What did Dick Northrup do on top of the "usual" shenannigans allowed to New York judges to be booted off the bench mid-term - just like his friend Carl Becker was?

This past Friday County "Judge" Richard Northrup

has officially retired from his unlawfully held position, only 6 years into the 10-year term.

Coincidentally, the same - running from the bench midterm - was done by the person who has illegally sworn him in office, being at the time a private citizen - see in the picture below the former County Judge Carl F. Becker, donning a judicial robe as if he is still a judge, swearing Northrup in into his own former judicial seat (they can't both be judges at the same time regarding the same judicial vacancy, right?).

Becker, friend of Northrup who "swore in" Northrup to become a judge as illegal as Becker in his 1st term - Becker did not file certificate of election as required by law in 2002 and forged it in 2011 when I pointed the lack of it in a motion to vacate his decision as not being decisions of a lawful judge.

Becker, friend to Northrup so close that Northrup allowed him to annul legitimacy of his judgeship by having a private person to impersonate a judge and to publicly and illegally administer Northrup's judicial oath of office, was a very frequently-reversed judge, 

famous for helping his friend Northrup to win criminal cases by eliminating good criminal defense attorneys by pulling their licenses - Becker eliminated 3 criminal defense attorneys who bothered him and his friend Northrup with motions, appeals and civil rights lawsuits.

Becker thus helped Northrup eliminate David Roosa who in his lawsuit in federal court (a public record) disclosed that Becker complained against Roosa and had his law license pulled for providing effective representation to indigent criminal defendants in assigned cases - Roosa treated cases of indigent defenses with no difference to cases of retained clients, doing the full amount of work, including discovery and motions, which enraged Becker (the lawsuit was, of course, dismissed on "absolute judicial immunity" grounds without review of Becker's conduct on the merits - as all other lawsuits against him were hushed down). 

Becker was also the judge who eliminated from the reach of Delaware County (and beyond) people a team of husband and wife criminal defense, Family Court (defense-against-CPS) and civil rights attorneys Frederick and Tatiana Neroni who Becker was especially upset about because 

1. they were "double-teaming" (Becker's word) at criminal trials - one looking through documents provided by the prosecution right before testimony of the witness spotting necessary issues to ask questions and adding to the questions of the other while the other was cross-examining the witness, because
2. they were in court every day, even though Becker never assigned cases to them - because people hired them based on their skills, and because
3. they did not hold back and were not afraid to make motions to recuse Becker.

Becker first tried to eliminate both by orchestrating a bogus child neglect proceedings against both of them accompanied by a police/DA's criminal investigation and prosecution by his friend Northrup.

When that failed, Becker assigned himself - after an initial recusal - to all civil cases where the couple appeared, refused to recuse himself, imposed sanctions on the wife for making motions to recuse him, fixed the case against the husband, and orchestrated disbarment of the husband and suspension of the wife - which helped Northrup as a prosecutor a lot, since first the husband, and then the husband-and-wife team ran, for years, a 24/7 legal clinic where anybody could call or come at any time of day or night and receive legal advice, the first consultation - always for free.

As it has become a "time-honored tradition" in Delaware County and the greater upstate area, local journalists are only brave to bash Trump (since it is allowed by the state establishment), but are extremely timid to point out corruption and misconduct of local public officials, especially those with tremendous power, like prosecutors and judges.

In view of timidity of local journalists, I will do their job for them in this article, covering - as a first-hand witness or expert who have reviewed the records - the true "accomplishments" of the supposed "jurist" Richard Northrup.

As shown in the public database of New York licensed attorneys, "judge" Northrup has gotten his law license in 1984:

According to the local accolade to Northrup on his retirement, Northrup is a native of Walton, New York, and - in my free interpretation of what that accolade said - broke out on his own after law school and for the first 2 years of his practice practiced criminal defense in Greene County where he even worked, fresh out of law school, as an "assistant public defender for Greene County".

Apparently, Northrup did not survive on his own in his private practice and in 2 years' time returned to his parents in Walton.

For 6 years he was trying to practice on his own under his parents' wing in Walton - which also was not very successful.

