NYLJ 06-06-2007
1. EX-JUDGE GETS 3 TO 10 YEARS FOR BRIBERY, TAKING FAVORS
[This is one I never seem to get tired of (see entry for February 13, 2010). Perhaps it may strike some as schadefreude, but is actually the sweetness of Justice relaized in the material world. It happens not often, and is rarely poetic, but is still a marvel to witness.]
1. The ongoing saga of corruption in Brooklyn’s court system is sordid, tawdry and a prime example of how machine politics still works; an eternal weed rooted in the soil of man’s nature, festering and spreading underground, only know when it raises its scandal as a flower of evil, one that no amount of pesticides of regulation will ever…
Yeah, a day at the vegetable patch turns into an election-year stump speech.
When Justice Garson was sentenced to 3-to-10 for bribery, receiving rewards and official misconduct, it was at the end of a classic “Law & Order” episode which swung between the detectives and the ADAs like some tennis volley in Hell. It began with an investigation into alleged sales of Democratic nominations for local office. That led to Clarence Norman, then Dem Party leader and assemblyman. In the four years since, one of the odd fruits of their labors was uncovering a link between Norman and a divorce attorney who was turned, wired, and eventually burned Garson, getting him to offer ex parte advice on how to frame his brief, guaranteeing him a win in the case before him.
What was revealed was the rather banal and meager nature of the Judge’s slide. He was convicted of providing the aforementioned advice for accepting free meals and drinks, giving court assignments and even “free range of the judge’s robbing room.” Exactly how plum that is may be open to question, but not without substantial value to the 100+ protesters and women’s groups who showed up at sentencing. They were there to express their outrage over this as an expression of the “old boy’s club” still being in full force and to offer support to the woman whose rigged trial proved to be Garson’s Waterloo.
How dearly were these favors were sold? The most money that changed hands was $1,000, for two referral fees. In this light, the fall from grace appears to be worse for being so cheap. Perhaps this is what galled the Judge’s Judge so much. It must have been obvious that Garson’s drinking problem was a factor; the defense offering a major mitigation, the State a minor one. In any case, the plea also considered his bladder cancer and heart problems…but not very much. While the Court felt these circumstances would have made him a “slam dunk” for probation, for any other defendant, this one couldn’t go there.
“A judge must be the Lone Ranger, “ and, “as pure as snow,” said the sentencing judge. However, whatever sympathy Garson might’ve had evaporated as he’d already spurned a plea deal that would’ve capped his prison time at 16 months. After that, the test of the empathy goes out from this Bench to the other robes, “and especially the Judges of Brooklyn.”
Showing posts with label Bribery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bribery. Show all posts
Monday, April 5, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
DA SAYS NORMAN, GARSON HOLD KEYS TO JUDGE PROBE
NYLJ 4/23/07
2. DA SAYS NORMAN, GARSON HOLD KEYS TO JUDGE PROBE
[This preface may sound like an episode of "The Wire" that got away, but it isn't fiction--at all. (The reason it is more comprehensive than the excerpt is that this is written in retrospect. As much as I prefer letting the abstracts speak for themselves, however brief or long they may get, this one deserves a tiny recap on its own. And that it is longer than the abstract just proves the essential message of this blog -- there are a million stories in the New York legal system, and twice that many in the appeals process.)
It involves the Brooklyn Democratic Party, the largest machine east of Chicago, and possibly its only equal remaining in America, and how its patronage system still resembles something out of Louis XIV. And considering it is the courts at issue, it seems uncannily appropriate that what is for sale are judicial appointments in the County of Kings. And what august personage could dictate these imperial fiats? A State Assembly leader for 23 years, at best, but merely, mostly, nothing more than the Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Clarence Norman. That he would later go down on charges of extortion, solicitation of illegal contributions and theft of $5,000 from his re-election committee may be less than he deserved, but they were lucky to get that.
The reason? The other actor in this drama was one of those judges. He presided over matrimonial: apportioning alimony, child custody, and support payments. Some might have wondered at his decisions, but the only ones who knew for sure were the lawyers who bought them. It got to the point where bribes were offered to the calendar clerk to get their cases before him. Those in the know would pimp his services to other sleazeball attorneys who knew which butter was on the side of the bread.
After five years of following these rumors, to sweated confessions, leveraged revelations leading to full investigations with wiretaps and video plants, watching ex-parte discussions and cash and cigars, the final straw was enough to break the back of Judge Gerald P. Garson and earn him a 10-year bid, doing a minimum of three. Not to mention all those sad and tortured parents who got a bad call from a bad man rapping on the door of his attorney with Civil suits.
