Assemblymember and presumptive Republican candidate for mayor Nicole Malliotakis last week called for an acting Brooklyn Supreme Court judge to be demoted to a civil court judge after letting some potentially dangerous people out on the street.
Judge Loren Baily-Schiffman has been widely criticized for her decision to release several accused men without bail. Baily-Schiffman is serving her second 10-year term as an elected City Court Judge while serving as an acting judge in the New York Supreme Court 2nd Judicial District.
Baily-Schiffman released Kurdel Emmanuel, 29, last week after he was charged with attempting to grab the gun of a police officer during a scuffle in the 83rd precinct on Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick. Despite the prosecutor’s request for $250,000 bond, the judge released the accused on his own recognizances and without psychiatric evaluation.
Malliotakis called Baily-Schiffman “a threat to the men and women of the NYPD and to the citizens of our city.”
The judge’s decision occurred only days after NYPD officer Miosotis Familia was assassinated by mentally ill suspect Alexander Bonds.
Police Benevolent Association (PBA) president Patrick Lynch told KCP last week that, “This is a sickening display of carelessness or callousness by a judge who should be fully aware of similarity in the circumstances between this thug’s crime and the assassination of police officer Miosotis Familia. It is unconscionable that Judge Baily-Schiffman refused to remand this homicidal/suicidal man into custody for his own sake and the sake of our members and the public.”
In addition to the controversial bail ruling, the judge also disregarded the prosecutor’s request for bail on a suspect who was accused of threatening to kill a nun in a Brooklyn church.
Derrick Gadson, 45, was arrested July 5 after allegedly walking into a church shirtless and threatening to kill Sister Marie Amador of the Co-Cathedral at St. Joseph, 856 Pacific Street in Prospect Heights. The prosecutor in the case requested Gadson be held on $25,000 bail, but Baily-Schiffman released the accused to the mayor’s Supervised Release Program, a program designed to cut unnecessary detention and reduce reliance on monetary bail.
“A judge has broad discretion when deciding to set bail or bond. In these instances, the judge made her decisions based on the facts and circumstances of the respective cases as she saw them,” said Lucian Chalfen, a representative of the state’s court system.
Malliotakis disagreed with the decision of both cases citing that the rulings put “all New Yorkers at risk.”
“Today, I call on Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks to remove Judge Loren Baily-Schiffman from criminal court and demote her to the civil court position she was elected to.
“I also call on Mayor Bill de Blasio to show leadership and do the same. One would think that after attending the funeral of a police officer who was gunned down in cold blood, Mayor de Blasio would speak-out to insure that this judge never takes actions like these again,” added Malliotakis.
De Blasio spokesperson Austin Finan partially agreed saying, “Judge Baily-Schiffman’s decision was dangerous and unacceptable. These cases deserve to be heard by seasoned criminal court judges with the authority to consider dangerousness in setting bail amounts.”