I personally reviewed one of the documents created by Northrup in his private practice, the will of Arthur Kilmer Sr, so convoluted that courts of two levels, Delaware County Supreme Court and Appellate Division 3rd Department - as well as several attorney teams - could not figure out who out of the testator's numerous children and grandchildren gets what according to that will.

Being no good in criminal defense and no good in civil private practice, in other words, failing in his private law practice even under the wing of his parents, Northrup resorted to the refuge of all incompetent and corrupt individuals - he decided to "serve" people as a taxpayer-salaried public official.

So, in 1992, at the age of 33, Northrup switched sides in criminal cases and started to work for prosecution, being no good in criminal defense.

The difference between the required competence of a prosecutor and a criminal defense attorney in New York is that the criminal defense attorney should actually work, and a prosecutor should have a pulse and a law license:

1. the prosecutor is the legal advisor of the grand jury that - by words of the former Chief Judge of New York State Court of Appeals Sol Watchler - can indict a ham sandwich;
2. the majority of criminal court judges are themselves former prosecutors, often from the same or parallel (County Attorney, CPS prosecutor) offices who heavily help prosecutors in criminal cases; AND
3. criminal prosecutors have been (illegally) immunized by the U.S. Supreme Court for committing crimes in office, fabricating wrongful conviction, engaging in corrupt schemes and violating constitutional rights of criminal defendants and other people related to the criminal prosecution.

Let me recall once again - I believe, I did it in one of my previous articles about Northrup - my first recollection of Northrup's competence as a prosecutor that prompted me to say that all he needed to be a DA was a law license and a pulse, no competence or brains needed.

At that time, I was still a law student who my husband took with him to attend him as an assistant at a trial for felony rape.

Northrup was the prosecutor on the case.

He presented the jury with a piece of evidence in a ziploc - underwear with reddish-brown spots on it.

Here comes cross-examination by my husband to the police officer witness on the stand (by recollection):

Question: do you know what kind of spots are those?

Answer:    I assume it is the victim's blood.

Question:    How do you know?

Answer:    I don't know.

Question:    Did you have this piece of evidence checked by an expert to verify if these brown spots are blood at all?

Answer:    No.

Question:    So, you do not know whether these spots are blood or wine or paint?

Answer:    No, I don't know.

THIS was the "piece of evidence" that Northrup was proudly parading in a ziplock in front of a jury!

Without putting in any effort whatsoever to properly prepare for trial and to at least attempt to verify that the assertion he is making in court - that the evidence he is offering is blood of the victim on the victim's underware - is not wine or paint, is blood, and is specifically the victim's blood.

This is the quality of "public service" that Northrup was providing - at a high salary, for years - to the public.  

Let's go on with his proud biography of public servant, as presented by the accolade of the now-radical leftist rag "The Daily Star" from Oneonta, NY.

Having qualified as an assistant prosecutor, with his pulse and his license intact, Northrup made a quick career and already in 1996, at the age of 37, after just 4 years of being an assistant district attorney, became Delaware County District Attorney.

He remained in that position for 19 years, 4 3/4 terms, getting re-elected 5 times, before he ran for the judicial seat vacated by his friend Carl Becker (who ran from the bench mid-term chased by a triple investigation by upon information from my personal sources - by the FBI, the State Comptroller, and the State Judicial Conduct Commission.)

On becoming District Attorney in 1996 and having discretion as an employer to hire part-time assistant district attorneys - who are allowed to continue to practice law privately - Northrup made a wise (for his career) decision, hiring as an Assistant District attorney and then making Chief Assistant District attorney John Hubbard, law partner to Carl Becker, the then assistant County Attorney and CPS prosecutor.

When Becker became judge in 2002, District Attorney Northrup failed to disclose to criminal defense attorneys (including my husband Frederick J. Neroni since 2002 and myself since 2009) that he employed as his 2nd-in-command the criminal court judge's law partner.

I truly believe that all criminal convictions attained in the period between 2002 and 2015 before judge Becker must be vacated because of this non-disclosure - by Northrup and by Becker.

John Hubbard disclosed that he was a law partner of Carl Becker only when he himself ran for the position of the District Attorney in 2016, after Northrup became a judge in Becker's place and Hubbard - Acting District Attorney in Northrup's place.

