New York State Judge Sacked

By a 9 to 1 vote, the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct recently removed Judge Robert Restaino from his position as a judge of the Niagara Falls City Court. According to the commission:

“In an egregious and unprecedented abuse of judicial power, respondent committed 46 defendants into police custody in a bizarre, unsuccessful effort to discover the owner of a ringing cell phone in the courtroom. In doing so, he inexplicably persisted in his conduct over some two hours, questioning the defendants individually about the phone before committing them into custody, and ignoring the pleas of numerous defendants who protested that his conduct was unfair and pleaded that he reconsider. Respondent’s conduct, which resulted in the unjustified detention of the defendants for several hours and the incarceration of 14 defendants in the County Jail, caused irreparable damage to public confidence in the fair and proper administration of justice in his court.”

The commission’s decision is dated November 13, 2007, but the press is only now reporting the story.  The commission’s decision, which includes both a concurrence and a dissent, is here.

Comments

[Supremacy Claus]

Is "snapping out" a legal defense? Raoul Felder wrote the lone dissent invoking it. Defense attorneys for future hostage takers should consider the "rough day" defense.

Didn't Felder have problems from a book he wrote?

http://www.scjc.state.ny.us/Policy%20Statements/cjcnoconstatement.pdf