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November 26, 2004
Cop-Shooter Faces Trial
PBA: Blackburne Isn’t Fit to Judge
By Mark Daly and Richard Steier
A day after Queens Supreme Court Justice Laura Blackburne’s
dismissal of charges against a man accused of shooting a cop was
overturned on appeal, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President
Patrick J. Lynch Nov. 17 called for her removal from the bench.
Mr. Lynch who was joined in that demand by the wounded officer,
David Gonzalez, said Ms. Blackburne’s decision to throw out
the charges against William Hodges for failure to try him in a timely
manner was part of “a consistent pattern of bad decisions…throughout
her public career. Judge Blackburne should be removed from the bench
and never be permitted to sit in judgment of serious cases again.”
A spokeswoman for Justice Blackburne said she would have no comment
on Mr. Lynch’s statements.
DEA: She’s Biased
The Detectives’ Endowment Association also called for Ms.
Blackburne’s ouster last week. “This will help show
she is just a biased judge who doesn’t belong on the bench,”
said DEA Vice President Victor Cipullo.
Mr. Hodges is accused of the 1999 shooting of Mr. Gonzalez, who
has since been promoted to Detective, after he grabbed his gun during
a struggle in the hallway of a building in Jamaica. Two years ago,
Justice Blackburne dismissed the charges on the grounds that the
Queens District Attorney’s Office failed to go to trial against
him within 182 days of its having brought the attempted murder charges.
The DA’s Office quarreled with the timetable she used and
appealed the case. A four-person panel from the Appellate Division,
Second Department last week ruled that in fact there was no violation
of the speedy trial doctrine.
Delays Defense’s Fault
Three of the justices – Nancy E. Smith, Howard Miller and
Daniel F. Luciano – stated in a joint opinion that the judicial
clock should have been stopped for the period in which city attorneys
on behalf of the Queens DA appealed an early ruling by Justice Blackburne
allowing Mr. Hodges to obtain the files of the NYPD and the Civilian
Complaint Review Board. He claimed those records would bolster his
defense that Officer Gonzalez shot himself during the struggle.
The fourth judge, Sondra Miller, said that this proceeding should
not have prevented the city from going to trial while its appeal
was being considered. But she also found Justice Blackburne had
improperly faulted the city for 48 days worth of delays out of a
226-day period, including lengthy stretches in which either the
defense consented to an adjournment or the adjournment was granted
to accommodate the defense.
The appellate panel overturned Justice Blackburne’s order
and remanded the case back to her for trial. The judge, however,
has been stripped of her normal trial duties pending an investigation
of her conduct five months ago in allowing a criminal defendant
in another case to exit the courthouse using her private chambers
to avoid questioning by a Detective probing an unrelated incident.
She is currently assigned to Civil Court pending the findings of
the state Commission on Judicial Conduct.
Queens DA Richard A. Brown said in a statement that the appeals
court ruling “corrects what would have otherwise been a gross
miscarriage of justice.”
Mr. Hodges is in jail, serving the final eight months of a one-year
sentence for assaulting another officer. He bit the leg of a police
officer.
Detective Gonzalez still walks with a limp as a result of the gunshot
wound. In February, he won a $1 million civil judgment against Mr.
Hodges after his accused assailant failed to appear for a bench
trial.
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