A Mixed Verdict in Case Against Court Workers

A Brooklyn jury yesterday delivered a mixed verdict on a courthouse corruption scandal, convicting a court officer of taking a bribe but finding his alleged co-conspirator, a retired court clerk, not guilty of all charges.

Prosecutors accused the two men of accepting bribes of plane tickets, cash, and electronic goods in exchange for bypassing the normal case assignment system and steering divorce and custody matters directly to Brooklyn state Supreme Court Justice Gerald Garson.

The verdict in the five-week trial dealt a setback to prosecutors in their high-profile investigation of Brooklyn's courts. Jurors handed prosecutors their first trial conviction in the case, but rejected the specific charge that court officer Louis Salerno and retired court clerk Paul Sarnell had conspired together in a courtroom that the district attorney describes as "corrupt from top to bottom."

It is unclear what yesterday's split verdict portends for Judge Garson, who is awaiting trial in a separate scheme. At his trial, prosecutors will recycle much of their evidence, including testimony from a key but flawed witness who allegedly bribed the judge.

District Attorney Charles Hynes said yesterday that the various cases all center on Judge Garson's courtroom but involve different crimes.

"The evidence in this case is somewhat different [from the Garson case]," he said.

Mr. Hynes also said that prosecutors had presented different evidence against Messrs. Sarnell and Salerno, leaving room for jurors to convict one defendant and not the other. He called the evidence against Mr. Salerno "overwhelming."

"I'm very, very pleased that a court officer has been convicted of two serious felonies," Mr. Hynes said. The case, he said, was "all about greed" and the victims were mothers and children who had their cases manipulated and placed before Judge Garson.

Mr. Sarnell yesterday walked out of court teary-eyed, passing reporters without speaking.

"I'm glad it's over," said his wife, Helene Sarnell, as she cried and rushed to hug her husband. Mr. Sarnell's lawyer, Dominic Amorosa, called the verdict bittersweet.

"He always believed in his innocence," Mr. Amorosa said.

In court, Mr. Salerno shook his head and slumped slightly in his chair as the jury pronounced him guilty of two felonies: bribe receiving and receiving an award for official misconduct.

Mr. Salerno, who faces up to seven years in prison, had remained boisterous throughout the trial, joking with reporters and fellow court officers. He declined to comment yesterday and will be sentenced November 16.

"We're extremely disappointed by the verdict," said his defense lawyer, Oliver Storch.

Prosecutors had argued that Mr. Salerno and Mr. Sarnell both accepted bribes in a conspiracy that stretched from the courthouse to the warehouse of a Brooklyn electronics salesman.

The salesman, Nissim Elmann, allegedly recruited Jewish divorce litigants he knew through his synagogue, promising them to bribe Judge Garson to get favorable results in their cases.

One witness testified that Mr. Elmann boasted of having Judge Garson "in his pocket," though in fact Mr. Elmann did not know the judge personally. Mr. Elmann's trial on bribery charges may begin this fall, while Judge Garson is expected to go to trial next year.