Profanity-Laden Argument With Fellow Judge Gets Manhattan Justice Demoted
Justice Anthony Ferrara, who is slated to retire at year's end, will only be doing “chambers work” for the remainder of his judicial career, and he has been demoted to a city criminal court judge position.
October 19, 2017 at 06:55 PM
4 minute read
An acting Manhattan Supreme Court justice, who presided over felony criminal trials, has been demoted and taken off the bench after barging into another justice's courtroom and getting into a curse-laden argument with her.
Justice Anthony Ferrara, who is slated to retire at year's end, will be doing only “chambers work” for the remainder of his judicial career, and he has been demoted to a city criminal court judge position, said Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the Office of Court Administration.
“His conduct demonstrated that he lacked the discipline, judgment and temperament that is required of a trial judge,” Chalfen added in a statement.
By phone on Thursday, Chalfen also said of the decision to discipline Ferrara, “The point was to make a point—that this type of behavior is unacceptable.”
Ferrara could not be reached for comment Thursday. The disciplinary decision was made by New York County Criminal Term Administrative Judge Ellen Biben and New York City Deputy Chief Administrative Judge George Silver, Chalfen noted.
On Oct. 11, as an arraignment of six defendants facing drug and gun charges proceeded in the courtroom of acting Supreme Court Justice Felicia Mennin, a reportedly “irate” Ferrara came bursting through a side door, according to a New York Daily News report and a courthouse official with knowledge of the incident speaking on background.
The official noted that a Daily News photographer was in Mennin's courtroom at the time.
“What's this all about, anyway?” Ferrara asked in a loud voice after walking in, the Daily News reported.
Ferrara also made clear that he was on the hunt for Michael Croce, a local criminal defense lawyer who, according to the court official, works in the Manhattan criminal court as an “on-call” court-assigned attorney.
The official said Ferrara was presiding over a felony trial in the courthouse and needed Croce, the on-call lawyer, to represent a witness called to the stand.
Croce at the time was doing double duty, which the official said is not uncommon. He was in Mennin's 9th floor courtroom working the arraignment.
Ferrara, in his black robe, thrust out his arms and demanded to know when Croce would be showing up in his courtroom, according to the Daily News and the official. Ferrara also went up to Mennin.
Mennin asked that they both step into a room off of the courtroom, and she reportedly said, “This is not a conversation I'm prepared to have right here.”
After the justices went to the side room, though, they left the room's door open. Soon the courtroom overheard their discussion erupt from quiet tones into a yelling match.
“Fuck you,” Ferrara reportedly bellowed at Mennin, according to the Daily News.
“You know what, Tony? Fuck you, too,” Mennin responded.
Ferrara then walked angrily from the room, the Daily News said.
Mennin did not return a call seeking comment Thursday.
Croce in an email acknowledged being in the courtroom at the time, but said he didn't hear any of the exchange between the judges. He otherwise declined to comment.
Ferrara was appointed to the state Supreme Court bench, first as a civil court justice, by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2004, Chalfen said. He added that Ferrara is age 70 and therefore is at the mandatory retirement age.
His time as a judge ends Dec. 31, Chalfen added, but because of accumulated time off he will depart the courthouse in early November. His actual departure date is unrelated to the Oct. 11 courtroom incident, Chalfen said.
Asked if Ferrara had had other disciplinary incidents in his past, Chalfen said he did not have Ferrara's record before him but that he could not recall any.
“This is as a result of the incident in Part 22 of New York County Supreme Court on Oct. 11, 2017, witnessed by multiple audience members and court personnel that was disrespectful to a colleague, Judge Mennin, and the court system as a whole,” Chalfen said in the statement about Ferrara's demotion, which became effective on Tuesday. “Although Judge Ferrara was productive in the handling of his cases, his conduct demonstrated that he lacked the discipline, judgment and temperament that is required of a trial judge.”
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