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Click on microphone at right to listen to "PBA Applauds Decision" by Rich Lamb |
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Queens Supreme Court Judge Laura Blackburne touched off a firestorm last year when it was learned that she had a suspect wanted for questioning in a robbery investigation taken out the back door of the courthouse by way of a private elevator used only by judges --- to help that suspect elude a detective who wanted to question him about the robbery.
Now, the state commission that investigates such charges against judges has recommended that Judge Blackburne be removed from the bench.
In a decision made last Friday, but that became public on Tuesday, the 11-member New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct voted overwhelmingly, with two dissenters, to recommend Judge Blackburne’s removal from the bench.
Noting her otherwise exemplary record of public service, the commission nonetheless wrote, “Her behavior…violated her duty as a judge to act in a manner that reflects respect for the law she is duty-bound to uphold…She placed herself above the law.”
Lawyer Stephen Coffey, one of the two dissenters, wrote, “The decision reached by the majority…is unprecedented and I believe unwarranted…For a single error of judgment…to result in removal from office is unduly harsh…in the ten years that I have served on this Commission, I cannot recall a single instance where we have voted to remove another judge who made a basic error in judgment…I do not find (Judge Blackburne) unfit…rather…I find her merely human.”
Judge Blackburne has 30 days to appeal, or accept the recommendation to step aside.
At the time of the backdoor incident, Judge Blackburne was hearing cases in Drug Treatment Court. And the suspect was to appear before her to see whether he was abiding by the conditions of his drug program. A court officer told the judge that a detective was outside her courtroom and wanted to question the man, Derek Sterling, about a robbery in Howard Beach.
Judge Blackburne believed that the “questioning” was a “ruse’ and that the detective intended to arrest Sterling. Without a warrant, she reasoned, Sterling would unfairly be trapped.
Over the objections of the court officer and an Assistant D.A. the judge ordered the court officer to take Sterling out the back. Police tracked him down the next day, and arrested him. Later, the charges would be dismissed.
But the damage had been done. The court officer wrote an “unusual occurrence report,” and by the time the Police Benevolent Association, the Court Officers Association, and the media got involved, the Office of Court Administration had to temporarily move Judge Blackburne from Criminal to Civil Court until their investigation was completed.
Before the backdoor incident, the PBA went head-to-head against Judge Blackburne, accusing her of “anti-cop bias,” when she used what they called a technicality --- a defendant’s right to a speedy trial --- to get charges dismissed against a suspect accused of shooting a cop. The PBA noted today that Judge Blackburne’s decision at the time was later overturned on appeal.
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