Corrupt Manhattan Judge Takes The Stand In Fraud Case

Manhattan judge fighting back in contribution fraud case
The New York Post by LAURA ITALIANO - March 16, 2010

A Manhattan judge is at the defendant's table today, as jury selection begins in her campaign fraud case. Testimony is expected to begin as soon as tomorrow. Surrogate Court Judge Nora Anderson is charged with sneaking $250,000 in illegal contributions into her 2008 primary campaign coffers. "I will tell you this," Anderson said, when reached on the eve of jury selection yesterday. "These were forms which show who contributed what -- how much to my campaign. The ethical rules forbade me to see those forms," she said. "I did not see them. I did not sign them. I did not file them. I have no idea what they say. Intent is always an element of a crime -- and the people have to prove intent." Anderson won the November 2008 election, was indicted the next month, and was sworn in the month after as one of Manhattan's only two Surrogate Court judges -- the judges who preside over the estates of the dead. But she was suspended immediately, with pay, by the state Court of Appeals pending the outcome of her case. "I hope that I am vindicated," she said. "That I can reaffirm my promises to the voters and go to work." The trial is expected to take about three weeks.