Gerald Garson, Date of Birth, Date of Death

    

Gerald Garson

American judge

Date of Birth: 03-Aug-1932

Date of Death: 06-Feb-2016

Profession: judge, lawyer

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Leo


Show Famous Birthdays Today, United States

👉 Worldwide Celebrity Birthdays Today

About Gerald Garson

  • Gerald Phillip Garson (August 3, 1932 — February 6, 2016) was a New York Supreme Court Justice who heard matrimonial divorce and child custody cases in Brooklyn.
  • He was convicted in 2007 of accepting bribes to manipulate the outcomes of divorce proceedings.
  • Garson was imprisoned from June 2007 until December 2009.In the bribery scheme, a "fixer" told people divorcing in Brooklyn that for a price he could steer their case to a sympathetic judge.
  • After the fixer received a payment, he would refer the person to a lawyer contact of his, who had given Garson drinks, meals, cigars, and cash—accepting (and receiving) preferential treatment in return.
  • The fixer and the lawyer would then bribe court employees to override the court's computer system, which was programmed to ensure that cases were assigned to judges randomly.
  • Instead, they would have the case assigned to Garson.
  • Garson, in turn, would then privately coach the lawyer.
  • He would tell him questions the lawyer should ask of witnesses in the case before Garson, and arguments that the lawyer should make to Garson in court.
  • Garson would then rule in favor of the lawyer.Garson was indicted in 2003, on the basis of video surveillance of his judicial chambers, and recordings made on a body wire worn by his "favored" lawyer.
  • At his four-week trial in 2007, he was acquitted on four counts, but found guilty on one count of accepting bribes, and on two lesser charges of receiving rewards for official misconduct.
  • He was sentenced in June 2007 to three to ten years in prison.
  • In December 2009, after 30 months in prison, he was released for good behavior at the age of 77.The New York Times, commenting on Garson's conviction, observed: "It was news that confirmed every sneaking suspicion, every paranoid fantasy of anyone who had ever felt wronged in a divorce court."

Read more at Wikipedia

See Also