But all this is getting ahead of ourselves, by at least two months. The scene today is but a whisp of the whole. And so, we adjourn for a bit of whimsy which might have occurred previous to the Oyer Terminus...]
2. “The sword of justice cuts both ways” was what the Jimmy Stewart character said to the parole board in “Calling Northside 777”. “It protects Wanda Skutnik’s lies but keeps cutting the ground from under Frank Wieczek,” who was imprisoned by false testimony whose only virtue is that it is on the record as accepted by a court and jury.
In this case, the way it is held over an ex-judge—in the form of a maximum sentence or an unconditional discharge in the event of concurrent sentences—it gets invoked by defense counsel as being used as “a sword to extract information,” isn’t really accurate. More like a knife at your throat. The DA liked that one, but it wasn't quite...there, if you know what i mean. So he went with the default setting; lay it on the line. “Tell me what you know about Borough corruption, bribery and the sale of Judgeships and maybe you’ll see some sunshine before you kick the bucket. Hold back and…need I say more?
“No? Then you should.
"See, this is how it works. That’s the reason we had you wearing the wire for a month. And no, we don’t know who tipped the dailies you were doing it. The deal was you’d get Winesburg talking and we’d crack his operation. You may say he blew it, or maybe one of his boys, but the fact is it was your chance and you blew it. You didn’t want to spill on your own past—hey—that’s your problem. Do you really think we’ll let you go in the appeals process? C’mon.
"So why don’t we put the screws to the party’s county chairman? Because he was better at covering his tracks than you!
"You know, the way your counsel put it—about the sword—it just hit me, he prefaced that with the premise that “a sentence is supposed to be individualized, it’s supposed to fit the crime.” Whaddaya know—it’s “The Mikado”! That’s the song of the Lord High Executioner! Pretty funny, huh?"
06/21/07
And the hits just keep on comin'!
GARSON LOSES BID TO DELAY PRISON TERM DURING APPEAL
Today is a sum-up of the proceeding proceedings, including ancillary fallout. This includes thre other defendants who pled out or were convicted: the court officer who steered case to Garson, an Israeli businessman who acted as his tout/pimp, natch, but also the client of the atty who snitched (ahem--"turned state's evidence" or "cooperated") for making the bribe which led to the revelation. The atty himself? He cops a plea to a single misdemeanor count of giving unlawful gratuities and gets a recommendation of no jail time.
On the bright side, the Brooklyn boss who turned the judiciary into a pay-for-play system, Norman, got a stay pending appeal for 18 months until the 2nd Dept. affirmed his first two convictions. Meanwhile, Garson himself could have made his own deal to cap his prison time at 16 months, but thought he'd get a better decision than the full count and three consecutive sentences. (In what world?) At 74, with bladder cancer, his atty is "concerned about his medical condition." Not to be cruel about it, but was that from all the free meals and drinks he got, on top of the $250 box of Dominican cigars? Oh yes, and also "severe alcoholism." Unfortunately, the Joint is a great place to dry out.
This is NOT in the four-paragraph order from the AppDiv 2nd Dept., but it might as well be. Curious point is differences in their appeals: the former raised numerous trial issues (like immunity handed out like party favors) while the latter goes back to pretrial issues that were already litigated.
The other thing is the understandable (well-nigh justifiable) and righteous anger from his fellow justices. Enough have refused to write letters requesting leniency to put to rest any idea that there is a "long blue line" among black robes. Figure, as well, that tapes of him in his robing room saying, "One of the great things about this job is that I don't know what the fuck I have tomorrow until I get here and I don't give a shit either."
MAkes you proud to be a Marine.
2. DA SAYS NORMAN, GARSON HOLD KEYS TO JUDGE PROBE
[This preface may sound like an episode of "The Wire" that got away, but it isn't fiction--at all. (The reason it is more comprehensive than the excerpt is that this is written in retrospect. As much as I prefer letting the abstracts speak for themselves, however brief or long they may get, this one deserves a tiny recap on its own. And that it is longer than the abstract just proves the essential message of this blog -- there are a million stories in the New York legal system, and twice that many in the appeals process.)
It involves the Brooklyn Democratic Party, the largest machine east of Chicago, and possibly its only equal remaining in America, and how its patronage system still resembles something out of Louis XIV. And considering it is the courts at issue, it seems uncannily appropriate that what is for sale are judicial appointments in the County of Kings. And what august personage could dictate these imperial fiats? A State Assembly leader for 23 years, at best, but merely, mostly, nothing more than the Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Clarence Norman. That he would later go down on charges of extortion, solicitation of illegal contributions and theft of $5,000 from his re-election committee may be less than he deserved, but they were lucky to get that.
