The Prestige
The New York Commission on Judicial Conduct has admonished a judge
Respondent has been a Judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York since 2011 and an Acting Justice of the Supreme Court, pt Judicial District, New York County, since 2015, having also served as an Acting Judge of the Family Court, Kings County, from 2011 to 2015. Her term expires on December 31, 2020. She was admitted to the practice of law in New York in 2000.
She had worked as a court officer for a number of years before assuming the bench.
Count One
in late May or early June 2013 respondent lent the prestige of her judicial office to advance the private interests of another by invoking her judicial title and judicial position in a letter she wrote on behalf of her childhood babysitter, L. S., to be filed in a court other than her own in connection with an application for relief that Ms. S. was making in that other court.
Court One
In the fall of 2014, as set forth below, respondent lent the prestige of her judicial office to advance the private interests of another by invoking her judicial title and judicial position in affirmations she wrote on behalf of her son, Michael Tineo, to be filed in the Appellate Division in connection with his criminal case.
Michael Tineo is respondent’s adult son.
On November 26, 2004, Mr. Tineo was arrested in Suffolk County.
He was subsequently charged with serious crimes.
Respondent was deeply upset by the situation as a parent.
At the time of Mr. Tineo’s arrest, respondent was employed as a court attorney for a judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York. She telephoned the Suffolk County Police Department in Yaphank and identified herself as an attorney, with the intent of representing Mr. Tineo. At a subsequent suppression hearing in 2005 in County Court, Suffolk County, the court held that respondent was not eligible to represent Mr. Tineo because of her employment status as a court attorney.
After the son was incarcerated
In the affirmation, which is attached as Exhibit 2 to the Agreed Statement of Facts, respondent inter alia identified herself as a judge, set forth a series of facts regarding her attempt to represent her son at the time of his arrest and asked the Court to “grant the relief sought.” Although she did not specify the “relief sought” in the body of her affirmation, it is evident from the affirmation’s title, and respondent hereby acknowledges, that by “relief sought” she meant the court should grant her son’s petition for habeas corpus.
The judge was contrite and cooperative but
On two occasions respondent lent the prestige of her judicial office to advance the private interests of another by invoking her judicial title and position, first in a letter on behalf of a family friend to be filed in connection with a motion to vacate the friend’s conviction, and subsequently in two affirmations on behalf of her son to be filed in connection with his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Such conduct is inconsistent with well-established ethical standards…
Respondent’s letter on judicial stationery in support of her friend and former caregiver, which was filed in connection with the friend’s motion to vacate a nine year old misdemeanor conviction, is a classic “character letter,” providing unqualified support for her friend bolstered by the clout of her judicial status. Describing her friend as “part of my family,” referring to her presence at family functions and in family photos, and providing details of their close relationship over several decades and their past and present contacts, respondent’s letter makes no reference to the pending motion, her friend’s conviction or the facts underlying her case, but its purpose is crystal clear: to influence the judge who would consider the motion to give it favorable consideration. When asked by the friend’s lawyer to provide such a letter, respondent should have considered that she was likely asked to write, at least in part, because the prestige of her office would give particular clout to a letter of support, and it could be inferred that shecooperated in that effort by using her judicial stationery and by making gratuitous references in the letter to her judicial status (e.g., noting that her friend had been invited to but could not attend her swearing-in ceremony). As the record indicates, respondent wrote the letter nearly two weeks after being asked to do so by her friend’s lawyer, giving her ample time to consider the request, research the subject and consider the ethical implications.
(Mike Frisch)