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strunke · 04-10-2008, 1:18 AM

NEW YORK (AP) -- A retired police officer who screamed obscenities at a train passenger who was talking on a cell phone and who hit the hand of another passenger who intervened was acquitted Tuesday of misdemeanor charges stemming from the confrontation.

John Clifford, who is also a lawyer, was found not guilty after a two-day nonjury trial at which he acted as his own attorney. He had been charged with misdemeanor counts of attempted assault, disorderly conduct, harassment and attempted petit larceny and had faced up to a year in jail if convicted.

Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Larry Stephen issued his verdict immediately after closing arguments: "I see no crimes having been committed beyond a reasonable doubt. The case is dismissed and sealed."

The 6-foot-4 Clifford acknowledged during trial that he was aggressive and overbearing when he approached Long Island Rail Road commuters he considered rude for talking too loudly on cell phones and for other behavior.

During trial, Clifford, 60, admitted cursing at Nicholas Bender, "a 19-year-old nitwit waking up one girlfriend after another," and slapping the hand of Lydia Klein after she slapped his when he reached for a business card she was handing Bender on the train from Long Beach to Manhattan's Pennsylvania Station on March 28, 2007.

Clifford, who retired as a police sergeant after 10 years on the job, said Tuesday he had been arrested eight times after being accused of throwing coffee, spewing expletives and getting in the faces of people whom he considered loud and rude on the commuter line. This was the only case that wasn't dismissed.

"It took a lawyer and an old ex-police sergeant to stand up to it (public rudeness)," Clifford, of Long Beach, said as he left court. He said that unless lawmakers and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority do something, the lack of public civility will persist.

Asked what he regretted about his behavior, Clifford replied, "Nothing."

He added, "I don't want anybody to think they can't have a private conversation (around me), but keep it private."

The LIRR issued a statement saying it was "disappointed" but accepted the judgment of the court.

"Some of our customers feel as if they have been abused by Mr. Clifford's behavior," the statement said. "We will not tolerate aggressive behavior by Mr. Clifford if he seeks to impose his own standards of conduct on others. We will not hesitate in the future to call on police if necessary to protect the safety of our customer and employees."

Meanwhile, Clifford, a lawyer since 1984, has filed five lawsuits against passengers and against the MTA, which runs the region's mass transit system, for issues arising from his reactions to rudeness.

Clifford, formerly a security staffer for HBO, was fired after being arrested several times in connection with his LIRR confrontations. He said he plans now to "hang out my shingle again" and practice law.

© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

News | WWMT

Eric47 · 04-10-2008, 1:28 AM

this is the type of guy that gives cops and ex-cops bad reputations. typical hard head that thinks he is so much better than everyone. jeez.

Yankees368 · 04-10-2008, 1:57 AM

Welcome to the Long Island Rail Road. This kinda crap goes on all the time. The worst is the 6pm trains home, when you encounter drunken construction workers on their Nextels. It never ends.

Eric47 · 04-10-2008, 2:01 AM

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Seriously I can understand the annoyance but the guy was trying to pick fights and he's an ex cop. Not to mention he lost his job over this stuff. I think the guy has a screw loose

WirelessBeachBum · 04-10-2008, 3:24 AM

Wirelessly posted (Opera Mini on Alltel HTC 6800: Opera/9.50 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/4.0.10406/298; U; en))

There is so much more to life... on both sides of this coin... what a waste of resources.

Mobile Mike · 04-10-2008, 4:49 AM

Somebody has anger management issues...

walkguru · 04-10-2008, 6:30 AM

Wirelessly posted (Walkguru's: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D062; Blazer/4.5) 16;320x320)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mobile Mike

Somebody has anger management issues...

that's for sure. a chill pill would help.

bobolito · 04-10-2008, 10:31 AM

Unfortunately, this type of guy usually one day disappears and then days later his corpse shows up in some NYC street dumpster and on the 6 O'clock news.

He sounds like one of those nosy neighbors that nobody in the neighborhood gets along with. We have an old fart like that in my street.

Eric47 · 04-10-2008, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walkguru

Wirelessly posted (Walkguru's: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D062; Blazer/4.5) 16;320x320)

that's for sure. a chill pill would help.

oh god i love that phrase... "chill pill"

Mobile Mike · 04-10-2008, 7:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric47

oh god i love that phrase... "chill pill"

I think it's a Cyanide tablet...

bdot · 04-11-2008, 10:53 AM

You get annoying people on Metro here all the time too. Thats what headphones are for. And then again theres the luxury of being able to switch cars, no one forces you to stand next to someone who's bothering you. Maybe he acted in a little bit of excess?

walkguru · 04-11-2008, 11:15 AM

Wirelessly posted (Walkguru's: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D062; Blazer/4.5) 16;320x320)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mobile Mike

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric47

oh god i love that phrase... "chill pill"

I think it's a Cyanide tablet...

hmm could be. lol.

AnthroMatt · 04-11-2008, 1:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yankees368

Welcome to the Long Island Rail Road. This kinda crap goes on all the time. The worst is the 6pm trains home, when you encounter drunken construction workers on their Nextels. It never ends.

