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Gerald Phillip "Gerry" Garson (born August 3, 1932) is a former New York Supreme Court Justice who heard matrimonial divorce and child custody cases in Brooklyn.〔(Brick, Michael, "Judge is Called Robed Robber or Just the Victim of a Setup" ), ''The New York Times'', April 18, 2007. Retrieved July 20, 2010.〕 He was convicted in 2007 of accepting bribes to manipulate the outcomes of divorce proceedings.〔〔(Brick, Michael, "Former Judge is Convicted of Bribery in Divorce Court" ), ''The New York Times'', April 20, 2007. Retrieved July 20, 2007.〕 Garson was imprisoned from June 2007 until December 2009.〔 In the bribery scheme, a "fixer" told people divorcing in Brooklyn that for a price he could steer their case to a sympathetic judge.〔(Newman, Andy, "Court Officer Convicted in Brooklyn Bribery Case" ), ''The New York Times'', September 21, 2004, July 20, 2010〕 After the fixer received a payment, he would refer the person to a lawyer contact of his, who had given Garson drinks, meals, cigars, and cash—accepting (and receiving) preferential treatment in return.〔 The fixer and the lawyer would then bribe court employees to override the court's computer system, which was programmed to ensure that cases were assigned to judges randomly. Instead, they would have the case assigned to Garson.〔 Garson, in turn, would then privately coach the lawyer. He would tell him questions the lawyer should ask of witnesses in the case before Garson, and arguments that the lawyer should make to Garson in court.〔〔 Garson would then rule in favor of the lawyer. Garson was indicted in 2003, on the basis of video surveillance of his judicial chambers, and recordings made on a body wire worn by his "favored" lawyer. At his four-week trial in 2007, he was acquitted on four counts, but found guilty on one count of accepting bribes, and on two lesser charges of receiving rewards for official misconduct.〔 He was sentenced in June 2007 to three to ten years in prison. In December 2009, after 30 months in prison, he was released for good behavior at the age of 77.〔 ''The New York Times'', commenting on Garson's conviction, observed: It was news that confirmed every sneaking suspicion, every paranoid fantasy of anyone who had ever felt wronged in a divorce court.〔(Eaton, Leslie, "Aggrieved Parties in Divorce Court Get No Relief in Scandal" ), ''The New York Times'', October 12, 2004. Retrieved July 20, 2010.〕 ==Early career== Garson graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Brooklyn Eagle )〕 He is a U.S. Air Force veteran.〔 In 1962 he founded the law firm Gerber & Garson, on Court Street in Brooklyn, with Howard Gerber.〔(Brick, Michael, "Humbled by Scandal, Judge Begins Prison Term" ), ''The New York Times'', June 29, 2007. Retrieved July 20, 2010.〕 The politically connected law firm is now known as Gerber & Gerber.〔(Perrotta, Tom, "Arrest of NYC Judge is Expected" ), ''New York Lawyer'', April 24, 2003. Retrieved July 20, 2010.〕 In the 1970s and 1980s, Garson and his law firm had a lucrative practice representing owners of taxi fleets, defending taxi drivers and owners in negligence suits.〔〔 In 1984, Garson was censured by the state Appellate Division for "conferring gifts, gratuities and benefits", by giving an improper gift to a judge with whom he had a "long-standing social relationship".〔〔〔 Garson and members of his firm regularly appeared before then-New York Civil Court Judge Frank Vaccaro. In 1972, Garson treated Judge Vaccaro and his wife to a weekend vacation at Kutsher's County Club in the Catskills, and falsely registered the judge under an assumed name; later, he lied about the incident to investigators.〔〔 Vaccaro, by then a New York State Supreme Court Justice, was suspended without pay for six months.〔〔 Garson was also Treasurer from the late 1980s until the mid-1990s for a political action committee arm of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, the Brooklyn Democrats. He was appointed by his former law practice colleague, Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gerald Garson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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