01-23-2002, 02:47 PM
Quote:B'klyn Judge Arrested
Jurist charged with
taking 250G bribe to fix case
veteran Brooklyn judge was charged with bribery yesterday after allegedly taking as much as $250,000 from a lawyer to fix a case, according to law enforcement authorities.
State Supreme Court Justice Victor Barron was arrested one block from his Marine Park home shortly after 6 a.m. by investigators from the office of Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes.
State Supreme Court Justice Victor Barron is taken into custody yesterday.
Barron, 60, was suspended — with pay — by the state Court of Appeals as prosecutors began combing through other cases handled by the judge, who presided over several thousand pending civil cases.
The arrest was the first of a sitting state Supreme Court justice in the city since 1987, according to the state Commission on Judicial Conduct.
But it is the latest of a spate of corruption allegations involving the judiciary in Brooklyn, where judges have been tied to a patronage scandal and other acts of alleged wrongdoing.
Released Without Bail
A somber-looking Barron entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment last night before Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Martin Karopkin, who released him without bail. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years behind bars.
Afterward, Barron, who earns $113,000 a year, refused to discuss the case. His defense lawyer, Barry Kamins, also declined to comment.
At the arraignment, prosecutor Michael Vecchione filed a criminal complaint that said Barron had demanded the bribe on consecutive days last June inside the state courthouse at 15 Willoughby St. In return, he promised to issue an order relating to a pending civil case, which sources said involved a seven-figure settlement.
Law enforcement sources said the bribe demand was made to a personal injury lawyer who later reported the incident to authorities. The lawyer, who was not identified, was fitted with a wire and recorded a meeting last Friday in the judge's chambers when the "six-figure" bribe was paid, the sources said.
In the complaint, Hynes' chief investigator, George Terra, said that after taking the payment, Barron blurted: "The money was worth it to have the civil matter resolved." Hynes' office declined to identify the personal injury lawyer or describe the nature of the civil case. The complaint did not specify the amount of the bribe except to say it was more than $10,000.
David Bookstaver, a spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration, announced the judge's suspension, but declined to comment further. After arresting Barron, investigators went to the judge's home, a red brick two-family house on E. 36th St., to conduct a search.
"They came in and went over my home with a fine-toothed comb. They found nothing," said Barron's wife Joy, 71, as she stood red-eyed at her front door. "They went over the car, over everything they could go over. Nothing."
"It never happened, it's not true," she said of the bribe allegation. "He has more integrity than any 10 people, and anybody that knows him knows that."
Could Face Removal
Barron, a Democrat, was named a Civil Court judge in 1987 and elected to Supreme Court in 1999. In recent years, he has presided over a court part that reviews all noncity civil cases, trying to settle them before sending them out for trial.
Even if acquitted, Barron could still face removal by the Commission on Judicial Conduct.
The Brooklyn legal community seemed shock by the news of his arrest. "He's a fine judge. I am flabbergasted," said Edward Reich, a lawyer for 40 years who said he knows Barron well. "He has always been held in the highest esteem. The guy is squeaky clean."
I so love happy stories like this. I just want to know how the fuck he still gets paid while he is suspended. That is such a load of dogshit. Don't pay this fucker, damn it! If he is guilty, well, he obviously has enough money at this point. If not, tough shit on him, he should have charged more. And if he is inocent, well, give him the back pay and tell him to be happy he wasn't celled up with some ass fucker who he senteced. Take him for a beer and a cigar and have a great laugh about the irony of the whole thing, but suspended with pay?
Yeah, we all get that sometimes. We, working people like to call this vacation! :running at mouth: :running at mouth: