- A Highly Publicized Murder Trial
- The Defendant is Convicted
- The Appeals Court Affirms--But One Judge Dissents
- The Highest Court Reverses--Unanimously Agreeing with the Dissenter that the Conviction Must be Overturned
 |
| Judge Bernard "Bud" Malone |
That lone dissenter?
New York Appellate Division Justice Bernard "Bud" Malone.
Who is he?
Well, not what you might think.
Not what you might presume about a judge who sticks his neck out to disagree with his colleagues, and to side with someone convicted of murder.
No, he's not some crusading liberal.
No.
Judge Malone is a Republican.
He's a former federal prosecutor.
He was appointed to the appeals court by Republican Governor George Pataki who appointed law and order judges.
His record on the bench is somewhat conservative.
It's somewhat pro-law enforcement.
And Judge Malone is an Army Vet.
A Vietnam Vet.
He had the guts to dissent.
By himself.
And he was vindicated, 7 to 0, by the Court of Appeals, New York's highest Court.
[Six of the Judges voted to reverse the conviction; 1 Judge would have gone further and dismissed the indictment as well.]