Even when I reported Judge Becker to the DA's office for having committing a crime, filing the required certificate of election in 2002, that was never filed and then forged and filed in 2011, when all documentary proof of that election was long gone - John Hubbard talked to me, never disclosing that he was Becker's law partner and only asked - "why do you need this?"

And, of course, Becker returned the favor Hubbard gave his old law partner for not criminally prosecuting Becker - Becker got himself assigned to a case reviewing Hubbard's own former botched representation of clients 

("In October 2004, plaintiff entered into an agreement to purchase and harvest timber upon property owned by defendants Bradley W. Torum and Samme Chittum-Torum (hereinafter collectively referred to as defendants). Defendants thereafter conveyed the property, without reserving plaintiff's rights, to individuals who refused to permit the collection of the timber. This action against defendants and the purchasers of the property ensued" - 

attorneys for the parties on that supposedly improper conveyance of the property was Becker's law partner John Hubbard (conveniently hired by DA Northrup to please Becker and win criminal cases) and Becker's friend and then-Delaware County Attorney Richard Spinney, more about Spinney below). 

Naturally, Becker should not have touched that case with a 10-foot pole because of his multiple grounds for disqualifications - but he did, and his sanction against me for making a motion to recuse him was one of the sanctions which he used to have my law license pulled, without a hearing, automatically.

Becker's rage against me was apparent to anybody who frequented court hearings where Becker reacted to my appearances for my clients as to a red rag, exploding to anything I say and telling me publicly to "close your mouth, Mrs. Neroni".

Federal courts refused to intervene and protect me and my clients - by dismissing, as it always does, my lawsuit against Becker on "judicial immunity grounds" and where the judge practically laughed at me and my clients for even trying to break the brick wall of judicial immunity no matter what the judge did to parties or counsel appearing in front of him.

Of course, Hubbard and Northrup, Becker's buddies, never prosecuted Becker and those who helped him file a forged certificate of election - for their crimes.

DA Northrup had a yet another accomplishment: he was 

forcing criminal defendants, including blind ones, to accept as part of their plea bargains, waivers of their right to sue Northrup, the local police, the County and his friend Becker in federal court for civil rights violations.

When I saw that agreement in black and white as a public record - it is still a public record in Delaware County courthouse at 3 Court Street, Delhi, NY 13753 in the criminal case People v Richard Carbone - I was shocked.  I simply could not believe my eyes.

For public officials to misuse their positions so that to SELL supposed leniency in criminal cases in exchange for personal favors to them - waivers of the defendants' rights to sue them in federal court for money, in their individual capacity - is, very plainly, selling decisions in criminal cases for bribes, which is a crime, state and federal.

Northrup and Becker had a good cover to protect them on all sides from any accountability for that crime - the defense attorney prior to me on the case who stepped into the case illegally, without filing with the court a formal substitution of attorney, and for the only purpose to get a quick buck on that "plea-for-waiver/bribe" scheme from his blind client who didn't know what he was signing - and the defense counsel did not tell him - was no other than the then-Vice Chair of the New York State Commission of Judicial Conduct Stephen Coffey.

And on that Commission (I wonder if she was also on the take for a portion of that money) was the Presiding justice of the Appellate Division 3rd Department Karen Peters) - who, being also the chief of attorney-licensing court, orchestrated pulling licenses of both my husband and my own after I have upset the plea-for-waiver/bribe scheme, publicly humiliated Coffey and Peters and had the money returned to my legally blind client.

As I said above, I addressed this illegal "practice" in criminal and then - successfully, despite threats -  in a related civil case.

After my success on appeal - summary judgment was vacated and the case was remanded for further proceedings, Becker 

• got the judge in the civil case replaced, 
• got himself assigned to that case, 
• where the Plaintiff was Becker's girlfriend and 
• her attorney, Becker's longtime friend and boss, then-Delaware County Attorney Richard Spinney admitted in open court on record to ex parte communication with Becker about the case.

Then, answering my motion to have him recused from the case for obvious conflicts of interest, Becker sanctioned me for "frivolous conduct" and "threat to the court" (I warned him that when I sue him and Northrup on his illegal policy, I will call them as witnesses), quickly complained against me to licensing authorities and had my license pulled without a hearing.

