Occupy Albany arrest case flares up in court

[NeoConsSuck]

Source: TimesUnion

A City Court judge threatened to hold District Attorney David Soares' top assistant in contempt Friday after the prosecutor said his office would not pursue a case against four Occupy Albany protesters.

The back-and-forth between Judge William Carter and Chief Assistant District Attorney David Rossi is the latest flare-up stemming from Soares' decision not to prosecute protesters who camped on parkland across from the state Capitol for several months in 2011.

In this case, four defendants are charged with disorderly conduct for their actions on June 13, 2012, during a Occupy Albany march on Lark Street. It was one of several weekly marches at the time by protesters. One of the men also is charged with resisting arrest, a misdemeanor.

That Rossi, a highly respected prosecutor with several high-profile murder convictions, appeared in City Court for such a minor case exemplifies the importance Soares has placed on the issue. Soares previously refused to prosecute more than 100 Occupy Albany protestors accused of trespassing, calling them peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights.




Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Occupy-Albany-arrest-case-flares-up-in-court-4546494.php

[premium]

1. We need more prosecutors like David Soares,

he seems to be a man of integrity, he recognizes that citizens do have a first amendment right to voice their grievances through peaceful means.
I hope he sticks to his guns and doesn't give in to pressure from this judge.

[mountain grammy]

2. What's up with this judge?

[DCKit]

3. Just following orders... like any good soldier.

Think of what occupy threatens, and those corporations are his paymasters.

[Dustlawyer]

4. I am sure there not paying him anything. Some Judges like to give lawyers crap for anything

they don't like. This Judge is a right winger and pissed because he cannot make the prosecutor prosecute these folks. It's one of only a VERY FEW things a Judge has no power over in his Courtroom. Federal Judges usually think they are God so this had to drive him bat shit! I personally LOVE IT!!!

[zbdent]

6. The judge knows who "put" him on the bench ...

he may not get direct checks now ... but probably has some of the "victims" of the Occupy movement to thank for his position and the cash to achieve it ...

[Dustlawyer]

8. If he is an elected Judge I agree with you! Some are appointed, some elected. Those appointed

are usually Republican. They have stacked the deck since Reagan, and Democratic politicians let them. Under Clinton and now Obama, they hold up the nominations until a Republican is in office. That is why most of the higher courts are almost all Republican. We hired a Texas Supreme Court Justice this year fresh off of the Bench b/c the Judge in the BP oil spill case appears to have been bought off and we have to appeal almost every ruling. Having a well known conservative Justice arguing on behalf of our clients will hopefully help. The Texas Supreme Court, as you might expect, rules in favor of corporations 87% of the time!

[former9thward]

9. This is not a federal judge.

A city court judge.

[Champy]

16. The judge is a Dem!

Last edited Mon May 27, 2013, 06:06 PM - Edit history (6)

This is not partisan. If there are orders being followed, they came from Governor Cuomo's office. Cuomo wanted the OWS protestors prosecuted from the start (to impress the right?). Soares declined, saying he had more important crimes to prosecute. Cuomo and Soares have not liked each other since they came down on different sides of the "TrooperGate" issue involving Eliot Spitzer.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/11/12/cuomo-occupy-showdown-possible-over-park-curfew/

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2011/11/cuomo-supports-bloombergs-ows-action

One person he's obviously not happy with is Albany County District Attorney David Soares, who has said he will not prosecute protestors that Cuomo ordered be arrested by state police for trespassing on a state park outside the Capitol.

He called Soares stance "less than ideal" but refused to say whether he will seek--or even legally can order--a special prosecutor to handle the cases.

"It's less than an ideal situation, but at this time, we'll just continue to monitor it," Cuomo said."

http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/More-of-the-same-from-Cuomo-3780369.php

In a sloppy three-week rush to judgment and race for press primacy over competing investigations being conducted by Albany County District Attorney David Soares and then-Inspector General Kris Hamann, Cuomo's Troopergate report superficially addressed the Spitzer administration's sins and ignored and whitewashed Bruno's blatant misuse of the state fleet.

[hrmjustin]

17. Welcome to DU my friend!l

[pacalo]

12. I think this is the key...

"Mr. Rossi, I can't remember a time — ever — where the Albany County District Attorney's Office has ever done that," said Carter, who once held Rossi's position under former District Attorney Paul Clyne, who Soares defeated in a 2004 Democratic primary. "Is there something special about these proceedings where you feel that is an appropriate thing for the district attorney's office to do?"

