Less than one week after a second judge recused himself in a Nassau Police corruption case, Anthony Marano, the chief administrative judge of Nassau County, has requested that an outside judge be brought in for the case.
The case involves three former top Nassau County Police officials who were indicted by a grand jury in March on charges that they conspired to and intentionally prevented the arrest of a Merrick teenager whose father was a financial benefactor of the police, the Nassau County District Attorney's office said.
Court spokesman Dan Bagnuola told Newsday [paid link] that Marano "requested that a judge from outside the county be assigned to the case to ensure impartiality and fairness, and the appearance of impartiality and fairness."
Nassau Judge George Peck abruptly recused himself from the case on Thursday without stating a reason after handling it for about two months.
In May, Judge John Kase, the first judge assigned to the police corruption case, recused himself, saying he has been friends with former Nassau police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey for about five years.
The teen being protected, Zachary Parker, now 20, pleaded guilty in March 2012 to third-degree burglary and third-degree criminal possession of stolen property after allegedly stealing $11,000 of electronic equipment from Kennedy High School in May 2009.
According to the Long Island Press, Parker's father, Gary, is a business associate of a group called the Nassau Police Department Foundation, which says on its website that it was founded to help fund a new police academy.
