By Deepti Hajela, The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) -- A state judge who helped a robbery suspect elude a detective accepted being reassigned to civil cases, a court official said.
Justice Laura Blackburne accepted the reassignment Monday pending the outcome of any possible investigation by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, courts spokesman David Bookstaver said.
Robert Tembeckjian, administrator of the state judicial conduct commission, said a complaint had been received and the commission planned to discuss the matter Thursday.
The controversy erupted last Thursday when Derek Sterling was appearing before Blackburne on drug charges, and a police detective notified the court he planned to arrest Sterling once the hearing ended.
While the detective waited in the hallway, Blackburne helped the suspect by having a court officer escort him out a rear door and to an elevator normally reserved for judges.
Blackburne, 66, indicated that the detective arrived without an arrest warrant, and she alleged he tried to set a trap by claiming he was there only to question Sterling. The suspect was caught about 12 hours later.
“I’m not trying to keep you from being arrested,” the judge told Sterling, according to a court transcript. “I’m trying to keep you from being arrested today in my courtroom based on obvious misrepresentations on the part of the detective.”
Police said it was common for detectives to arrest suspects when they appear in court for other cases and contended no warrant was necessary.
“I thought what she did was an outrage and she should be ashamed,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sunday. But he stressed it would be up to the courts and judicial conduct panel to decide the case.