Judge Vincent Sgueglia of the Tioga County Family and Surrogate’s Courts has been censure in a bizarre case after he took a loaded .38-caliber Smith and Wesson that discharged in his chambers. There is no rule preventing judges from packing heat in chambers in New York but the state Commission on Judicial Conduct declared that Sgueglia, 70, should not have approved his own concealed-carry permit.
One of the most striking facts in the opinion is the arsenal approved for the concealed-carry permit:
On or about November 3, 2005, respondent, a licensing officer authorized to review and issue pistol permits in Tioga County by virtue of his judicial office, approved his own Pistol/Revolver License Application for a “have-and-carry- concealed” license, authorizing his largely unrestricted possession of three pistols: a Kel Tec Automatic .380, a Glock Automatic 9 Millimeter and a Waither Automatic .22. The permit contained no restrictions. . . .
6. Between February 6, 2006, and September 15,2010, the Sheriff’s Department approved 14 amendments to respondent’s permit, noting the addition of 17 pistols.
The judge had been threatened in the past so that was no real debate over the basis for his safety concerns. However, he would keep a gun in a drawer in his office and that led to a near disaster:
On January 21, 2010, respondent carried a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver into the Tioga County Courthouse. Respondent knew there was a faulty mechanism on the revolver that was used to cock the firearm and rotate the cylinder. . . .
17. At about 10:30 AM on January 21,2010, during a break in court proceedings and while alone in his chambers, respondent decided to try to repair the mechanism. Respondent did not know that the revolver was loaded but as a standard protocol he pointed it in a safe direction at a concrete wall. While respondent was manipulating the revolver for repair, it accidentally discharged. Respondent does not know mechanically what caused the gun to discharge. Respondent did not check to determine if the gun was loaded, and when he started to fix it he still believed it was unloaded.
The bullet hit a wall with an elevator on the other side. Fortunately it was not a higher caliber that might have passed through the wall.
The Commission noted: “Upon reflection, respondent acknowledges that his chambers was not an appropriate location for hhn to have been repairing a personal firearm.”
Sgueglia has been the subject of a petition for removal in the past but it is not clear how serious the underlying allegations were or whether this was just a disgruntled former litigant.
While the commission voted for censure, one judge voted in dissent that the facts did not warrant disciplinary action.
Here is the opinion: Sgueglia.Vincent.2012.08.10.DET
Source: ABA Journal
Thanks Malisha.
———————
Frankly,
Methinks you judge too superficially. When Juanita has been subjected to the horrors of how one can be persecuted,
then it is only natural that the tone gets strident, the CAPSLOCK is keyed, and even the trust of religion is sought.
The woman needs help, but I feel we should examine the case before we condmmn her to the pill dispensers.
Now you are free to swing your axe. But I don’t like your splatter.
itchinbayDog: For the record, I am completely against the Sullivan Act. HOWEVER, as a resident of the county where this idiot judge resides, I know first hand that he will turn down pistol permit applications even if the applicant has no criminal record or a history of mental illness. How do I know this? Because the SOB turned mine down back in 2009.
When your demons are living in your brain, you can fight them.
When your demons are living in big houses and they are judges in courthouses and they approve their own weapons permits and they do exactly as they please while taking away all your rights and they could as easily shoot you dead as call you a thug,
you can’t fight them.
OMG! most people around here probably remember that poor woman from Colorado that used to hang around here trying to “get justice” after losing a string of judgments (sorry, I forget the details). And, surly nobody could ever forget Tootie and the bag of hot toasted nuts that fell out of her brain pan here. Well, it looks above as if those two women musta got all gay married & had a kid.
Said whelp has posted up there a bit ago. That is a fine blend of religious insanity, nonsensical non sequiturs and all caps shouting.
Seek professional help, please. Nobody needs to suffer the torment of mental illness, even in a health care-less America there are organizations that will provide counseling and medication to help you battle the demons living in your brain.
“New York but the state Commission on Judicial Conduct declared that Sgueglia, 70, should not have approved his own concealed-carry permit.”
So they give judges a blanket authority to decide who can and who can not carry a weapon and then, somehow, when those same people exempt themselves from the scrutiny they place on their supplicants?
okay, i’ll ask one more time. how many f*ckin girl scout cookies you want?
Jack: Why should anyone have to have a permit to own and keep a pistol? Next you will want a permit to fart. Live free or die. In Missouri you can carry a concealed pistol without any permit or papers if you are over 21, not a felon and not a Mormon with more than five wives.
idealist707 1, August 28, 2012 at 1:51 pm
Dredd,
Anthropocene Epoch. Ha, we are not more than a squiggle in the great continuum. Soon over. Best so.
Hope the bacteria survive and can start over. Mammals suck. They think sex is for fun.
You’ve read the June issue of SA. The cover article seem written for you. The Ecosystem inside us, with bacteria helping us live. As long as they are in the right place.
