Judge Gives Some Hope to Return to Ethics

Queens judge steps down from accused hubby-killer Sheehan case
The New York Post by Christina Carrega  -  July 12, 2011

A Queens judge has stepped down from the murder trial of accused hubby-killer Barbara Sheehan because defense lawyers argued he has a conflict of interest — his daughter is a prosecutor in the Queens DA’s office that is handling the case.  Lawyer Michael Dowd raised the question of whether or not Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter would be fair because his daughter, Rachel, is a Queens prosecutor, even though she is not handling this case.  Dowd later retracted his thoughts, but Buchter, not wanting to take any chances since the issue had been raised, decided to step down anyway.  Sheehan is accused of pumping 11 shots into her ex-cop husband, Raymond, in their Howard Beach home on February 18, 2008 after years of alleged domestic abuse.  With a new judge, it gives Dowd a third chance to file a renewed motion for the battered woman defense that retired Judge Arthur Cooperman denied in 2009 because Sheehan missed a court-ordered exam.  Judge Buchter had been reviewing the motion, Dowd said.  "I’ve had a history of handling high profile cases, murder cases, I’ve dismissed cases and I’ve shown nothing but fairness," Buchter said tod ay. "This is the first time I’ve ever recused myself.  "Once it was raised, it can’t be unsaid. Its like the sword of Damocles hanging over my head," the judge said about his decision to take himself off the case. Sheehan’s trial was set to begin in September, but now the decision as to who the new judge will be is up in the air until July 26. It will be between the administrative judge Queens Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho or Queens Supreme Court Justice Robert McGann.