NY governor taps female prosecutor as state’s next chief judge

Governor Cuomo nominated Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore to serve as the next Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals – New York State’s highest court – and head of the judiciary branch.

Lippman is forced to retire on December 31 because he has reached the age of 70, and under New York State law must leave.

Judge Lippman is facing mandatory retirement at the complete of the yr. Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, made the announcement after several many months of speculation concerning the emptiness. She must be confirmed by the state Senate.

Cuomo says the 60-year-old DiFiore has been a judge, involved in judicial reforms and is “tremendously qualified”.

“I am humbled by the incredible honor”, DiFiore said in a statement. Majority Leader John Flanagan has said the Senate won’t return before the regular session starting in January to consider it.

DiFiore had served as Cuomo’s hand-picked chair of the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics from late 2011 through April 2013. She left the volunteer post at the troubled commission as she sought a third term, which she easily won. “My professional life has been devoted to the fair administration of justice, and I would gladly continue my service to the people of NY on our state’s highest court”.

She was a Westchester County Court judge from January 1999 to December 2002 and elected to state Supreme Court, serving from 2003 to May 2005. “She has served as both judge and prosecutor, and has spent her career working to ensure justice and fairness for New Yorkers”.

DiFiore was chosen from a list of seven candidates sent to Cuomo in October by a state commission.

She would also be the second woman to hold the important post after Judith Kaye first was picked for the post in 1993 by then-Gov.

Durst said the information he sought would prove that an investigation launched by DiFiore’s predecessor, Jeanine Pirro, into his wife’s disappearance had been called off, giving him access to money that remained in her estate. The results led to the exoneration of Correa’s classmate, Jeffrey Deskovic, who had served almost 16 years in prison, and the conviction of Correa’s killer, Stephen Cunningham.