Six years after attorney Stephen Mitchell filed a racial discrimination suit against a New York Appellate Division, 1st Department, screening committee that denied him recertification to Manhattan’s 18-B panel for indigent defense, the federal case remains tied up in discovery disputes.
Last week, Southern District of New York Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein ruled that he will not review, ex parte, letters of confidential evaluators relied on by Judge Gerald Lebovits, who was responsible for reviewing 18-B applications and reporting to the 1st Department’s Central Screening Committee.
