The Queens Supreme Court justice presiding over the high-profile felony assault trial of state Senator Hiram Monserrate expected feverish attention from the press but said he was uncomfortable with the unsolicited public attempts to sway him.
Prior to opening statements in the bench trial, in which the judge is serving as both the finder of fact and law, Justice William M. Erlbaum (See Profile) told both sides he was bothered by bids to influence him to either acquit the senator or give him the maximum sentence of seven years behind bars.
