Catskills Performance Draws Judicial Censure

A censure has been imposed by the New York Commission on Judicial Conduct of a non-lawyer Town Court Justice

Charge I of the Complaint alleged that on April 17, 2019, in connection with Romelus v. Kennedy, a small claims matter in the Catskill Village Court in which respondent’s wife was the named defendant, respondent lent the prestige of his judicial office to advance his and his wife’s private financial interests, in that he appeared in court and, although he is not a lawyer, acted as his wife’s advocate and asserted his judicial office during the proceeding.

Romelus had filed a small claim against the spouse in Respondent’s court over payments on a pre-lease agreement; he recused himself from the matter.

The case was moved to the Catskills and he – not a lawyer – represented her

After respondent’s cross-examination of Mrs. Romelus, he continued to advocate for his wife by presenting her case and offering what he described as his own “testimony” about his wife’s interactions with the Romeluses, notwithstanding that he was neither present for nor a witness to all of those interactions. In describing the decision not to rent the property to the Romeluses, respondent claimed it was also his decision, stating, “At this point, we refused to deal with them and terminated the agreement with them.”

During the proceeding, respondent gratuitously asserted his judicial office by stating, “Your Honor, I’ll state that to the court that it’s no secret I’m a judge in another locality, and prior to that, I was a state trooper for 30 years.” Respondent further asserted his judicial status and cast irrelevant aspersions on Mr. Romelus, by stating that “he showed up at my court, and he threated [sic] my court clerk . . .” who “called for assistance from my other judge . . ..” Respondent thereafter made two references to “my court” during his narrative.

They lost

Respondent and his wife paid the $3,000 judgment on June 13, 2022, proof of which respondent provided and is annexed as Exhibit E to the Agreed Statement. Mrs. Romelus has confirmed receipt of the judgment.

As Henny Youngman famously remarked “Take my wife…please” (Mike Frisch)