Mount Morris Judge resigns to end state investigation

The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct announced that James D. LaPiana, a Justice of the Mount Morris Town Court and the Mount Morris Village Court, Livingston County, who was under investigation for alleged judicial misconduct, has resigned from office effective August 31, 2017, and has agreed never to seek or accept judicial office at any time in the future. The Commission accepted a stipulation to that effect signed by the judge and the Commission’s Administrator and closed its investigation. Judge LaPiana was apprised by the Commission in June 2017 that it was investigating several complaints alleging that over a two-year period beginning in May 2015, he:

 Failed to follow the law when he engaged in extensive ex parte communications with a defendant at arraignment concerning the facts of the case and subsequently presided over a non-jury trial in the matter;

 Failed to follow the law when he directed a defendant to enter a local business to pay restitution, in violation of an order of protection; and,

 Repeatedly exhibited discourtesy and other inappropriate demeanor, such as directing an officer to procure duct tape and thereafter repeatedly threatening to tape shut a defendant’s mouth. Judge LaPiana, who is an attorney, has served as a Justice of the Mount Morris Town Court since 2006 and the Mount Morris Village Court since 2010. His current terms would have expired December 21, 2018, and April 5, 2019, respectively.

Judge LaPiana waived the statutory provision of confidentiality applicable to Commission proceedings, to the limited extent that the stipulation and Commission’s order accepting it and closing the case would be public. The stipulation and the Commission’s order closing the case can be found on the Commission’s website: www.cjc.ny.gov.