A “SWAT Team” in black robes is heading to the Bronx.
The squad of experienced judges from across New York State, are being dispatched to Bronx Criminal Court to help clear up its astounding backlog of more than 900 felony cases.
Brooklyn Judge Patricia DiMango will spearhead the six month operation that will establish a “blockbuster part” where the judges from upstate and Long Island will adjudicate 270 cases that are three years or older, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said at a Citizens Crime Commission conference at the Fordham Law School.
In an interview with the Law Journal after his remarks, Lippman referred to the 10 Bronx-bound judges as a “SWAT Team.”
The decision to deploy the super-judges comes several months after Lippman dismantled the disastrous 2004 merger of Bronx’s lower Criminal Court with its Supreme Court in an attempt to reduce the backlog of misdemeanor cases – which increased the felony caseload.
The Bronx currently has 931 felony cases that are more than two years old compared to Manhattan which comes in second with 217 pending cases.
“This acute backlog of felony cases is entirely unacceptable to all of us in the courts and the entire justice community in Bronx County. It simply cannot continue any longer.”
This is “something we have never done before with regard to criminal cases,” Lippman said.
Part of the team is expected to arrive Wednesday on a reconnaissance mission to determine where the new judges will hang up their robes and establish a support staff of law clerks, court officers and court reporters, said Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon who was recently named administrative judge for Bronx Criminal Court.
The team is expected to attack certain cases by offering take-it-or-leave-it plea deals. If rejected the case goes immediately to trial.
McKeon and David Bookstaver, the spokesman for the Office of Court Administration did not know if any of the judges will live in the city during the six month period.
“No community wants to be the one where more people are seated in jail waiting for a trial because of these kinds of delay,” McKeon said.
“This is a problem that needs to be addressed. It’s a problem where we really have to focus and bring the best talent around.”
Lippman is also putting the feet of criminal courthouse’s judges to the fire by require them to submit monthly reports listing all pending felony cases one year or older – and why the delay exist.
dmontero@nypost.com