So, I am a witness to this policy of forcing criminal defendants to sign waivers of their right to sue Judge Becker, DA Northrup and the police participating in bringing the criminal case about (so, the County Attorney had to be in on it, too) through just one case - People v Carbone, and, as a witness, I was eliminated by the Northrup-Becker team.

By the way, before my husband Frederick Neroni got disbarred, in the spring of 2011, Northrup's career ticket to Becker's favors, Becker's law partner Hubbard, then Chief Assistant District Attorney to Northrup, approached my husband and, addressing his arguments regarding that illegal "pleas-for-waivers/bribes" on appeal of the criminal case People v Carbone, threatened my husband, telling him point blank that he is "burning bridges", and requested to withdraw these arguments from the appeal.

When my husband refused, in 2 months he was disbarred by Karen Peters' court.

Hubbard, not being extremely bright, also told me privately that the "pleas-for-waivers/bribes" policy of Northrup's DA's office was a "usual policy" into many plea bargain agreements.

I do not know whether Hubbard, now the County DA, still continued this illegal "policy", with Northrup, his former employer and benefactor, as a judge, and will continue it now when Northrup retired.

Did I also mention that Northrup, being a DA, refused to prosecute Ellen Coccoma, County Attorney for Delaware County, wife of then-Chief Administrative Judge for upstate New York Michael Coccoma, for her crimes committed during her illegal (in view of being a full-time employee and officer of Otsego County) representation of private clients trying to enforce - tada! - Northrup's botched will of Arthur Kilmer Sr?  During which Ellen Coccoma herself committed several fraudulent acts - but was, of course, never sanctioned given her pedigree?

I must say that before the Northrup-Becker-Hubbard-Coffey-Peters team accomplished their task to pull my license, though, I did have the money stolen from my client with the help of Becker, Northrup, Becker's girlfriend Shields, and County Attorney Spinney return to my legally blind client.

When Northrup became a judge, I know of at least one case where he acted as a judge in the case where he previously acted as a prosecutor - which the U.S. Supreme Court proclaimed in 2016 was unconstitutional.

Northrup could not escape conflicts in his judicial position where he became a judge in 2015 handling CPS and criminal cases while for 23 prior years Northrup learnt everything there was to learn about everybody in Delaware County through criminal and CPS investigations shared with the DA's office, as New York law requires.

He obviously could not escape making his judicial determinations in such cases (as his friend Becker did) upon what is called "extra-judicial evidence", information from reports he obtained during his 23 years as a criminal prosecutor - and this type of RISK of judicial bias is simply unacceptable in a court in a supposed democratic society.

Now, as a parting gift to Delaware County taxpayers, 

• this "distinguished jurist" retired mid-term - which means taxpayers will have to pay for an extra election for his replacement - and 
• used the government facility, at taxpayers' expense and during taxpayer-paid business hours, for his retirement party - he has hosted a reception, in court.

I have complained to the New York State Commission for Judicial Conduct about judges Northrup and Rosa's permission to use court grounds for retirement reception of a court employee previously (former County Clerk Sharon O'Dell) who quickly resigned - also "to spend time with family" - after I have filed a felony complaint against her with the Delaware County Sheriff's office for filing forged judicial documents.

By the way, the filing of the forged documents by Sharon O'Dell was in the case based on Hubbard's and Spinney's botched representation of clients - Hubbard and Spinney, of course, were never sanctioned, but I was for trying to get Becker off that case with the help of a motion to recuse.

The New York State Commission for Judicial Conduct refused to even investigate that complaint - which Northrup perceived as a permission to do the same and throw more parties in the courthouse at taxpayer expense and during court time, now in his own "honor".

What an accomplished individual!

Last, but not least "accomplishment" that came out from the official eulogy on Richard Northrup's retirement is his lament about the lack of criminal defense attorneys for the indigent/poor criminal defendants.

I already wrote on this blog 7 years ago how much it costs Delaware County to hire assigned attorneys for criminal defendants out of the County, and even outside of Delhi, NY where many attorneys live who judges refuse to use as assigned counsel.

Now that there is a full-time Public Defender's office in place in Delaware County, 

a need for additional assigned counsel should be reduced to those cases where the Public Defender's office has a conflict or is overloaded.

