Queens Supreme Court Justice Denied Misconduct Hearing Cancellation

Eastern District of New York Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis denied Queens Supreme Court Justice Duane A. Hart’s motion to halt pending judicial misconduct proceedings against him on December 6, 2007. The Judge ruled that Hart’s claims of racial bias by a member of the Commission on Judicial Conduct had no merit. As a result of the Judge’s ruling, the proceedings against Hart took place as planned on Friday December 7, 2007 at the Commission's office in Manhattan.

Justice Hart, who is black, alleged that Commission Chairman Raoul L. Felder, author of "Schmucks!: Our Favorite Fakes, Frauds, Lowlifes, Liars, the Armed and Dangerous, and Good Guys Gone Bad," was racially biased and would therefore not be an impartial participant in the proceedings. While Felder’s book did contain controversial sentiments regarding affirmative action, Garaufis argued that this alone did not warrant halting the disciplinary proceedings against Justice Hart. Additionally, Judge Garaufis noted that Felder had removed himself from the proceedings and had provided notification by mail two days before Justice Hart’s motion to stop the Commission’s hearing.

In this most recent disciplinary action against Justice Hart, the Commission’s alleged that Hart falsely accused an attorney of extortion, failed to disclose a personal relationship with a defense attorney who appeared in his court, and aggressively attempted to help his mother bypass security at Queens Family Court.

One of the allegations in the complaint was that Hart falsely accused attorney Michael Flomenhaft of extortion. Although Hart had been warned of schedule conflicts prior to a medical malpractice trial, he would not adjourn the trial unless Flomenhaft paid the court $5,000 per day. Justice Hart dismissed the case when Flomenhaft refused to pay, but then Hart agreed to rescind the dismissal if Flomenhaft paid $10,000 in fines to the defendant. When Flomenhaft filed a grievance against the Justice, Hart accused him of extortion.

Hart was also accused of failing to disclose a social and professional relationship with defense attorney Helmut Borchert and that he did not disqualify himself from cases involving Borchert, including a case where Borchert legally represented Hart’s sister. Borchert also gave Hart tickets to baseball games on several occasions.

In the final complaint of the charge, Justice Hart was alleged to have assisted in helping his mother avoid the security checkpoint when she paid a visit to Queens Family Court. Witnesses said that Hart quickly displayed a shield and announced he was a judge to the court officers who were on security duty in the courthouse lobby and was rude and condescending toward them. Additionally, it was alleged that Justice Hart refused to pass through or allow his mother to pass through the metal detector at the security station.

This was not the first time in Justice Hart’s tenure that he was accused of acts of judicial misconduct. Prior to the 2007 allegations, Hart appeared before the Commission in 2005 for improperly holding a defendant in contempt of court. He was found guilty and the Commission’s vote was unanimous to censure Justice Hart. The outcome could have been much more serious for Justice Hart. The Commission’s counsel, Robert H. Tembeckjian, had recommended that Hart be removed from the bench.

At the conclusion of the December 2007 misconduct proceedings, Justice Hart was censured again in another unanimous vote by the Commission on March 20, 2008.