New Hartford, N.Y. – More than 25 police videos capture a Central New York judge’s offensive rants after officers were called to a high school graduation party that escalated out of control.
Syracuse.com went through them all to document the judge’s misconduct that led to a state commission to recommend that she be removed from the bench. (You can see the judge’s actions at the party in the videos above and below. Warning: Some language is profane.)
The New York Commission on Judicial Conduct, in a ruling made public this week after a lengthy investigation, said the judge, Erin P. Gall, tried to use her position to influence police and demonstrated racial bias and bias in favor of law enforcement.
The commission wrote in their determination that Gall participated in a “racially offensive, profane, prolonged public diatribe outside a high school graduation party.”
The police body camera footage from the party in July 2022 shows the judge threatening to shoot a group of Black teens if they returned to her friend’s property. A police officer warns her this isn’t Texas, you can’t do that.
The judge threatened to speak to officers’ supervisors when police officers did not do as she suggested. She repeatedly tells officers she’s a judge.
She also bragged to a police officer that she taught her son to beat others up if they attacked him, one video shows. In another video, she mocks the Black teens’ intelligence.
The commission released the videos showing the judge’s conduct in an 80-minute interaction with police, a group of four Black teens and a family member of one of the teens.
Gall — a justice for the Fifth Judicial District based in Oneida County — conceded to the commission that she invoked her position as a judge more than a dozen times and made statements that could appear racially insensitive and others that demonstrated a bias toward law enforcement at the detriment of civil rights, according to the commission.
In testimony to the commission, Gall denied that her actions were intentionally racist or biased.
Syracuse.com | The Post Standard has compiled from the videos a list of statements Gall made that the commission cited as reasons for their recommendation that she should be removed from her seat.
Gall is suspended with pay. She has 30 days to appeal the commission determination. If she does not file the appeal, she will be removed from office.
Related Article: State calls for removing CNY Supreme Court judge after ‘racially offensive, profane’ display at party
Party gets out of hand, police arrive
Gall was a guest at the graduation party hosted by Stephen Pearce, an attorney and friend of Gall’s, at Pearce’s home on Tibbits Road in New Hartford. The party started July 1, 2022 and continued into the early hours of July 2.
Police arrived at the graduation party around 12:20 a.m. on July 2 after a fight broke out. The fight began after large groups of teens showed up at the house uninvited. When officers arrived Gall immediately introduced herself as judge. (0:10 in the video below)
Judge objects to teens’ search for lost keys
As the party is clearing out, four Black teens are searching for a lost car key by the side of the road. Gall told police that the teens were involved in the fights. As the teens searched for the keys, Gall began yelling at them and announced her position as a judge again.
“Get off the property, and that is from Judge Gall,” she said. “I am a f--king judge”
(2:30 in the video below).
Police ask Gall to calm down
Gall began to tell people to stop searching for keys and stated she didn’t care about the keys. An officer then tells her that they care about the keys and asks her to calm down.
He reminds Gall that this is not her home. Gall responded that it is her “jurisdiction” and became upset when the officer laughed at her response.
At the end of the clip below, an officer can be heard quietly saying that he doesn’t care who she is.
Judge asks for teens to be held in police cars
As Gall continues to speak to officers about the lost keys, she says that the keys were only lost because the teens were involved in a fight.
When the officer responds that the teens are waiting for someone to come pick them up with a spare key, she tells the officer they should be held in the back of a police car despite not being under arrest or charged with any crime. (1:15 in the video below).
Judge: Tells officer she always sides with police
One officer tells Gall that they will not risk infringing on the rights of the teens. He tells her they could end up in front of her with a civil rights case if they do not handle it properly.
Gall tells the officer that the “good part” is that she is on their side and would “take down anyone” for the officers. (0:45 in the video below.)
Judge brags about teaching son to fight
As Gall is speaking to officers about the alleged assault against her husband and son, an officer says that the group of Black teens appeared to have gotten the “worst of” any injuries.
Gall responds that she taught her son well and he “put a smackdown.” As she brags about the “smackdown” she repeatedly punches her hand. (1:18 in the video below).
Judge says she’ll get sergeant/friend to arrest teens
A deputy tried to explain why they could not remove the teens from the street or arrest them, as Gall suggested. He told her that she would have to file a charge with the New Hartford Police the next day and the sheriff’s office was not the agency handling the case.
Gall told the deputy she could call a sergeant she knows and get the paperwork done to arrest the teens. ( 3:36 in the video below)
Judge mocks teens’ intelligence
Gall tells officers that her group will not search for the keys and they are likely lost. She then says that if the teens pushed the start button in the car it would likely turn on and they would find the key with them.
When an officer says their car did not look like it had a push start, she responded by saying: “They don’t look like they’re that smart. They’re not going to business school, that’s for sure.” This was a reference to her own son attending Boston College’s business school in the fall. (0:41 in video below).
Judge exchanges words with teens’ sister
As the sister of one of the teens begins to gather the boys to leave, a partygoer yells at the group. The sister responds that he looks like a “cokehead.” Gall then says: “You look like a cokehead, okay. We might be able to afford the coke, but we don’t do it.” (0:24 in the video below.)
Judge: ‘I’ll shoot them’ if they come back to property
As the group is getting ready to drive away, the officers tell Gall that it would be best if they found the keys and returned them to police so that no one would have to come back to look for them.
Gall responds by saying that if they found the keys they would flush them down the toilet. An officer tells her not to clog her toilet.
Gall says that if the teens returned to the property she would shoot them.
“Because when they trespass you can shoot them on the property,” she said. “I’ll shoot them on the property.” (1:03 in the video below).
Officers quickly tell her that is not allowed. One officer tells her: “This isn’t Texas. You can’t shoot somebody for simply going on your property,” according to the commission. The officer’s statement cannot be clearly heard in the videos made public by the commission.
(The interaction begins at 0:15 in the video below)
***
An anonymous complaint was made to the commission, which spurred the investigation and disciplinary process.
Gall told the commission she reacted as a mother and a wife who saw her loved ones - son and father - in a fight and said she regretted her actions. Despite admitting her mistakes, she maintained that her actions should be punished with a censure rather than her removal from office.
No arrests were made from the party.
Syracuse.com | The Post Standard called Gall’s chambers and contacted her attorney multiple times. Neither has have responded.
In the end, the commission found that “impropriety permeated respondent’s conduct” and her choices “irreparably damaged her ability to serve as a judge.”
In 46 years, the commission has issued 184 determinations of removal. The state Court of Appeals has reduced 10 determinations of removal to either a censure or an admonition but has never dismissed a sanction that began as a request for removal.
Gall was elected to the bench in 2011. She ran as a Republican. Her current 14-year term is set to expire in December 2025. Voters from across Central New York voted for her. Her salary is $232,600.
Erin Gall campaigns at an annual Pompey spaghetti lunch in 2011 when she was running for state Supreme Court judge. She was elected to a 14-year term.Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard, file photo
Staff writer Rylee Kirk contributed to this report.
Staff writer Anne Hayes covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at ahayes@syracuse.com.