The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct announced that Gary M. Poole, a Justice of the Rose Town Court, Wayne County, will resign from office effective July 1, 2017, and has agreed never to seek or accept judicial office at any time in the future. The Commission accepted a stipulation to that effect signed by the judge and the Commission’s Administrator and closed its investigation.
Judge Poole was apprised by the Commission in January 2017 that it was investigating complaints alleging that he engaged in repeated, undignified and discourteous conduct toward a woman with whom he had been involved romantically. Among other things, the judge was alleged to have yelled demeaning and derogatory things about her and her new boyfriend in public, spuriously threatened her with prosecution, demanded the return of certain personal property and threatened to encourage her ex-husband to commence a custody battle over her children.
Judge Poole, who is not an attorney, has served as a Justice of the Rose Town Court since 1993. His current term would have expired on December 31, 2017.
The Commission has accepted 68 such stipulations since the procedure was instituted in 2003.
STATEMENT BY COMMISSION ADMINISTRATOR ROBERT H. TEMBECKJIAN
“The allegations that Judge Poole repeatedly made loud and demeaning public comments about an ex-girlfriend, and baselessly threatened her with prosecution, are serious. On or off the bench, a judge must behave with dignity and integrity, avoiding boorish public behavior that would undermine public confidence in the judiciary. In agreeing to resign, he closes an unfortunate chapter without further detriment to those involved or the court system itself.”
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