NEW YORK (AP) -- A retired firefighter accused of stealing a wedding photo, a smashed fire department radio and other items from the shambles of ground zero ``came to help'' in the post-Sept. 11 cleanup but instead became a souvenir hunter, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
Samuel Brandon collected items that had ``far greater personal and emotional value to their owners'' and ``bragged to anyone who would listen,'' prosecutor Judy Salwen said at the opening of Brandon's trial in Manhattan criminal court.
Defense attorney Ron Kliegerman said the items gathered by Brandon were essentially worthless and that the theft charges were based on ``an appeal to people's emotions'' rather than solid evidence.
Brandon, 61, who retired from the fire department in 1984, is charged with 11 misdemeanors, each punishable by a year in jail, for allegedly taking artifacts while volunteering in the cleanup at the World Trade Center site in 2002.
Among other items, he kept a damaged walkie-talkie of the type used by firefighters, seven ID cards _ two belonging to people killed in the terrorist attack _ and a photo of an unidentified couple at their wedding, authorities contend.