Yet, the practice, according to Northrup himself, of getting attorneys, at the cost of $60 (for misdemeanors) and $75 (for felonies and family court cases) an hour for travel time out of Delhi NY and out of Delaware County, continues.

Northrup says that he "solicits attorneys from other cities and counties" to represent the indigent, up to Binghamton (an hour and a half away, more so in winter time and in case of traffic jams).

To hire an attorney out of Binghamton at $75 an hour means that every personal appearance of that attorney in court costs Delaware County taxpayers $225 more than an appearance of an attorney from Delhi, NY.

I know of one "disqualification" of an attorney living in Delhi, NY within a walking distance to the courthouse (1/2 mile, 1-minute's drive, as Google shows).  She is the daughter of two attorneys, Frederick Neroni and Tatiana Neroni who Northrup with his friend Becker successfully removed from criminal cases - so that they would not interfere with their career paths by their effective representation of every client, privately retained, assigned or pro bono (which we did a lot).  Northrup never assigned one case to that attorney in his 6 years of judgeship, neither did other judges.  They preferred to have Delaware County taxpayers pay the extra $225 for appearances of attorneys out of Binghamton instead.

So, let's summarize the accomplishments of jurist Dick Northrup listed above:

1. a failed public defender and criminal defense attorney;
2. a failed private practitioner who botched wills so that courts could not figure out who gets what how after the death of the testator;
3. a prosecutor who has hired judge's law partner to (without disclosure to defense counsel) drum up more convictions from the judge;
4. a prosecutor who refused to prosecute that same judge for committing crimes in office;
5. a prosecutor who colluded with that same judge in an illegal policy blackmailing criminal defendants (including blind ones) into waiving their rights to sue the judge, the prosecutor, the police and the county for constitutional violations in federal courts as a price of getting leniency in plea bargains in criminal cases - in other words, the prosecutor was selling leniency in criminal conviction in exchange of waivers of personal liability for money in potential federal future court cases;
6. A person who illegally took the bench for 6 years after an illegal oath of office administered by a private individual, a friend and benefactor, former judge;
7. A person who presided as a judge over cases he handled as a prosecutor;
8. A person who wasted Delaware County taxpayer's money for personal benefit or out of personal grudges - by 

• not assigning local counsel to cases because they are presumably trained by skilled attorneys Northrup with his friend Becker already eliminated, instead assigning counsel from out of the county and having Delaware County taxpayers paying extra $225 for each appearance of such counsel in court,
• by "retiring" mid-term and having Delaware County taxpayers finance an extra election - same as his friend Becker did in 2015 to have Northrup take his place;
• by throwing parties at taxpayers' expense and during taxpayer-paid court business time in the courthouse in honor of his own retirement.

Northrup has accomplished over his lifetime of "public service" a lot - and a lot for which people without his prosecutorial and judicial immunity/permission to commit crimes in office would be doing hard time behind bars for the rest of their lives.

I repeatedly turned Northrup and some other local judges in for his shenannigans to the New York State Commission for Judicial Conduct, and they rejected without even an attempt to investigate them, even though they were supported with documentary evidence of misconduct, including criminal misconduct in office.

Given that NYS Commission for Judicial Conduct is a costly (for taxpayers) shredding machine for complaints against state judges, and judges in the state of New York are allowed to commit about ANY crime in office without any accountability, I have a serious question:

WHAT EXACTLY DID NORTHRUP DO that he was booted mid-term - because that's exactly what it is.

When a judge resigns (without citing health reasons) "to spend more time with his family, travel and sleep more and focus on his well-being" 

while earning $210,900 a year,

reducing his income to a nearly twice smaller pension - like his friend Carl Becker is now getting:

there must be a hefty reason for this - sudden, too! - "retirement".

It simply does not happen in New York without the judge being BOOTED FOR MISCONDUCT SO BAD that even the all-tolerating New York system of "judicial (un)accountability" can't take it.

Which, again, begs the question - what exactly could Northrup manage to do so that the all-permissive New York system would not allow him to "serve" out the remaining 3.5 years of his term?

I welcome input from local sources in answer to this question (confidentiality guaranteed).