Affirmative action 'judge' released felon who killed cop

Cop-slay judge bails
MIA after Mike’s lashing

By MITCHEL MADDUX, RICH CALDER and JOSE MARTINEZ
December 16, 2011


She’s a judge on the run.

The Brooklyn judge who unleashed a violent ex-con weeks before he allegedly killed a cop was a no-show at work yesterday — the day after Mayor Bloomberg ripped into her for a bail bungle.

Judge Evelyn Laporte was nowhere to be seen in Brooklyn Criminal Court as several City Council members denounced her ill-fated decision to spring Lamont Pride without bail after his arrest last month on drug charges.

There was a warrant for his arrest in North Carolina for an August shooting when he was busted on Nov.3 in New York for crack and pot possession — but Laporte ignored prosecutors’ pleas for $2,500 bail.

Pride, 27, is accused of gunning down Officer Peter Figoski during a Brooklyn home invasion on Monday.

Close to 100 of her cases — most of them brief hearings — were shifted to Judge Geraldine Pickett.

And sources said Laporte is expected to be absent again today.

“Judges are entitled to take a day off, just like you, just like me,” said David Bookstaver, spokesman for the Office of Court Administration.

Laporte’s disappearing act generated much gossip in the courthouse, where sources said she had been on the bench Wednesday when Bloomberg lambasted her.

Court officers whispered that she was off for “personal reasons.”

“She probably didn’t show up today because she was embarrassed by what the mayor said about her,” said a defense lawyer who regularly handles cases in her courtroom.

“I am not shocked that she didn’t come in today,” another defense lawyer added. “It must be really embarrassing for her.”

There was also no sign of the judge at her Brooklyn apartment.

“She has no business being in a Criminal Court,” Councilman Peter Vallone, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, said of Laporte.

“She should not be reappointed, nor should she be elected,” the Queens Democrat seethed.

Vincent Ignizio (R-SI) said, “I think it’s disgusting that this thug was allowed to walk the streets given the warrants he has had and his past history of being a violent offender

“Sadly, this judge didn’t look at all the facts and really needs to be held accountable.”

But Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes refused to criticize Laporte, calling her a “very good judge” who had been “a good ADA” when she worked for him.

Bloomberg had lashed out at the judge on Wednesday, saying Pride would have been behind bars if Laporte had done her job properly.

“To suggest . . . that there is some complicity in the death of this heroic police officer, I think, is really over the top,” Hynes said.

Hynes also defended the “entirely appropriate” request for $2,500 bail by Assistant District Attorney Evan Decresce.

“The judge, exercising her discretion, decided there should be no bail,” Hynes said.

Bookstaver said the anger at Laporte and a second judge, Shari Michels — who put an arrest warrant for Pride on hold when he missed a court appearance days after his drug bust — was misplaced.

“They have taken a great deal of criticism, and it comes with the territory,” Bookstaver said. “Some of that criticism is misguided and based on rhetoric.”

And Hynes was apparently unaware that one of his prosecutors failed to even mention to Michels that Pride had an open warrant.

When asked about the gaffe, a clearly confused Hynes repeatedly — and incorrectly — said that case occurred in a Bronx courtroom.

Meanwhile, it was business as usual in Michels’ courtroom, where she presided over her daily calendar call of cases with a five-inch stack of papers on her bench.

Michels, a 46-year-old former Manhattan prosecutor, handled Pride’s scheduled Nov. 15 court appearance, when he never showed. His North Carolina arrest warrant went unmentioned in court that day, and weeks later, he allegedly shot Figoski.

“Hindsight is always 20/20,” Bookstaver said. “The public should really focus its anger on the alleged suspect, Lamont Pride.”

Councilman David Greenfield (D-Brooklyn) said judges “should not be above public reprimand.”

“What good is it to have the best cops and the best prosecutors when you simply let convicted criminals go free without bail?” he said.

Additional reporting by Sally Goldenberg