Earlier this month, Town Justice Janet Calano was admonished by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct after she inappropriately allowed the town's deputy attorney to negotiate and reach plea agreements with defendants in select cases.
On Tuesday, the commission announced that for a year between 2011 and 2012, Calano allowed Deputy Attorney Robert Tudisco to take the reins in vehicle and traffic-related cases, failing to properly oversee negotiations and give proper approval.
According to the commission, “it is undisputed that for 13 months after assuming judicial office, (Calano) permitted the Deputy Town Attorney and her court staff to exercise judicial powers in her court by disposing of traffic cases without judicial oversight, and that thereafter she altered court records requested by the Commission in a manner that conveyed the impression that she had contemporaneously reviewed and approved those dispositions, when in fact she had not done so.”
Calano - who is one of two town justices, alongside Frederick Salanitro - becomes the second Eastchester judge to find themselves in hot water for misconduct. In 2014, former Town Justice Domenick Porco vacated his position in the middle of a four-year term to avoid further investigation into similar allegations.
According to reports, Calano has 30 days to appeal the decision, but believes that she has shored up and improved her review process to meet the commission’s standards.
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