====================================
“The Anthropocene Epoch” is what scientists are contemplating labelling this span of time, which is a mass extinction event, brought on by those mammals whose Skulls They Are A Changin’ …
Are you talkin’ about “50 Shades of Sea Slug Sex: It’s Stranger Than You Think” …?? … that is the only SA I read this June … 😉 …
I think that Curiosity rover has landed at the doorway of “The Library of Alexandria”. or perhaps “The Rosetta Stone of Our Dyson Grid” … and we may find out who adopted us and who our cosmic parents are …
If not stay thirsty my friends … a little Guinness goes a long ways …
Dredd,
Anthropocene Epoch. Ha, we are not more than a squiggle in the great continuum. Soon over. Best so.
Hope the bacteria survive and can start over. Mammals suck. They think sex is for fun.
You’ve read the June issue of SA. The cover article seem written for you. The Ecosystem inside us, with bacteria helping us live. As long as they are in the right place.
Why was this idiot’s pistol permit not revoked?
“…New York but the state Commission on Judicial Conduct declared that Sgueglia, 70, should not have approved his own concealed-carry permit.”
Why would an American Judge approve his own concealed-carry permit? I believe this happened because American Judges and Justices ARE ABOVE THE LAW!
Despite the occasional case which shows a Judge being disbarred or punished etc this is just the HORSE AND PONY SHOW! BE NOT FOOLED! THIS IS Designed to appease. Most people today realize and know by their personal experience that justice involving Constituional Rights is a FARCE; that is, unless you are a Millionaire, or a Corporation!
In American Courts THERE IS NO RULE OF LAW! YOU CAN HAVE OUT AND OUT VIOLATIONS BY A STATE LAWYER AND THE COVERAGE WILL BE PROVIDED FOR BY JUDICIAL/JUSTICE (as in U.S. Supreme Court coverage).
CAUSING YOU TO;
1. LOSE YOUR HOME
2. HAVE PORN AND DEATH TREATS SENT TO YOU AND YOUR MINOR
CHILD
3. DENIED THE RIGHT TO WORK
4. DENIED MEDICAID FOR HEALTH CARE, AND FOOD STAMPS
5. FORCED TO LIVE IN A SHELTER
6. HAVE ALL RELIGIOUS PLACES OF WORSHIP AND THE CONGREGATION
THREATENED
7. YOU WILL BE IMPRISONED AFTER SEEKING ASYLUM IN EUROPE
AFTER YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT YOU QUALIFY FOR HUMANITARIAN
ASSISTANCE, AND YOU DARE RETURN TO U.S SOIL AFTER ALL
COMMUNICATIONS WITH YOUR MINOR CHILD IS CUT OFF…TO BE
IMPRISONED!
8. AND THEN YOU WILL REMAIN IN THE STAGE OF “DEAD MAN (WOMAN
WALKING) AS THIS GOVERNMENT LAWYER UNDER COVER MAKES
PLANS TO DO WHAT SHE TOLD YOU WILL HAPPEN) MURDER YOU!
9. THE FAIRY-TALE OF JUSTICE SIMPLY DOES NOT EXIST IN AMERICA!
10. AMERICA IS THE COUNTRY WITH ITS READY-MADE BEAST (THE BOOK
OF REVELATIONS) …EXPERIENCING THE BIRTH PAins.
Mark 13: 8
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
Why are the honey bees dying? How IMPORTANT are they? Is there a cure? Why are flocks of birds being found dead ALL OVER THE WORLD? What about the dead animals being found all over the world?
Why does the United States Supreme Court Currently have 6(six-six) Catholic Justices?
WHY WOULD THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT CONDONE THE SENDING OF PORN TO A 10 YEAR OLD BOY? BECAUSE HE IS A NEGRO AND DOES NOT COUNT/AND, OR, BECAUSE THE BIRTH-PAINS ARE UPON US?
Elizabeth Juanita Campbell
I know this man. He’s a disgrace to the legal profession. I believe the statements in the petition.
It happens.
One should always assume it is loaded is about all there is to say about prevention of these incidents.
Probabably a quarter of the police/sheriff’s departments’ buildings I have been in have a bullet hole somewhere.
It has improved over the years though.
The proverbial excuse, “I didn’t know it was loaded!” Is the security in the courthouse so bad that he has to pack a gun?
And dont pick on the judge because he has an Italian name. We hear that all the time at the DogsWithOutPapers (DogWOPS) meetings.
So what! Friggin gun goes off in his office. Its not like he was out on the bench ignoring the proceedings of trial or motions being made. Every judge in NY should have two guns– one out on the desk and one concealed in the robes. If the NYPD starts shooting at some deserving perp he is in a high position to take better aim than the pigs down on the ground. I think that the judge could have done no worse than those guys who shot seven bystanders out in front of the Empire State Building when trying to shoot the shooter. There is something about the Empire State that gives folks the notion that their feces dont stink and causes them to have bad aim when they aim to please
Cheapskate, take it to a gun shop!
Bron,
All the time…..lol
so that is what lawyers use as a euphemism for premature ejaculation.
An ex-prosecutor, now a criminal defense lawyer, wrote a piece in The Atlantic entitled “The Startling Accuracy of Referring to Politicians as ‘Psychopaths”, a common theme in my posts.
The ancient observation that power corrupts need more attention in this The Anthropocene Epoch, the Sixth Mass Extinction.