A stunning end to the baby-oil-soaked trial of a rap legend, a quashed mayoral bribery case and an accused assassin’s eyebrow-raising courthouse cheers.
These moments rocked the Big Apple during another dizzying year of drama in New York courts — where The Post had a prime seat to the action.
Here are 10 of the most gripping scenes to unfold in city courthouses in 2025:
10. Linda Sun ‘ducks’ the rap — for now
Linda Sun’s federal trial exposed how the former Albany aide boasted about her political sway to Chinese consulate honchos — who showered her family with perks like free ballet tickets and salted duck prepared by a private chef.
“She is much more obedient than the governor,” Sun texted in 2021 about Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, after vowing to get Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s then-No. 2 to film a cringey Lunar New Year video.
But a Brooklyn judge was forced to declare a mistrial on Dec. 22 after a jury ultimately couldn’t unanimously agree on whether Sun was guilty of illegally serving as a Chinese agent.
The Brooklyn corruption trial of Linda Sun, who was charged alongside husband Chris Hu, ended in a hung jury. Michael Nigro
Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, are expected to face a retrial in 2026.
9. Feds crack down on Washington Square Park
Within the span of a few minutes in October, the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office unsealed two headline-grabbing indictments meant to crack down on the Big Apple’s illegal drug trade.
In the first, nearly 20 alleged dealers accused of running an around-the-clock, open-air drug market in Washington Square Park for half a decade — and who were purportedly responsible for a rash of overdoses in the park since 2020 — were busted after a joint probe by the NYPD and DEA.
An NYPD officer patrols the Greenwich Village park days after the crew of alleged drug dealers was nabbed. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post
The feds soon after separately announced charges against five men for helming a criminal crew that sold thousands of counterfeit pills to unsuspecting teens and young adults across the five boroughs.
The dealers in that case allegedly supplied the drugs responsible for the July 2023 overdose death of legendary actor Robert De Niro’s grandson, Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, and the drugs that killed 19-year-old Akira Stein, the daughter of Blondie guitarist Chris Stein, that May.
8. President Trump’s $500 million fine tossed by appeals court
A New York appeals court in August threw out the more than $500 million fine that President Trump had owed in State Attorney General Letitia James’ business fraud case.
Three out of the five judges on the panel agreed that the whopping fine ordered by Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron was “excessive.”
But the long-awaited ruling was a mixed bag for the real estate tycoon-turned-president, as the Appellate Division, First Department upheld a lower court’s finding that Trump engaged in fraud by exaggerating his net worth for a decade on documents sent to banks and insurers.
Both Trump and James claimed victory after the court’s legally dense 323-page decision.
The ruling erased the more than $500 million Trump had owed New York State, in a case brought by AG Letitia James. REUTERS
The fate of the legal battle between New York’s top lawyer and the commander-in-chief is now up to New York’s highest court, which is expected to consider the case at a later date.
7. NYC mayor’s crabby confidant charged with taking crab cake bribes
Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Mayor Eric Adams’ top aide, was ticked off.
“Whatever site TJ wants, I need him to get them. Because that’s our f—king people,” she shouted to an underling during a May 31, 2024 phone call caught on a wiretap.
“TJ” was Tian Ji Li, a real estate developer that had yet to receive some of the whopping $7 billion in city contracts shelled out to house migrants that had poured into the Big Apple.
Lewis-Martin donned a light gold suit at her Manhattan arraignment, where she pleaded not guilty. Steven Hirsch
Lewis-Martin’s dogged advocacy came at a price: $50,000 wired from Li to her son, according to a bombshell indictment unsealed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in August.
The former City Hall power broker was also charged with trading political favors for goodies like a $10,000 spread of crab cakes and other seafood delivered to the official mayoral residence at Gracie Mansion. She has pleaded not guilty.
6. ‘Gold Bar Bob’ Menendez’s wife Nadine gets her revenge
Former New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez shockingly blamed his wife Nadine for his infamous “gold bar” bribery scheme during his 2024 trial.
Nadine finally got her chance at payback at her September sentencing hearing, where she painted herself as a mere victim of her hubby’s master plan.
“I put my life in his hands and he strung me like a puppet,” the sobbing convicted felon proclaimed as she pleaded for leniency from a Manhattan federal judge.
Former U.S. senator Bob Menendez and his wife Nadine, traded barbs about each other in court. Both were convicted. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post
Judge Sidney Stein appeared unconvinced by Nadine’s weepy speech — and sentenced her to serve four and a half years in prison.
5. Crypto bros charged with torturing Italian investor in posh SoHo townhouse
One morning in May, a barefoot and distressed Italian crypto millionaire flagged down a SoHo traffic cop and told him a harrowing tale.
