Morgan Stanley’s Jennings Pleads Not Guilty in N.Y. Cab Driver’s Stabbing (Bloomberg)

William Bryan Jennings, the Morgan Stanley U.S. bond-underwriting chief accused of stabbing New York cab driver, Mohamed Ammar, pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault, theft of service and intimidation by bias or bigotry. After a disagreement over the cab fare with Jennings on Dec. 22, Ammar backed out of Jenning’s driveway to find a police officer. According to Ammar’s statement, Jennings called him an expletive and said, “I’m going to kill you. You should go back to your own country.” Ammar said Jennings started stabbing with a 2 1/2-inch blade though an opening in the vehicle’s divider. Jennings said he showed the knife when Ammar backed out of the driveway, which he cut himself on trying to grab it away. Jennings fled the cab and turned himself in two weeks later after returning from vacation. The hate-crime charge carries the same five-year sentence as the assault charge. Jennings will appear next in court April 12. A spokesman for Morgan Stanley said Jennings has been put on leave.