers convict to prison for 30 years.

Major, 29, has two prior felony convictions – a 2000 weapons charge and a 2006 drug possession charge – and was on trial for felony gun  charges after plainclothes police officers said they saw Major toss two guns into a trash can on Oliver Street the night of Sept. 10, 2008.

Other people hanging around the area said they saw Major ditch the guns in the garbage as well, but the jury chose to believe two other witnesses who testified that they were with Major that night and he had no part in any gun-tossing. The panel dismissed the entire five-count indictment.

In what will be entered as the Understatement of the Year, his attorney, the indefatigable Barry Warhit,  said his client was “relieved” by the verdict, adding that Major ”is anticipating getting on with his life.”

The New York State Commission on Judicial Nomination is looking for volunteers to fill two vacancies on its board.

To qualify, the volunteers cannot hold any office in any political party. Bar associations and civic groups are encouraged to recommend “highly qualified individuals” for the posts.

One nominee would fill out a term ending on March 31 and will be chosen by Gov. David A. Patterson. The other nominee would be on the board a bit longer, to March 2013, and will be chosen by Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb.

Those interested can call Patterson’s office  at 518-474-8390 and Kolb’s office at 518-455-3751.

For the second time in three weeks, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara held a press conference to announce the filing of charges against several Wall Street execs in an ongoing investigation into insider trading on the street.

And once again, the feds’ have charged a Westchester man in connection with the alleged schemes.

Michael Kimelman, 38,  of Larchmont, who founded Incremental Capital, was accused of  securities fraud and conspiracy in one of  eight criminal complaints and felony information documents that were announced today. Kimelman was arrested by FBI agents at his home this morning.

The first shoe in the case dropped Oct. 16 when Bharara  announced the arrests of  six executives in connection with a $20 million insider trading case. Among those charged was Mark Kurland of Mount Kisco. The former president of a hedge fund company was charged along with one of the wealthiest men in the world, Raj Rajaratnam and now-former IBM executive Robert Moffat in the case.

This latest case was built on informants, wiretaps and intercepted phone calls — the staples of drug, organized crime, and anti-terrorism cases. It used to be that white collar cases were painstakingly built on reams of documents. That looks like it’s changing under Bharara as the feds appear willing to employ more aggressive tactics in rooting out white collar corruption.

Read the release from Bharara’s office here.

A common refrain about federal law enforcement post-9/11 is that the feds are no longer in the business of fighting the illegal drug trade. It was repeated several times on the greatest television show ever — “The Wire.”  Anti-terrorism and the Wall Street meltdown with its associated financial scandals may indeed have focused the feds’ resources elsewhere. But that  doesn’t mean federal agents and prosecutors aren’t still in the game.

Just ask the 53 Bronx residents charged in six sweeping federal indictments aimed at the crack and heroin trade in two Bronx housing projects. Some 450 federal agents and New York City cops descended upon the Morrisania section of the Bronx this morning to corral more than three dozen of the accused. And the feds used all the weapons at their disposal in the investigation —wiretaps, informants, undercover officers — to build the case that resulted in the execution of 22 search warrants this morning and the seizure of $18,000, four guns, and 1000 bags of heroin.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called a press conference to announce the arrests, the third such news event since he was sworn in last month. The first two were connected to white collar cases.  Read the release issued by Bharara’s office here.

Insults come with a price in city court, according to a New York Post story posted on Gothamist. Click here to read more about the lawyer’s bad courtroom behavior.

Do you think the judge’s fine was to high? Or not high enough? Share your thoughts here.

UPDATED: David Friehling, the former New City accountant of Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, has pleaded guilty to federal charges and has apologized for his role in Madoff’s schemes.

Click here to read more about this story.

Photo: David Friehling

One day before the election, Westchester District Attorney candidate Dan Schorr has called a news conference with, as he described it, “members of law enforcement” who are supporting him in his bid to topple incumbent DA Janet DiFiore.

This may be just a recap of his previous endorsements from county police and other PBA groups. (See earlier Completely Legal posts for the list). But I’ll update you after the event with the details.

Meanwhile, here in the newsroom, we are getting our election game plan together for tomorrow night. My esteemed colleagues will be covering the DA race; I will be tracking the 9th Judicial District judges’ race, which is spread out over 5 counties (thank goodness all 5 county boards of election will be posting the results online).

Good luck to all!

At this Halloween party, there will be no tricks, no treats and no fun.

That’s because Westchester County officials once again are ordering registered and non-registered sex offenders to leave their homes and go to the Westchester County Courthouse in White Plains, where they will have to sit and listen to crime victims’ stories.

The county, which started this Halloween program in 2005, mailed notices to 160 sex offenders that they must be at the courthouse in White Plains from 7 to 10 p.m. Probation officers and police will visit those who fail to show.

Two speakers from the county jail’s Resolve to Stop Violence program will talk about how as children they were victims of crime and how such acts can impact the victim’s life.

The state, meanwhile, plans to keep tabs on sex offenders on parole by visiting them in their homes from 4 to 6 p.m. and reminding them that they forbidden from answering the door for trick-or-treaters, wearing a costume or even having Halloween candy.

Parole officers will visit about 1,800 sex offender statewide this year for its “Operation Halloween” program, which is in its 10th year.

Pumpkin photo from Google images

There are hearings in federal court that go on for hours and hours. Yes, I’m looking at you, Bernie-Kerik’s-nearly-four-hour-bail-revocation hearing.

And then there are those hearings whose length is best measured in seconds. Such is the case with today’s 240-second  appearance by Pelham Middle School teacher Gregg Cavaluzzi, nabbed by Westchester County police on May 31 in an Internet sex sting after he allegedly showed up in Elmsford to meet what he thought was a 15-year-old girl he had been chatting to first on the Internet and then on the phone. She turned out to be an undercover detective. Cavaluzzi, who had tendered his resignation from the school district prior to his arrest, was fired after he was charged.

Cavaluzzi’s lawyer, Clinton Calhoun and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Martin are in plea discussions in the case and asked today for another 30 days to continue those talks. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas put the case down for a Nov. 30 hearing.

Then Cavaluzzi was led out by deputy U.S. marshals and back to the Westchester County Jail.