Judge accused of bedding Asst. Distric Attorney (Queens, NY)

[Ian David]

Judge accused of bedding ADA
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER


The explosive allegation, which already has come to the attention of the state Commission on Judicial Conduct, could lead to a new trial for a convicted murderer, a prominent defense attorney said yesterday.

"A judge is required to be a neutral arbiter, not a secret, second prosecutor helping to convict the defendant," said defense lawyer Ronald Kuby.

Kuby filed court papers claiming state Supreme Court Justice Jaime Rios, 59, had an "improper sexual relationship" with an assistant district attorney that led the judge to help prosecutors win a second conviction against accused killer Tyrone Johnson in 2003.

<snip>

But Kuby claims that Rios' relationship with Lutsky and the Queens district attorney's office stacked the deck against Johnson, whose initial conviction for killing the owner of an after-hours club was overturned in 2002.

More:
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/366209p-311681c.html

[Burried News]

1. It's all just one big Chicago - and all that jazz. nt

[MnFats]

2. few years ago, in Mpls., there was a HUGE scandal...

...regarding a City Hall 'insider' who was fixing traffic tickets for his friends.
People from Chicago were like, "What's wrong with that F'Chrissakes?'
it was pretty funny. the guy went to jail, as I recall.

[MADem]

3. Is that "THE" Kuby???

The one who defended Sheikh Omar?? He, of ponytailed lawyer fame? I'll bet he wins this one in a walk. Salient points:

Rios' relationship with then-Assistant District Attorney Meryl Lutsky was first alleged in a complaint filed last year with the Commission on Judicial Conduct by Judith Memblatt, the judge's former legal assistant.

Memblatt, 47, who was fired by Rios in 2004, followed up the complaint to the commission with a wrongful termination lawsuit in Brooklyn Federal Court that makes the same charges.

In the disciplinary case, Memblatt said the affair dated back to 1996. She added Lutsky "clearly implied to me that they did have a sexual relationship."


and it gets better.....
According to Kuby, Rios and prosecutor Eugene Reibstein met in the judge's chambers where he coached the assistant by "suggest ways that the case against Mr. Johnson should be improved."