Could a prosecutor be dismissed from a case, if s/he is making wild claims (creating evidence) against a defendant?8-11-2010 New York:
A Suffolk County judge who is the target of complaints from a victim’s advocacy group has been given other duties pending the findings of a state investigation.
State courts spokesman David Bookstaver said Family Court Judge Andrew Tarantino was reassigned. He said court policy prevented him from discussing details of judicial assignments.
Tarantino, who was elected in 2006, is the focus of a five-page complaint filed by the Stony Brook-based group Parents for Megan’s Law and the Crime Victims Center.
They allege the judge improperly allowed Denis DeMille, a former Garden City Middle School teacher who is now a twice-convicted sex offender, to participate in overnight visitation with his own three children.
The advocates filed the complaint on behaf of DeMille’s ex-wife, the mother of the three kids.
The group also took issue with the judge’s courtroom behavior, which they said has been characterized as “biased, abusive, sarcastic and outrageous.” They added that he has a reputation as the “Cohalan Court Complex Champion for Sex Offender Rights,” referring to the courthouse where Suffolk County Family Court is located.
A message left Wednesday at the judge’s chambers seeking comment was not immediately returned. ..Source.. Timothy Bolger
