The Truth Is Out There

     

          Well, according to some at his Manhattan Gym, investment banker Stuart Sugarman fit into that crowd. He was on a spinning bike grunting loudly and encouraging himself with shouts of “You go girl” and “Good burn, good burn.” Christopher Carter, not the X Files creator but another Wall Street type, was exercising nearby and reportedly told Mr. Sugarman to quiet down only to be told “Make me!” with an index finger as punctuation. Mr. Carter then lost it, grabbing Mr. Sugarman’s bike, pushing it against a wall, and tilting it. Mr. Sugarman fell from his perch and claimed neck and back injuries.

          The Manhattan District Attorney charged Mr. Carter with a misdemeanor count of assault. At closing arguments, the prosecutor told the jury, Mr. Sugarman probably was not someone “you would want to hang out with regularly.”

          Such advocacy notwithstanding, the New York jury found Mr. Carter not guilty.

Alan Milstein