February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Christopher Kiernan is being held in lieu of $500,000 after a hearing in Westchester County court last week.
Kiernan, an undocumented immigrant who does not possess a valid driving license, is accused of killing mother-of-three Carlene Joseph. He faces a charge of second-degree felony manslaughter
Kiernan, a Yonkers resident, was driving a sport utility vehicle on the evening of Monday, June 20, when he collided with Joseph and her husband, Emanual. The couple was walking home after shopping.
The fatal collision occurred 9.20 p.m. at the junction of Kimball and Yonkers Avenues. The victim died later in hospital.
Kiernan’s SUV reportedly mounted the curb and hit a fire hydrant before plowing into the couple.
Prosecutors have charged that Kiernan had five times the legal alcohol level in his system.
According to a report in the Journal News, the prosecution described Kiernan as a major flight risk because of his undocumented status. Prosecutors sought bail of $1 million but the court settled on half that sum.
A community source indicated that Kiernan was deeply remorseful and had accepted that bail was not attainable. Kiernan’s attorney, James Cullen, had requested a maximum bail of $25,000.
Friends have described Kiernan as a quiet, hard working man not known for heavy drinking.
Reports indicated that Kiernan had been drinking in a nearby bar shortly before the fatal collision.
O’HARE BAR LIFTED
Sinn Fein’s representative to the United States will be allowed back into the country as of this week.
Rita O’Hare was barred from entering the U.S. last month after the federal government withheld a visa waiver. The decision was based on the view that O’Hare had changed her set itinerary on a previous visit.
Before she travels to the U.S., O’Hare, who lives in the Republic, must inform federal authorities of her exact movements as she does not qualify for regular tourist status.
The bar was lifted Tuesday but even as she was planning to take immediate advantage of the renewed waiver O’Hare had to postpone her visit due to a death in the family.
During the visit that sparked the bar, O’Hare had traveled to Florida to meet with Bill Flynn, chairman of the Mutual of America insurance company and a longtime campaigner for peace in the North. The meeting had originally been scheduled to take place in New York.
The lifting of the waiver bar was welcomed by Sinn Fein chief negotiator Martin McGuinness.
“We would like to thank those in the U.S. who supported the issuing of this visa,” McGuinness said.
FEDS STILL AFTER PROVOS
The IRA is still active and on the FBI anti-terror priority list despite years of relative inactivity and growing expectations of a ‘stand down’ statement from the organization.
A recent Associated Press report on a case involving an FBI agent’s lawsuit against the Bureau over a failed promotion revealed that the bureau still devotes time and resources to dealing with the Provisionals.
The agent, an expert in Middle Eastern affairs, filed suit on the grounds that his expertise with regard to Middle East-sourced terrorism had been ignored by his seniors in the bureau.
The report included a statement from a senior FBI anti-terrorism agent to the effect that such experience was helpful, but not mandatory.
The senior agent, according to the AP report, noted that the FBI “must also deal with terrorism from domestic sources and the Irish Republican Army.”
BIDEN RUNNING?
The first Democrat to signal interest in the 2008 presidential election is an Irish American.
Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, who has family roots in County Derry, made a previous bid for the White House in 1988 but had to withdraw in a flap over a copied speech.
Biden has a long standing interest in Northern Ireland and was a co-signatory of the recent bi-partisan Senate resolution in support of the Good Friday agreement.
Some years ago, when Admiral William Crowe was being questioned by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before his appointment as U.S. ambassador to Britain, Biden suggested to Crowe that he spend time in Northern Ireland and become familiar with its politics.
The outgoing U.S. ambassador, Raymond Seitz, had made one trip to the North but had confined himself to an overflight in a British Army helicopter.
“And by visiting Ireland I don’t mean a quick helicopter ride,” Biden told Crowe.