I’ll Be Doggone

We greet 2016 with another case from the dogs.

The New York Commission on Judicial Conduct has admonished another one of the non-attorney town court justices for denying a fair hearing in a matter convened to determine whether a pit bull was a dangerous dog.

In handling a Dangerous Dog case during his first year as a judge, respondent made numerous procedural and substantive errors. Most seriously, he summarily ended the hearing before the attorney for the dog’s owner had completed his case, which resulted in a decision made on an abbreviated record that deprived the dog’s owner of the right to be heard pursuant to law. After the prosecutor had rested her case, respondent announced his decision that the dog was dangerous and that the case was over. Even if he was confused because a motion to dismiss was made before the defense had concluded, the attorney’s repeated objections that he was “in the middle of my case” and wanted to call two additional witnesses should have prompted respondent to recognize that his decision was premature. Instead, he refused to be dissuaded, reiterating, “You were done … We’ re done.” It also appears that respondent impermissibly excluded another defense witness from testifying because the witness had been in the courtroom during earlier testimony, although the prosecutor had not requested sequestration and no witness list was provided.

It is a fundamental principle of law that every person with a legal interest in a proceeding – civil or criminal – must be accorded the right to be heard under the law.

(Mike Frisch)