I wrote on this blog recently about what was likely case-rigging between the Otsego County DA John Muehl and the Otsego County Judge John Lambert in People v Norman Michaels, and that a large part of the appearance of impropriety was that Judge Lambert was Chief Assistant Otsego County District Attorney under John Muehl before he came to the bench in 2008 (Muehl was elected in 2003).
It looked like case-rigging because the case was legally insufficient and an indictment could only be obtained, and sustained, and reach trial, because the judge disregarded the law in favor of his former boss John Muehl.
Two other Otsego County judges, Michael Coccoma (now elected to the Supreme Court) and Brian Burns are no better than Lambert in fixing criminal cases for DA John Muehl and drumming up wrongful convictions or incarcerations for publicity sake, to exact retaliation against people for personal reasons and for career advancement.
Coccoma sent a person to prison for 1 1/3 to 4 years for violation of a sex offender related condition when he was not a sex offender.
John Muehl was the one who did not seek or obtain an indictment for a sex offense against that person.
John Muehl, thus, had no right to offer sex offender-related conditions of probation on a non-sex offender indictment, or to seek violation of such conditions afterwards.
Coccoma had no right to sentence a person who was never charged with a sex offense, to probation with conditions of probation branding him as a sex offender.
Nor did Coccoma have authority to violate that person because he did not fulfill a sex-offender-related condition of probation.
Yet, in court, Coccoma yelled at the defendant, on record, that "for Coccoma" the defendant was a sex offender - and sent him to prison for that. Coccoma also yelled that it was obnoxious for defendant to say he was not a sex offender.
So, the obnoxious part was for the defendant to insist that the court should follow the law and should not punish him for what he was never charged.
Upon my information, prior to Coccoma's yelling, the defendant turned Coccoma into the Commission for Judicial Conduct for acting without jurisdiction and treating him as a sex offender when he was never convicted or even charged for a sex offense.
If Coccoma was so enraged at the defendant for turning him in, he should have immediately recused from the case. That, of course, did not happen.
Instead, Coccoma used his assignment to that case to get his revenge against the complainant against him to the Judicial Conduct Commission by sending him to prison for violation of a completely illegal condition of probation that had nothing to do with the crime the person was charged with.
Once again, the essence of violation of the condition of probation was that the defendant did not undergo a sex offender evaluation and treatment (which the government refused to pay for while the defendant was poor and the cost of treatment was $600) by a person who was never convicted or even charged for a sex offense.
Under the law - defendant wasn't a sex offender, but Coccoma did not care about the law, and for Coccoma - he was, that's the reason he was sent to prison.
Coccoma was never punished for this and was, instead, elected as a Supreme Court justice, elevated to the position of Chief Administrative Judge of upstate New York, and, recently, at the State of the Judiciary Address, New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman announced his appointment of Coccoma as a chief administrative judge in charge of fiduciary appointments.
Muehl was never prosecuted for this wrongful incarceration either, even though it was dishonest and illegal for Muehl to try to violate a non-sex offender as a sex offender.
Yet, there is no statute of limitations for disciplinary actions against attorneys or judges, for either prosecutorial misconduct, nor judicial misconduct, and prosecution of both Muehl and Coccoma for this particular episode is thus possible.
Documentary evidence is there.
It clearly shows that both Coccoma and Muehl are dishonest and incompetent people who should not occupy positions of power they do occupy.
It is no trifle and no laughing matter when a judge who was a former DA in a County, gives his successor a completely illegal victory, in violation of the applicable laws both are supposed to uphold.
It was also clear that both Coccoma and Muehl were seeking publicity by sending the non-sex-offender to jail for not complying with a sex-offender specific conditions of probation, and while Coccoma called that person a sex offender in open court, on record.
The case was vastly publicized in Otsego County, and Coccoma sought advancement of his career through it.
Coccoma has got his advancement soon after.
The wrongful incarceration was ordered in May of 2008.
In the same 2008 Coccoma was appointed Chief Administrative Judge of the 6th Judicial District, and in 2009 Coccoma was appointed Chief Administrative Judge of upstate New York.
Apparently, incompetence and dishonesty of judges are rewarded in New York by career advancement.
It is like a test - can a judge abuse his power and be a "team player"? Oh, he can, and in a bad way? Then, more power to him.
To learn about a dishonest ruling aimed to gain publicity and career advancement by yet another judge of the Otsego County Court, Brian Burns, stay tuned for my next blogs about the case of Anthony Pacherille, about the resulting civil rights lawsuit against judge Burns by the defendant's father and how dishonestly Judge Burns had that case rigged and dismissed.
No comments:
Post a Comment