Great Judge of the Day: Hon. Devin P. Cohen - Slams Slimy Lawyer

Judge slams driver, his lawyer in alleged DWI hit-and-run in Coney Island
The New York Daily News by SCOTT SHIFREL, ERICA PEARSON AND CHRISTINA BOYLE - December 12, 2009

A Brooklyn judge Friday blasted a "reckless" drunken driver accused of mowing down two teenage lovebirds, as well as the lawyer assigned to defend him. Justice Devin Cohen laced into motorist Oliver Black and his lawyer, Kesha Louis, after the attorney argued against a high bail. "It doesn't say that he was speeding, that he blew any lights or anything like that," the defense lawyer said. "That would be seriously reckless. It is an accident." And incredulous Cohen pointed out that Black's blood alcohol content was almost twice the legal limit. "Your client drank enough to blow a .132 [on a Breathalyzer test] and then got ... behind the wheel of a car - and that is not considered reckless?" Cohen said. "He was driving with a suspended license, allegedly driving drunk," he added. "The defendant has a felony and 26 misdemeanors." Cohen set bail at $150,000.

Prosecutors said an unsteady Black, 54, reeked of booze and had slurred speech after he struck Brian Rosario and Elizabeth Lopez, both 17, on Ocean Parkway in Coney Island. The couple, who had been dating six months, were just blocks from Lincoln High School when Black's Ford Explorer slammed into them, witnesses said. Rosario's leg was broken and Lopez suffered severe head trauma and a busted jaw, prosecutors said. She was in Brooklyn's Kings County Hospital intensive care unit Friday, and Rosario was recovering from surgery at Lutheran Medical Center, family said. "They are young people, they have so much in front of them, and for a drunk off the street to do this, I just don't know what to say," Rosario's older brother, Junior, 21, told the Daily News. Black told cops he bought the Explorer half an hour before the accident, and stopped for "half of a beer" with the seller before getting behind the wheel, prosecutors said. "I was driving my car. It is parked over there. I had the green light. I didn't see them coming," Black said, according to Assistant District Attorney Wilfredo Cotto. Black appeared in court wearing a mustard yellow velour sweatsuit with his head down and hands cuffed behind his back. Prosecutors said he had a suspended license, no license plates on the car and no registration or insurance. He has 26 New York State misdemeanors, including one for jumping bail 13 years ago and a felony drug conviction. cboyle@nydailynews.com