Orange County Court judge retires early as he faces misconduct charges

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Judge William DeProspo

GOSHEN – Orange County Court Judge William DeProspo is stepping down from the bench five years before his term expires on December 31, 2027. His resignation was submitted to the acting chief administrative judge is effective March 31.

His departure is as per an agreement with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

According to a stipulation agreement with the commission, he was served with a formal written complaint on July 26, 2022 containing five charges of misconduct.

“The charges alleged that in the course of presiding over five emergency applications brought in Family Court matters by unrepresented petitioners who were seeking temporary orders of protection and other relief, (DeProspo) was disrespectful, disparaging, sarcastic and otherwise discourteous toward them, in both words and tone of voice,” according to the stipulation obtained by Mid-Hudson News.

William DeProspo

The agreement with the judicial commission said that when he leaves his judicial office, he will neither seek nor accept judicial office at any time in the future.

According to commissioner documents, while presiding over Family Court cases he asked a petitioner, “What kind of kook are you?”; belittled her concern about missing school in order to be in court; said “everything that you told me was bullshit”; and told the petitioner to “get your ass out of bed and get here at 9 in the morning” or her petition would be dismissed and she could “ask the director [of your school] to protect you.”

The legal documents state that he said to another petitioner, “So listen, why should I give you an order of protection… if you keep going back to this guy? You went looking for him. You got into the car, okay, and you obviously want to be with him because you keep going back to him.”

Commissioner Administrator Robert Tembeckjian said judges “are obligated to be patient, dignified and courteous toward those with whom they deal in an official capacity. This is especially important in Family Court, which can be volatile enough without the judge making matters worse by insulting or demeaning the litigants.”

An e-mailed statement to Mid-Hudson News from DeProspo’s legal counsel, Scalise and Hamilton, said DeProspo “has been a well-respected member of the legal community, as well as the community at large for 37 years.  He was elected to the Orange County Court in 2017 and has presided there since January 1, 2018.  He served with distinction and handled more than 15,000 court appearances without incident.  More recently, Judge DeProspo presided over an arson/homicide trial, and the attempted murder of a police officer, both to verdict.”

The attorneys’ statement said Judge DeProspo “accepted responsibility for his intemperate tone and has apologized for these isolated incidents before any investigation was commenced by the Commission. He fully cooperated with the Commission’s investigation from the outset.  Judge DeProspo has enjoyed the privilege of serving the residents of Orange County and is looking forward to his retirement. “

Public officials who know DeProspo have offered their thought on the situation.

“While I do not know all facts and circumstances of this situation, in my experience, Judge DeProspo was always fair, impartial and treated everyone well,” said District Attorney David Hoovler. “My office, including the many assistant DAs who’ve appeared before him, never experienced any issues with him. Every litigant and attorney were treated with respect.”

Retired Legal Aid Society Chief Attorney Gary Abramson said he and his staff have appeared before DeProspo countless times and found him to be fair, respectful to both sides, respectful to counsel, honest and impartial.

Middletown Mayor Joseph DeStefano said DeProspo’s five years on the bench “were important, important to the City of Middletown. The net judge that follows him I Would hope would follow his example.”

Goshen attorney Amir Sadaghiani said DeProspo is “well respected by both prosecutors and defense counsel.” The lawyer said attorneys “always appreciated that he was a jurist that was an accomplished trial attorney prior to taking the bench.”

Orange County has three county court judges – Craig Stephen Brown and Hyun Kim Chin and DeProspo.

DeProspo first took officer in 2018. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1985 and served as a private practice attorney prior to running for county court judge, unopposed.

While in private practice, he was also Orange County Republican Party chairman.

Orange County has three county court judges – Craig Stephen Brown and Hyun Kim Chin and DeProspo.

 




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