I'm glad my only trip on the LIRR was on a Friday at noon!

MOTOhooligan · 04-11-2008, 4:30 PM

I can see his point but you've just got to let stuff like this go. Teenagers are going to be rude because most of them are too selfish to know better.

He probably just sat there listening to the kid and getting angrier and angrier and angrier until he snapped.

Like I said, I can see his point but no normal person is going to do what he did, they'll just let it go.

bdot · 04-11-2008, 4:53 PM

With all those arrests I'm surprised he doesn't have court ordered anger management

Mobile Mike · 04-11-2008, 6:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdot

With all those arrests I'm surprised he doesn't have court ordered anger management

You and me both. I feel sorry for his kids (if he has any).

bobolito · 04-15-2008, 5:46 PM

That guy is going to die and there will still be annoying people in this world with no sense of cell phone ettiquette. So despite his anger and yelling and screaming, he's not solving or even accomplishing anything.

Mobile Mike · 04-17-2008, 6:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobolito

That guy is going to die and there will still be annoying people in this world with no sense of cell phone ettiquette. So despite his anger and yelling and screaming, he's not solving or even accomplishing anything.

And the sad part is he's probably too ignorant to realize it.

04-10-2008, 1:18 AM	#1 (permalink)
strunke .:\|Always Covered\|:. Join Date: May 2005 Location: BVR Posts: 1,714 Phone(s): KRZR K1m, SLVR L6, v710, E815, E816(ampd), LG 380, 8600 Provider(s): Alltel, T-Mobile, Sprint, Centennial Devices: Garmin eTrex Vista Cx, Bluetooth headset Thanks: 1 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts My Auctions	Man Who Yelled at Phone User Acquitted NEW YORK (AP) -- A retired police officer who screamed obscenities at a train passenger who was talking on a cell phone and who hit the hand of another passenger who intervened was acquitted Tuesday of misdemeanor charges stemming from the confrontation. John Clifford, who is also a lawyer, was found not guilty after a two-day nonjury trial at which he acted as his own attorney. He had been charged with misdemeanor counts of attempted assault, disorderly conduct, harassment and attempted petit larceny and had faced up to a year in jail if convicted. Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Larry Stephen issued his verdict immediately after closing arguments: "I see no crimes having been committed beyond a reasonable doubt. The case is dismissed and sealed." The 6-foot-4 Clifford acknowledged during trial that he was aggressive and overbearing when he approached Long Island Rail Road commuters he considered rude for talking too loudly on cell phones and for other behavior. During trial, Clifford, 60, admitted cursing at Nicholas Bender, "a 19-year-old nitwit waking up one girlfriend after another," and slapping the hand of Lydia Klein after she slapped his when he reached for a business card she was handing Bender on the train from Long Beach to Manhattan's Pennsylvania Station on March 28, 2007. Clifford, who retired as a police sergeant after 10 years on the job, said Tuesday he had been arrested eight times after being accused of throwing coffee, spewing expletives and getting in the faces of people whom he considered loud and rude on the commuter line. This was the only case that wasn't dismissed. "It took a lawyer and an old ex-police sergeant to stand up to it (public rudeness)," Clifford, of Long Beach, said as he left court. He said that unless lawmakers and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority do something, the lack of public civility will persist. Asked what he regretted about his behavior, Clifford replied, "Nothing." He added, "I don't want anybody to think they can't have a private conversation (around me), but keep it private." The LIRR issued a statement saying it was "disappointed" but accepted the judgment of the court. "Some of our customers feel as if they have been abused by Mr. Clifford's behavior," the statement said. "We will not tolerate aggressive behavior by Mr. Clifford if he seeks to impose his own standards of conduct on others. We will not hesitate in the future to call on police if necessary to protect the safety of our customer and employees." Meanwhile, Clifford, a lawyer since 1984, has filed five lawsuits against passengers and against the MTA, which runs the region's mass transit system, for issues arising from his reactions to rudeness. Clifford, formerly a security staffer for HBO, was fired after being arrested several times in connection with his LIRR confrontations. He said he plans now to "hang out my shingle again" and practice law. © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. News \| WWMT __________________ www.ALLTELLIVES.com My words of wisdom and random thoughts....Doesn't matter how many people are on a network, you can only use one phone at a time...ok maybe two...

04-10-2008, 1:28 AM	#2 (permalink)
Eric47 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: in my own house Posts: 1,404 Phone(s): crackberry's Devices: my home wi-fi router and laptop Thanks: 5 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Images: 49	Re: Man Who Yelled at Phone User Acquitted this is the type of guy that gives cops and ex-cops bad reputations. typical hard head that thinks he is so much better than everyone. jeez.

