STATEWIDE

PSYCHIATRISTS FIND THAT SEX CRIMINAL CAN BE RELEASED

Psychiatrists have approved the release of a sex criminal who was among 27 held in mental hospitals on Governor Pataki’s orders after their prison sentences were completed. Mr. Pataki announced the imminent release of the sex offender during a news conference yesterday at Grand Central Terminal. The governor called the development “disappointing” and said, “I don’t think this predator should be out on the street.”

– Associated Press

COMMISSION: SUPREME COURT JUDGE SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE

A New York Supreme Court justice, Laura Blackburne, should be removed from office, according the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. In a determination dated November 18 and announced today, the commission found that Judge Blackburne instructed a court officer in June 2004, to escort a defendant out of the courthouse through the judge’s private entrance in order to elude a detective who was waiting to arrest the defendant. The commission found that Judge Blackburne acted out of anger because the detective had earlier claimed that he only wanted to question the defendant. The commission concluded that Judge Blackburne “placed herself above the law she is sworn to uphold and abused the power of her office.”

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

CITYWIDE

NEW YORK TO GET BACK $125M IN FUNDS CUT FROM BUDGET

New York will get back $125 million in workers’ compensation funds that had been cut from the federal budget, Rep. Vito Fossella said yesterday. Mr. Fossella, a Republican who represents Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, said he had secured the funds after weeks of private talks with the House speaker, Dennis Hastert. The money will be tacked on to an emergency appropriations bill in the House. The money had been intended for city emergency personnel in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mr. Fossella said $75 million would go to medical and mental health treatment and studies for police officers and firefighters, and $50 million would bolster a state fund for uninsured employers that addresses claims related to September 11.

– Special to the Sun

CITY INSPECTOR ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY ACCEPTING $200 IN BRIBES

A longtime city highway and sewer inspector was arrested yesterday for allegedly pocketing $200 in bribes from a plumbing contractor. Louis Epstein, 47, faces up to seven years in jail for receiving bribes, rewards, and other unlawful gratuities, the city’s investigation commissioner, Rose Gill Hearn, said in a statement yesterday. On top of Mr. Epstein’s bribery charges, investigators said he was carrying marijuana when they arrested him before he reported to work yesterday, adding a violation for possession to his count. The arrest stemmed from an investigation of 14 plumbing contractors that were indicted for bribery in 2003. Mr. Epstein, an inspector since 1990, allegedly accepted $200 from a Staten Island plumbing firm. In exchange, he would “look out” for the company so it could avoid being fined for environmental violations.

– Special to the Sun

JUNIOR’ GOTTI FIRES LAWYER

John “Junior” Gotti dismissed his lawyer yesterday, three months before he is scheduled to be retried on racketeering charges. The lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, successfully defended Gotti at his first trial, which resulted in a hung jury. Gotti did not say why he was changing lawyers or who would now represent him.

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

FORMER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OFFICER ARRESTED FOR MENACING WIFE

A former domestic violence officer in Staten Island exhibited a violent side himself when his wife returned home late with the wrong kind of cake, according to the Staten Island district attorney’s office. Yesterday at 4 a.m., Lieutenant William Doyle, who works in Manhattan’s 13th Precinct, was arrested and suspended from duty, police said. On Monday, when Lieutenant Doyle turned 46, his wife, 50, returned to their Staten Island home in the late afternoon, later than Lieutenant Doyle expected. She explained that she was late because she was picking up his birthday cake. When Lieutenant Doyle, a 14-year veteran, realized it was not an ice cream cake, he allegedly threw a glass of wine across the cake. At about 9:30 p.m., when his birthday party was underway, the couple had an argument, which the guests overheard. Lieutenant Doyle allegedly took out his service revolver, put it to the back of his wife’s head, and threatened to kill her. On his way out to work 10 minutes later, Lieutenant Doyle removed his gun from the holster, pointed it at his wife, and told her they could end it right there, the district attorney’s office said. Lieutenant Doyle was charged with three counts of misdemeanor menacing and two counts of misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon. His court date is in December.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun