Animal Court

A Rotterdam town court justice has resigned and agreed to not hold future judicial office after being formally charged with misconduct by the New York Commission on Judicial Conduct.

Allegations are that he

Made various improper remarks despite having been counseled by supervising and administrative judges, for

 Referring to litigants appearing before him as “animals” during a meeting with town officials, and

Sarcastically saying it was “questionable” or “debatable” that a particular Assistant Public Defender was actually an attorney;

Conveyed the impression he was not being faithful to the law or considering cases on their individual merits, in that he:

Insisted on imposing a consecutive jail sentence for a defendant who had cases pending in neighboring counties because, “I don’t run things concurrent out of this Court because when you commit a crime in Rotterdam, you do the time for Rotterdam,”

Assumed without basis that a defendant charged with cell phone theft had a drug problem, and insisted on ordering a drug evaluation before granting an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal (ACD),

Denigrated a prosecutor’s recommendation of an ACD, $50 restitution and community service in a Petit Larceny case as “not even really worth writing the paperwork up,” and

Set bail without considering the required factors, which resulted in a defendant being held in county jail for six days until the judge’s bail determination was overturned by a higher court;

Said that a public defender who believed the judge imposed excessive jail sentences actually did not have “faith” in this client; and

Failed to mechanically record a proceeding as required.

(Mike Frisch)