An upstate New York judge has resigned after he got out of jury duty by claiming that he couldn’t be impartial because he thought everyone brought before a court is guilty. Richard Snyder, who had been a justice of the Petersburgh Town Court for a decade, left his post after being charged with misconduct by a state judicial commission, officials said Tuesday, the Associated Press reports. According to court transcripts, Snyder tried to avoid serving on a jury in 2023 by first identifying himself as a judge and then saying, “I know everybody come in front of me. I know they are guilty. They would not be in front of me.” He was eventually dismissed from serving on the jury after he continued to argue that he could not be impartial, saying “No. It would not be fair,” court transcripts show. The judge overseeing the jury selection reported Snyder to state officials.
At a judicial commission hearing last year, Snyder said he understood that defendants are supposed to be considered innocent until proved guilty but that he still felt that people wouldn’t be in court if they didn’t commit crimes. “I meant, that they were guilty because they did something wrong. But they’re not guilty ‘til they come to court. They’re innocent ’til proven guilty,” he said. “They did something wrong. That’s why they got a ticket. But they’re not guilty,” he added. Snyder, who was elected as a justice, is not an attorney and has agreed never to serve as a judge again. Petersburgh, population 1,400, is a small town outside Albany near New York’s border with Vermont and Massachusetts. Robert Tembeckjian, administrator of the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, said “there is no place on the bench for someone who so deeply misunderstands the role of a judge and the administration of justice.” “It is bad enough that a judge would seek to avoid such a fundamental civic responsibility as jury service. It is astounding that the judge would claim an inability to be impartial, and to declare under oath that the accused must be guilty or they would not be in court,” he said. New York courts do not offer automatic jury duty exemptions to anyone, including judges.
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