A New York judge who offered a criminal defendant a last-minute "game show" choice -- hear a jury's verdict or accept the judge's finding of guilt and a shorter prison sentence -- has been reprimanded by an appeals court that found Acting Supreme Court Justice Joel M. Goldberg's bargain was "improper" and "coercive." Defendant Damian Nicholson chose to accept the judge's verdict but later learned the jury would have acquitted him. His sentence was reduced to 11 months after a motion and he served all of it.
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Judge Reprimanded for Offering Defendant 'Game Show' Choice
New York Law Journal
January 8, 2007
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