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Occupy-Albany-arrest-case-flares-up-in-court-4546494.php#ixzz2UNk3tTGQ

[DeadLetterOffice]

13. Well, mostly it's that he's pretty much of an asshole...

During a November 2004 hearing in an Albany courtroom Judge William A. Carter of Albany County, N.Y., allegedly removed his glasses, threw off his robe and approached an agitated pro se defendant, saying, "You want a piece of me?"

New York's 10-member Commission on Judicial Conduct promptly censured Carter. The commission's counsel had recommended the judge's removal from the bench, and two dissenting members agreed. But the commission found suspension too severe and instead censured the judge.

Four months later, an Albany police officer complained that Carter failed to address a defendant's obscene gesture in the courtroom. Carter reportedly replied, "If you are so upset about it, why don’t you just thump the shit [out] of him outside the courthouse because I am not going to do anything about it."

These comments, the Commission found, were "antithetical to a judge's obligation to be 'patient, dignified and courteous' to litigants and others and to observe and maintain appropriate standards of decorum." The Commission then urged the state Legislature to change the law and allow suspension of a judge as a possible sanction, because: "Were suspension available to us, we would impose it in this case to reflect the severity with which we view respondent’s conduct. Absent that alternative, we have concluded that a censure should be imposed."

[Downwinder]

5. Occupy still exposing chinks in the system.

Last edited Sat May 25, 2013, 09:50 AM - Edit history (1)

Not what I would call an impartial judge. Should ex-prosecutors be judges?

[Poll_Blind]

7. That's a pretty astounding thing for a judge to do.

A DA has a lot of control about what gets prosecuted and what doesn't. I'm not sure if I've ever heard of a thing except maybe in the rarest cases. I call bullshit on the judge. Judge probably has power to do it, but that's not really how the judicial system works. DA's frequently don't bring cases they don't think they can win, don't want to budget for or for all other kinds of reasons.

PB

[snot]

10. Bizarre. Hope to see more on the whatever legal basis the judge thinks he has for objecting,

or confirming there's none.

[Dr. Strange]

11. It sounds like a screw-up on Soares' part.(?)

Soares declined to prosecute the four latest defendants last year, prompting their attorneys to ask Carter to toss the case. In a Nov. 26 decision, Carter said no. He noted Soares' office initially did try to prosecute the case — and even superseded the charges, which put the case in the judge's jurisdiction. He said the state Court of Appeals has determined a trial court has no authority to dismiss a case for a prosecutor's failure to prosecute.

It sounds like Soares' original decision to pursue charges put the case before this judge, and now that they want to back out, the judge isn't too happy.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

14. Judge William Carter lacks such power and has been censored before for unprofessional conduct.

His history indicates that there are times when he is more like a street thug who applies his own rules than a learned member of the bench who follows the law.

As reported by the ABA, for example, during a November 2004 hearing in an Albany courtroom he invited a fistfight:

"Judge William A. Carter of Albany County, N.Y., allegedly removed his glasses, threw off his robe and approached an agitated pro se defendant, saying, "You want a piece of me?"

He has his own views as to how his courtroom should be run and what remedies should be applied.

Another "incident came four months later, when an Albany police officer complained that Carter failed to address a defendant's obscene gesture in the courtroom. Carter reportedly replied, "If you are so upset about it, why don’t you just thump the shit {out} of him outside the courthouse because I am not going to do anything about it."

http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2006/10/judge_you_want_.html

No one can accuse him of being a model for how a judge should conduct himself. But when New York's 10-member Commission on Judicial Conduct investigated the incidents, the commission's counsel recommended the judge's removal from the bench along with two members of the Commission. They merely censured him.

His threats to hold the prosecutor in contempt are rude but otherwise generally meaningless. No appellate court would uphold him on the issue.

[Sunlei]

15. grumpie judges upset over thousand of jury trials. Everyone will demand their right to a jury trial

The protesters were within their rights and should not have been arrested or charged with crimes.

The DA knows this, looks like the Judge wants thousands of jury trials where in the end the citizens will get off anyway. Then the citizens can sue the city.