The reason? The other actor in this drama was one of those judges. He presided over matrimonial: apportioning alimony, child custody, and support payments. Some might have wondered at his decisions, but the only ones who knew for sure were the lawyers who bought them. It got to the point where bribes were offered to the calendar clerk to get their cases before him. Those in the know would pimp his services to other sleazeball attorneys who knew which butter was on the side of the bread.
After five years of following these rumors, to sweated confessions, leveraged revelations leading to full investigations with wiretaps and video plants, watching ex-parte discussions and cash and cigars, the final straw was enough to break the back of Judge Gerald P. Garson and earn him a 10-year bid, doing a minimum of three. Not to mention all those sad and tortured parents who got a bad call from a bad man rapping on the door of his attorney with Civil suits.
But all this is getting ahead of ourselves, by at least two months. The scene today is but a whisp of the whole. And so, we adjourn for a bit of whimsy which might have occurred previous to the Oyer Terminus...]
2. “The sword of justice cuts both ways” was what the Jimmy Stewart character said to the parole board in “Calling Northside 777”. “It protects Wanda Skutnik’s lies but keeps cutting the ground from under Frank Wieczek,” who was imprisoned by false testimony whose only virtue is that it is on the record as accepted by a court and jury.
In this case, the way it is held over an ex-judge—in the form of a maximum sentence or an unconditional discharge in the event of concurrent sentences—it gets invoked by defense counsel as being used as “a sword to extract information,” isn’t really accurate. More like a knife at your throat. The DA liked that one, but it wasn't quite...there, if you know what i mean. So he went with the default setting; lay it on the line. “Tell me what you know about Borough corruption, bribery and the sale of Judgeships and maybe you’ll see some sunshine before you kick the bucket. Hold back and…need I say more?
“No? Then you should.
"See, this is how it works. That’s the reason we had you wearing the wire for a month. And no, we don’t know who tipped the dailies you were doing it. The deal was you’d get Winesburg talking and we’d crack his operation. You may say he blew it, or maybe one of his boys, but the fact is it was your chance and you blew it. You didn’t want to spill on your own past—hey—that’s your problem. Do you really think we’ll let you go in the appeals process? C’mon.
"So why don’t we put the screws to the party’s county chairman? Because he was better at covering his tracks than you!
"You know, the way your counsel put it—about the sword—it just hit me, he prefaced that with the premise that “a sentence is supposed to be individualized, it’s supposed to fit the crime.” Whaddaya know—it’s “The Mikado”! That’s the song of the Lord High Executioner! Pretty funny, huh?"
06/21/07
And the hits just keep on comin'!
GARSON LOSES BID TO DELAY PRISON TERM DURING APPEAL
Today is a sum-up of the proceeding proceedings, including ancillary fallout. This includes thre other defendants who pled out or were convicted: the court officer who steered case to Garson, an Israeli businessman who acted as his tout/pimp, natch, but also the client of the atty who snitched (ahem--"turned state's evidence" or "cooperated") for making the bribe which led to the revelation. The atty himself? He cops a plea to a single misdemeanor count of giving unlawful gratuities and gets a recommendation of no jail time.
On the bright side, the Brooklyn boss who turned the judiciary into a pay-for-play system, Norman, got a stay pending appeal for 18 months until the 2nd Dept. affirmed his first two convictions. Meanwhile, Garson himself could have made his own deal to cap his prison time at 16 months, but thought he'd get a better decision than the full count and three consecutive sentences. (In what world?) At 74, with bladder cancer, his atty is "concerned about his medical condition." Not to be cruel about it, but was that from all the free meals and drinks he got, on top of the $250 box of Dominican cigars? Oh yes, and also "severe alcoholism." Unfortunately, the Joint is a great place to dry out.
This is NOT in the four-paragraph order from the AppDiv 2nd Dept., but it might as well be. Curious point is differences in their appeals: the former raised numerous trial issues (like immunity handed out like party favors) while the latter goes back to pretrial issues that were already litigated.
The other thing is the understandable (well-nigh justifiable) and righteous anger from his fellow justices. Enough have refused to write letters requesting leniency to put to rest any idea that there is a "long blue line" among black robes. Figure, as well, that tapes of him in his robing room saying, "One of the great things about this job is that I don't know what the fuck I have tomorrow until I get here and I don't give a shit either."
MAkes you proud to be a Marine.
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