Judicial Reports: LexPress: Now Hear This

By Jesse Sunenblick
jsunenblick@judicialstudies.com
Posted: 03-11-08

The administrative judge presiding over the relicensing hearing of Indian Point nuclear power plant threatens to boot court watchers who complained about the lack of microphones. In other news, the Commission on Judicial Conduct sanctions a Brookfield town justice.

CAN'T HEAR? SORRY, BUB 
The administrative judge chairing a three-judge panel over the relicensing of the Indian Point nuclear power plant had an odd response to members of the public who complained about not being able to hear any of the testimony due to the lack of microphones: Pipe down or be escorted out of the courtroom. Newsday has the story. Judge Lawrence McDade refused requests to add microphones or compel representatives from Westchester County, the state, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or plant owner, Entergy Nuclear, to approach a podium to deliver their testimony. The purpose of the hearing is to determine which issues raised by critics can be included in the official relicensing hearing. Some testimony that could be heard included the opening statement of deputy state attorney general Mylan Denerstein, who mentioned several of Indian Point’s recent problems including radioactive water leaks, steam tube ruptures, and a transformer explosion. “The threat of an intentional or accidental release is made uniquely unacceptable because of the number of people put at risk,” she said, indicating the proximity of the plant to New York City.

DUE PROCESS, DUE SHMOCESS
The Commission on Judicial Conduct has admonished Brookfield Town Court Justice David Ray for finding a couple guilty in a building code violation case without letting them come to court and defend themselves. (An admonishment is the lowest sanction the commission doles out.) As reported by The North Country Gazette, Ray imposed two separate fines on the couple for leaving tires uncovered on their property. “Respondent’s handling of a code violation case reveals a misunderstanding of basic legal procedures,” the commission wrote.  “Without a trial or guilty plea, he convicted the defendants and imposed two consecutive fines and a one-year conditional discharge based on unsubstantiated ex parte information from the code enforcement officer. Such conduct violates well-established ethical standards and warrants discipline,”

"I DON'T KNOW NOTHIN' ABOUT NOTHIN'"
Finally, The Albany Times Union reports on conclusion of a high profile murder trial, in which 18-year-old Dushan “Lil’ Du” Wilson was acquitted in the shooting death of a man outside an Albany-area bar in 2006. The case against Wilson — two years in the making — had been billed as an episode of gang retribution, but early on presiding judge Thomas A. Breslin barred all talk of gangs from the trial. The trial came down to a single witness, a friend of Wilson who testified that she drove him to the bar that night and watched him shoot Elleek Williams. She also said the shooting was retribution for Wilson's own shooting months earlier. “The justice system failed,” said Williams’ mother, Allison Banks, now a member of Albany’s Gun Violence Task Force and the co-leader of the Albany-area chapter of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. She cited the fearful and vague testimony of a crucial prosecution witness, Melvin “Boulder” Campbell, as evidence of a case gone awry: Campbell testified he never saw the gunman’s face that night, saying, “I don't know nothin’ about nothin.’”

Posted by Jesse on March 11, 2008 09:27 AM to Judicial Reports