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DARIEN, Conn. Hate crime charges against Morgan Stanley executive William Bryan Jennings of Darien are to be dismissed Monday, according to the victims lawyer. Jennings had been accused of stabbing a New York cabdriver in December in a dispute over a fare.
Mohammad Ammar, a cabdriver from Queens, told police he picked up Jennings in Manhattan on Dec. 21 and drove him to Darien. The two agreed on a fare of $204, Ammar said. But when they arrived in Darien, Jennings refused to pay. Ammar told police that Jennings shouted racial slurs and stabbed him in the hand with a penknife before running off.
Jennings, 45, turned himself in to police in March and was charged with second-degree assault, sixth-degree larceny and intimidation by bias or bigotry. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Jennings lawyer, Eugene Riccio, filed to have the case dismissed. Ammar gave varying accounts of the incident on different occasions, Riccio. He also said Darien police knowingly included false information. He accused Ammar of illegally detaining Jennings and trying to extort money from him.
The Connecticut state prosecutor told Ammar on Oct. 5 that the state will not press charges against Jennings, according to Ammars lawyer, Hassan Ahmad. Ahmad said the hate crime charges are to be dismissed Monday.
Mr. Ammar is outraged by the Prosecutors decision and continues to demand justice, Ahmad said in a statement. He said the law firm was shocked by the decision. Not only do we feel that it represents a miscarriage of justice for our client, but the timing of this decision makes it that much more disappointing and alarming.
Darien police Capt. Fred Komm said he thinks prosecutors have decided not to pursue the case, but the police dont receive final dispositions until well after a case is adjudicated. He added that a defense motion alleging police mismanagement in the investigation was rejected by the court.
Jennings is still set to appear Monday afternoon in Stamford Superior Court.
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