A senior judge in New York is stepping down after she was caught on police body camera in an epic racist meltdown when a teenage graduation party got out of hand.
Justice Erin P Gall threatened to shoot black partygoers, told police they were under her jurisdiction, and praised her son for having ‘kicked the s***’ out of another guest in what a disciplinary panel called the most shocking case in 40 years.
‘I’m a f***ing judge and I’m telling you get off the f***ing property,’ the New York State Supreme Court justice roared during her 90-minute tirade.
‘That’s how I roll. That how Mrs G rolls. That’s how Judge Gall rolls. We’re clearing this place out.’
She had planned to fight her suspension in the state court of appeals but filed a motion via her attorney Wednesday to announce she was giving it up.
‘The decision to no longer pursue review and abandon hope of remaining on the bench has been extremely difficult,’ she said.
The motion declares that she officially resigned effective December 15, a year from the end of her 14-year term.
Gall, a Republican, has no intention of serving on the court again, according to the New York Times.
A senior judge in New York is stepping down after she was caught on police body camera in an epic racist meltdown when a teenage graduation party got out of hand
Justice Erin P Gall threatened to shoot black partygoers, told police they were under her jurisdiction, and praised her son for having ‘kicked the s***’ out of another guest in what a disciplinary panel called the most shocking case in 40 years
The judge also asked the court to, essentially, leave her alone upon resignation to avoid further scrutiny and outrage towards herself and her family.
‘I certainly do not think it fair to characterize my reactions as racially motivated and to stigmatize me with that finding based on the facts in the case,’ she wrote, adding that she had received several death threats and had to hire constant security detail.
‘It appears she has finally conceded that her reprehensible conduct would result in her formal removal from office, which under the New York constitution would bar her from ever returning to the bench,’ judicial commission administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian said.
Gall, 53, had gone to the friend’s house party in New Hartford her husband and their three teenage children in July 2022.
Fights began breaking out when party crashers arrived at around 11.30pm and police were called an hour later as the situation deteriorated.
Officers from New Hartford police tried to clear the property, but four black teenagers who had arrived after being invited by a guest at the party claimed they had been stranded after losing their car key in the chaos.
Dozens of teenagers were still milling about but Justice Gall directed her fury at the four when police allowed them to hunt for their keys next to the road.
‘You’ve got to leave!’ she shouted. ‘You’re not going to find the keys, You’ve gotta call an Uber and get off the property.
New York State Supreme Court justice Erin P Gall was recorded on police bodycam by officers who came to break up a friend’s high school graduation party
The justice threatened to shoot black partygoers, told police they were under her jurisdiction, and praised her son for having ‘kicked the s***’ out of another guest
‘No. you’re done. Done. Done. Get off the property, and that’s Judge Gall. I’m a f***ing judge and I’m telling you get off the f***ing property.’
Police body cam recorded an officer trying to reason with the irate justice and allow his colleagues to help the stranded guests find their keys.
‘Ma’am,’ he began.
‘It’s ‘Judge’,’ she shot back, before breaking away to shout at one of the guests.
‘I don’t give a f***,’ she yelled. ‘You tell your mother you were at a property you weren’t supposed to be at.’
‘You got to tell them to get off the property,’ she ordered, turning back to the officer.
‘They’ve got no way to go,’ he pointed out.
‘I don’t care, they can call an Uber, they’re not going to find it in this right now, I mean, Jesus it’s finding a needle in a haystack,’ she replied.
The Republican justice was elected to the state Supreme Court in 2011 and was serving out her 14-year term on the Fifth Judicial District
Fights began breaking out when party crashers arrived at around 11.30pm, and police were called an hour later as the situation deteriorated
‘If I have to clear it out I will, they’re not going to find keys, they’ll find them tomorrow.’
‘Guys don’t look for keys anymore, please,’ she told the officer. ‘I don’t care about this kid’s f***ing keys.’
‘I do so relax,’ he replied. ‘It’s not even your house, chill out.’
‘It’s my jurisdiction though,’ she told him.
‘Ok,’ he replied, smothering a giggle.
‘Yeah it is! Yeah it is! Don’t laugh!’ she replied. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Capelli,’ he replied.
‘I don’t care, tow it, give it a ticket, it shouldn’t be there,’ she yelled.
‘You know what you’re not going to find your mom’s keys, you’re going to have to ask her for a second set bro,’ she taunted.
She told police that her son and husband had both been attacked, but that her son ‘Put a smack down once he got hit’.
‘I taught my son to kick the s*** out of anyone who hits him first,’ she explained.
Gall told later told investigators she had not been drinking as she veered between flattering the police officers and ordering them around.
‘I would take anyone down for you guys,’ she told them at one point. ‘You know that. I am on your side.’
And she sneered at the black teenagers, telling officers they ‘don’t look like they’re that smart’, and ‘were not going to business school, that’s for sure’.
When an officer pointed out that the unwanted guests might return later to resume their search if forced to leave, she said she would call police.
‘If they did, they’ll be arrested, or they’ll be shot on the property,’ she predicted.
‘Because when they trespass, you can shoot them on the property. I’ll shoot them on the property.’
The Republican justice was elected to the state Supreme Court in 2011 and was serving out her term on the Fifth Judicial District.
She was been suspended pending an appeal after the state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct ruled that her ‘wide array of misconduct severely undermined public confidence’.
‘The judge’s behavior in this case is as shocking as anything I have seen in my 40 years of judicial ethics enforcement,’ said Tembeckjian in July.
Her lawyer Robert Julian said Gall admitted making the remarks but said she had been in a ‘state of fear, dismay, frustration and exhaustion’, at the time.
She was allowed to keep drawing her $232,600 salary while under investigation.