The shoeless man claimed that he’d been held prisoner, brutalized and tortured inside a swanky Prince St townhouse by men demanding the password to his Bitcoin wallet, which held funds worth $100 million.
Cops soon stormed the alleged house of horrors and cuffed Kentucky “crypto king” John Woeltz — who was nabbed while donning a bathrobe — and later Woeltz’s colleague William Duplessie, charging them with kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and various other raps.
Kentucky crypto mogul John Woeltz, here wearing orange, has been released on $1 million bail with the case pending. Steven Hirsch
Woeltz was sprung on $1 million bond in July after his lawyer called the so-called torture akin to “fraternity-like hazing.” Duplessie remains on Rikers Island, and both he and Woeltz have pleaded not guilty.
4. Luigi Mangione fans cheer accused murderer as terrorism charges are tossed
Luigi Mangione’s warped fans hooped and hollered outside Manhattan Supreme Court on Sept. 16 as they celebrated the accused killer’s terrorism charges being dropped.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro tossed murder as terrorism charges — the top counts in the state’s case against the 27-year-old Ivy League university grad, accused of executing United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson in cold blood on Dec.4, 2024.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the killing and has yet to receive a trial date. Steven Hirsch for the NY Post
The surprise ruling delighted fans of the preppy alleged assassin who had camped out overnight in the hopes of glimpsing Mangione during his appearance at the Centre Street courthouse.
“Free! Luigi!” one protester, who wore a green hat like the Luigi video game character, shouted in a call-and-response chant celebrating the decision.
The Maryland native is still charged with murder and faces 25-years-to-life in his state case even without the terror charges, and is also staring down separate federal charges that carry a possible death penalty. He has pleaded not guilty and is due back in court Jan. 9 for an appearance in the federal case.
Mangione’s fans have donned “Free Luigi!” signs at several of the accused killer’s appearances. James Keivom
3. Justice Department bails out Mayor Adams in bribery case
New York City Mayor Eric Adams had been set for a spring 2025 trial on charges of taking $123,000 in travel perk bribes in exchange for fast-tracking the opening of the Manhattan Turkish consulate.
But in February, President Trump’s Justice Department ordered that the historic case be dropped — setting the stage for Adams to get off scot-free, while possibly speeding up his political demise.
Mayor Adams was able to dodge prosecution for the alleged bribery scheme, but bowed out of his race for re-election. Paul Martinka
After the charges were dropped, Adams declared on the Gracie Mansion steps that “I did nothing wrong” — and vowed that he would win re-election.
Months later, while polling in the single digits, he dropped out of the race.
2. Mobsters and hoops stars charged together in bombshell NBA poker case
On the night of Oct 24, Chauncey Billups coached the Portland Trail Blazers to a 111-98 loss at the hands of the Sacramento Kings.
The next morning, the FBI arrested the NBA Hall of Famer, who is charged with a key role in a sprawling scheme — involving four of the five Mafia families — to rig poker games using high-tech cheating tools.
Billups and former NBA player Damon Jones acted as “face cards” to attract high rollers to big-money poker games that were fixed using rigged X-ray card tables, card shufflers and special glasses and contact lenses, according to a stunning indictment unsealed in Brooklyn federal court.
NBA Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups is charged in the poker-rigging case alongside several mobster co-defendants. REUTERS
The hoopers are now charged alongside a motley crew of mobsters, including the scion of an infamous Gambino capo. A separate case charges current Miami Heat guard “Scary Terry” Rozier with leaving games early to help members of a crooked gambling scheme make hundreds of thousands in illicit profits.
Billups, Jones and Rozier have pleaded not guilty.
1. Diddy beats the top raps after trial exposed his depraved secrets
Sean “Diddy” Combs crumpled to the floor on his hands and knees in July after a jury stunningly acquitted him on racketeering and sex trafficking charges that threatened to keep him behind bars for life.
“Thank you,” the disgraced hip-hop mogul said toward the 12-person panel, holding his hands in a prayer gesture and waving them in their direction approvingly.
Combs was overcome with emotion after learning of the jury’s split verdict, which spared him a possible life sentence. AP
The jury’s dramatic split verdict followed a sensational trial that exposed how Combs had terrorized his girlfriends with repeated beatings, and pressured his lovers to have dehumanizing, drug-and-baby-oil-fueled “freak off” sex romps with male escorts.
The jury did convict Combs of two counts of breaching the Mann Act — a federal law making it a crime to transport someone across state lines for prostitution — and the “I’ll Be Missing You” rapper was sentenced in October to serve 50 months in prison.
Combs is slated to be released in June 2028, if his lawyers aren’t able to reverse the verdict on appeal.
Happy New Year — and see you back in court in 2026.