In seven years as a prosecutor and five as a defense attorney, Daniel P. McCormick said he has negotiated “thousands” of plea bargains. He said he never had a judge renege on any of them until March, when Suffolk County Court Judge Stephen L. Braslow withdrew a sentencing agreement made to one of Mr. McCormick’s clients. By coincidence, Nassau County Court Judge Donald DeRiggi last month did the same with one of Peter M. Rubin’s clients.
Neither judge gave a reason for their decisions or would agree to be interviewed. But both defendants are accused of sexually abusing minors at a time when public scrutiny of such cases is intensifying.
