RULES OF THE GAME: Judge Carol Berkman was disciplined for her severe sentence against a defendant cooperating in drug arrests. (Steven Hirsch)
A tough-as-nails judge went too far when she ordered a confidential informant to be locked up three times longer than prosecutors had agreed upon in a deal with the woman.
Calling Justice Carol Berkman’s sentence of three years “a gross miscarriage of justice,” the state Appellate Division ordered the woman, identified only as “Anonymous,” to be sprung from prison immediately.
The five-judge panel noted that Berkman had routinely mocked the woman, and disregarded the fact that she had put her life on the line to help the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
“During the proceedings, the court exhibited hostility, even disdain, toward defendant and, more importantly, a total disregard for her safety and welfare relating to her role as a drug informant for the District Attorney’s Office,” the panel said.
At a December 2010 hearing, Berkman refused prosecutors’ request to close and seal the courtroom while talking about her case, even after being told the woman’s life would be in danger if she didn’t.
“I can’t even feel bad for [defendant] here. I don’t think she is worthy of sympathy,” the judge said at the hearing.
“[S]he’s pregnant again with, what is it, five or six other children that she has, none of whom she is the mother to,” Berkman sniped.
At another hearing, Berkman said, “I have no idea what [defendant] has been doing the last couple of years, other than getting pregnant.”
The judge got angrier later on, when she discovered the woman had been arrested for some petty crimes, including a marijuana charge. Berkman sentenced her to three years behind bars instead of the zero to one that the DA’s Office told the woman she would get if she cooperated.
The Appellate Division said that was unfair, noting that the DA’s Office had reaped the benefits of her cooperation, and that Berkman should have stuck to the deal despite the other arrests.
The “defendant provided information concerning criminal activity, particularly drug dealing, at considerable risk to herself and her children in situations where the People acknowledge having no protection in an area controlled by a notorious street gang,” the judges found, noting that the woman’s information led to 14 arrests during her time as an informant.
One longtime court insider said he wasn’t surprised that Berkman’s mouth caught up to her. “It’s the culmination of a career of this kind of behavior,” he said.
Berkman, who has thrown the book at the likes of subway pusher Andrew Goldstein and Diego Pillco, who killed Manhattan actress Adrienne Shelley, is expected to retire by the end of the year.