04-10-2008, 1:57 AM	#3 (permalink)
Yankees368 Compulsive Signal Checker Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Lansing, MI & Long Island Posts: 3,227 Phone(s): TouchPRO, Mogul, Sanyo M1, Motorola K1m,Samsung a900, Sanyo 7400 8200 8100 6200, Samsung a460, Nokia 5190 Provider(s): Sprint PCS (since 2002), Voicestream (2001-2002) Devices: S9 HD, 30GB iPod 5g, 2GB nano, Dell XPS M1530 Thanks: 0 Thanked 6 Times in 4 Posts Images: 528	Re: Man Who Yelled at Phone User Acquitted Welcome to the Long Island Rail Road. This kinda crap goes on all the time. The worst is the 6pm trains home, when you encounter drunken construction workers on their Nextels. It never ends. __________________ "'Current Sprint Service Can Not Be Used' What the hell does that mean?!?"

04-10-2008, 3:24 AM	#5 (permalink)
WirelessBeachBum Soylent Green is People Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Hilton Head Island, SC Posts: 2,751 Phone(s): 6800 Provider(s): Alltel Wireless Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts My Auctions	Wirelessly posted (Opera Mini on Alltel HTC 6800: Opera/9.50 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/4.0.10406/298; U; en)) There is so much more to life... on both sides of this coin... what a waste of resources. __________________ WirelessBeachBum

04-10-2008, 4:49 AM	#6 (permalink)
Mobile Mike Long Term Evolution 4G Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 4,747 Phone(s): LG Voyager, Nokia 6555 Provider(s): Verizon Wireless, AT&T Thanks: 47 Thanked 19 Times in 19 Posts	Re: Man Who Yelled at Phone User Acquitted Somebody has anger management issues... __________________ (1994-Present) LG Voyager at&t (2004-2005, 2006-Present) Nokia 6555 3G

04-10-2008, 2:01 AM	#4 (permalink)
Eric47 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: in my own house Posts: 1,404 Phone(s): crackberry's Devices: my home wi-fi router and laptop Thanks: 5 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Images: 49	Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8820/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102) Seriously I can understand the annoyance but the guy was trying to pick fights and he's an ex cop. Not to mention he lost his job over this stuff. I think the guy has a screw loose

04-10-2008, 10:31 AM	#8 (permalink)
bobolito iPhone 3G 16GB (White) Join Date: May 2002 Location: New Sanfrakota Posts: 12,398 Phone(s): iPhone 3G, RAZR V9, Sierra 875 3G Aircard, HP iPaq Classic 110 Provider(s): AT&T Mobility Devices: WiFi cards/Access points Thanks: 3 Thanked 11 Times in 10 Posts Images: 50 My Auctions	Re: Man Who Yelled at Phone User Acquitted Unfortunately, this type of guy usually one day disappears and then days later his corpse shows up in some NYC street dumpster and on the 6 O'clock news. He sounds like one of those nosy neighbors that nobody in the neighborhood gets along with. We have an old fart like that in my street. __________________ Last edited by bobolito; 04-10-2008 at 10:59 AM.

04-11-2008, 10:53 AM	#11 (permalink)
bdot Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Rosslyn, VA Posts: 69 Phone(s): Motorola V3xx Platinum Provider(s): AT&T Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Man Who Yelled at Phone User Acquitted You get annoying people on Metro here all the time too. Thats what headphones are for. And then again theres the luxury of being able to switch cars, no one forces you to stand next to someone who's bothering you. Maybe he acted in a little bit of excess?

04-11-2008, 4:30 PM	#14 (permalink)
MOTOhooligan Why So Serious? Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gotham City Posts: 6,688 Phone(s): w490, V3t, v620, Q, K1m Provider(s): Voicestream Wireless, Western Wireless Devices: Motorola S805, Motorola HS350 Thanks: 1 Thanked 11 Times in 8 Posts Images: 21	Re: Man Who Yelled at Phone User Acquitted I can see his point but you've just got to let stuff like this go. Teenagers are going to be rude because most of them are too selfish to know better. He probably just sat there listening to the kid and getting angrier and angrier and angrier until he snapped. Like I said, I can see his point but no normal person is going to do what he did, they'll just let it go. __________________ Who needs an iPhone when you've got a 2GB memory card, AD2P Bluetooth support and a wireless stereo headset?

04-11-2008, 4:53 PM	#15 (permalink)
bdot Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Rosslyn, VA Posts: 69 Phone(s): Motorola V3xx Platinum Provider(s): AT&T Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Man Who Yelled at Phone User Acquitted With all those arrests I'm surprised he doesn't have court ordered anger management

04-15-2008, 5:46 PM	#17 (permalink)
bobolito iPhone 3G 16GB (White) Join Date: May 2002 Location: New Sanfrakota Posts: 12,398 Phone(s): iPhone 3G, RAZR V9, Sierra 875 3G Aircard, HP iPaq Classic 110 Provider(s): AT&T Mobility Devices: WiFi cards/Access points Thanks: 3 Thanked 11 Times in 10 Posts Images: 50 My Auctions	Re: Man Who Yelled at Phone User Acquitted That guy is going to die and there will still be annoying people in this world with no sense of cell phone ettiquette. So despite his anger and yelling and screaming, he's not solving or even accomplishing anything. __________________

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