Under mounting pressure to answer charges of repeated wrongful prosecutions, then-Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes in 2013 turned to his closest political adviser — a sitting state Supreme Court justice and administrative judge for the city’s criminal courts.
Judge Barry Kamins obliged with advice, violating the Code of Judicial Conduct, a report by the city’s department of Investigation charges.
In e-mails, Hynes floated the idea of forming a “board” to “review” questionable convictions.
Kamins was wary, writing: “If this group should find fault with the work of the office, that puts you in a worse situation. What do you do then?”
The judge then proposed forming the office’s Conviction Integrity Unit.
“I agree with Barry,” Hynes wrote his staff. “The announcement would make it clear that we are committed to transparency.”
Hynes, who could also face larceny charges for allegedly using more than $1 million seized from criminals for a p.r. consultant, defended himself Wednesday.
“When I was having a conversation with Justice Kamins, it wasn’t the DA and the chief administrative judge, it was Joe and Barry, friends for 40 years,” Hynes said.