Village Court Justice Should Be Removed: Told Co-Judge To “Have A Stroke And Die”
A justice should be removed from office , according to the New York Commission on Judicial Conduct.
The village court justice also is an attorney.
One count involved his abuse of a student intern and others
On repeated occasions over several years, respondent abused his judicial position in order to bully, harass, threaten and intimidate his court staff, his co-judge and other village officials and employees with whom he dealt in an official capacity. Without lawful basis, he repeatedly threatened such individuals with contempt or arrest over routine personnel or administrative issues in his court. On a frequent basis, he also subjected them to demeaning treatment, insults and angry diatribes in response to perceived disrespect or shortcomings in the performance of their duties and, in one instance, exhibited a shocking display of physical aggression in the court clerk’s office. Such “a pattern of injudicious behavior and inappropriate actions … cannot be viewed as acceptable conduct by one holding judicial office” (Matter of VonderHeide, 72 NY2d
65 8, 660 [ 1988]) and warrants his removal from judicial office.
Epitomizing respondent’s misconduct is his response to the hiring of a college student to work in the court clerk’s office in the summer of 2012. In an incident that escalated into a melee, respondent, who was displeased because the student, Maxary Joseph, had been hired by the mayor without respondent’s input or approval, acted in a manner that failed to show “even a modicum of sensitivity or self-control so vital to the demands of his position” (Matter of Kuehnel, 49 NY2d 465, 469 [1980]) as he attempted to have the student removed from the premises, threatened him with arrest and contempt, and made similar threats against others who attempted to thwart respondent’s efforts to effectuate the arrest.
Initially, after ordering Mr. Joseph to leave the office and threatening him with arrest when he returned at the mayor’s direction, respondent called the police and told them he had held an individual in contempt (a statement respondent later admitted was untrue) and that he wanted him arrested for trespassing; he also told the police “the mayor may be next.” Then, with a commitment order in hand, he went to the police office in the municipal building, announced that he was sentencing an individual to jail for 15 days, and said he would hold the police in contempt unless they assisted him. He called the sheriffs office and said he wanted the matter investigated, summoned an offduty court officer to the court for assistance, and directed a court clerk to set up the recording equipment in the courtroom. When his co-judge attempted to intervene, respondent threatened him with contempt and told him to “have a stroke and die.” Respondent also ignored the pleas of the court clerks, who were shocked and frightened by respondent’s evident rage as he screamed at Mr. Joseph and, while standing next to the student’s desk, ordered him into the courtroom and began to advise him of his rights. In an alarming display of injudicious temperament, respondent grabbed Mr. Joseph’s arm and attempted to pull him out of his chair, yanking him with such force that the chair began to slide toward respondent. When police, who had rushed to the clerk’s office after hearing screaming and yelling, tried to calm the situation and suggested that respondent discuss his concerns about hiring with the mayor, he responded by referring to the mayor in profane, vulgar terms and added that he was contemplating holding her in contempt.
The commission noted that the behavior at issue was not an isolated instance.
The proposed removal now goes to the state Court of Appeals. (Mike Frisch)