In a Rare Step, Commission Recommends Removal of Queens Judge

A judge’s pet peeve about lawyers saying “O.K.” was one of several reasons the state Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended on Wednesday that he be removed from his seat on the New York City Civil Court in Queens.

In a rare decision, the commission found that the judge, Terrence C. O’Connor, the son of a former district attorney, habitually mistreated lawyers, abused his power and failed to follow the law.

Beyond those infractions, the commission cited the judge for failing to cooperate with its investigation, refusing to take an oath to the tell the truth to investigators and then failing to show up to a disciplinary hearing.

“Judges are obliged to cooperate with official disciplinary inquiries into their behavior,” the commission’s administrator, Robert H. Tembeckjian, said in a statement. “Failing to cooperate, and acting in a manner intended to thwart an ethics inquiry, is itself misconduct, often more serious than the underlying behavior. Judge O’Connor was removed from office for his intransigence.”

Judge O’Connor, who was elected in 2009 and whose term ends in December, has a month to appeal the decision to the state Court of Appeals. The high court has the final say on whether Judge O’Connor remains in office, but is required to follow the commission’s determination if he does not appeal.

Judge O’Connor did not respond to a request for an interview emailed to his work address.

Judge O’Connor is a former prosecutor and private lawyer. He also served as a commissioner on the city’s Board of Elections. His father, Frank D. O’Connor, was the Queens district attorney for nine years until 1966, when he was elected president of the City Council.

Monday’s decision was not the first time Judge O’Connor has run afoul of the conduct commission. In 2013, he was censured for handling the affairs of incapacitated people while he was a full-time judge.

According to a document made public on Wednesday, Judge O’Connor, who sits in Housing Court, berated at least two lawyers for saying “O.K.” to witnesses at the end of each answer. The judge then accused the lawyers of leading the witnesses, struck the testimony from the record and dismissed the cases for lack of evidence.

In nine cases, the commission also found Judge O’Connor had ordered a plaintiff to pay the lawyer’s fees of a defendant in a lawsuit he had thrown out, even though neither side had requested the payment.

The commission also found the judge was withering in his criticism of lawyers, accusing them of being ignorant and rude. In one case, a new lawyer, one year out of law school, arrived late to court and announced he was not ready for a trial involving a tenant he was representing.

The judge ordered the trial to start anyway, telling the lawyer, who was texting this turn of events to his employer: “Is there some course in law school now on how to be discourteous and how to be rude? Because if there is, you must have gotten an A in it.” The tenant lost the case.

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In a Rare Step, Commission Recommends Removal of Queens Judge

Judge Astacio facing felony gun charge

Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio was arrested and arraigned on Tuesday in connection with her attempted gun purchase last week.

The official charge Astacio is facing is attempted criminal purchase or disposal of a weapon, which is a class E felony.

She appeared before Judge William Kocher at the Hall of Justice before she was released on her own recognizance. She is due back in Henrietta Town Court on May 3.

News10NBC was first to break the story.

The judge, who has been on probation in connection to a DWI conviction in August 2016, allegedly tried and failed to buy a gun at the Dick's Sporting Goods store in Henrietta. That prompted a report with Monroe County Probation. On a Facebook video that has since been taken down, Judge Astacio claimed it was her sister who tried to purchase the weapon.

"I don't play with guns, I've never had a gun, I've never touched a gun," she said.

In addition, in a Facebook post of her own, her sister- Felicia Astacio, said she had never been to Dick's to buy a gun.

According to court paperwork, Astacio attempted to purchase a Maverick 88 .12 gauge shotgun from the Dick's Sporting Goods, despite the fact that she is prohibited from possessing firearms, rifles or shotguns because of a prior conviction. The allegations are based on information and belief by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and signed depositions from Dick's Sporting Goods employees. Court paperwork says that Judge Astacio had identified herself with her driver's license to the employees.

According to a statement in court paperwork from an assistant store manager at the Dick's Sporting Goods in Henrietta, they had learned from their counterpart at the Greece location that Judge Astacio had been in that store, only to be denied the purchase of a shotgun. The Greece assistant manager said that the Astacio had seemed very distraught and upset and that they had not felt comfortable selling her a gun. Once the sale was denied, Astacio told them that she was going to go and buy it at a different store.

At around 6:30 p.m., a store employee called the Henrietta assistant manager to report that they had seen Astacio enter the store. Shortly after, the assistant manager went to the gun counter at the request of Astacio, who asked why her purchases were being denied. According to the paperwork, Astacio felt it was her right to be able to purchase a gun, and it was explained several times that it was company policy to reserve the right to sell a gun to anyone, and that the denial extended to all stores.

The statement in the paperwork says that Astacio told the Dick's employees that she did not really want a gun, but felt she needed one.

Astacio has been barred from hearing cases since she violated the terms of her DWI conviction, and has only reported to work at the Hall of Justice once since August 30. In several broadcasts on Facebook she has said that her work arrangements are bad for her health and beneath that of an elected judge.

The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, the only entity in the state that can punish and remove an elected judge, is investigating Judge Astacio.



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Judge Astacio facing felony gun charge