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Attorneys and justices on the commission voted Elmsford Village Court Justice Carlos Gonzalez should be removed from office in connection with six incidents of misconduct with clients.
Gonzalez, a Democrat, was suspended from practicing law after finding he engaged in professional misconduct while working as an attorney and failed to notify Connecticut's Appellate Division of his discipline in a timely manner, violating a state statute, said the NY State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
His two-year suspension from practicing law in New York started in May 2021. The Appellate Division suspended Gonzalez for his professional misconduct for an additional 18 months to expire in July 2023.
Gonzalez took office in Elmsford in April 2021. His current term expires in March 2025.
In determining to remove Gonzalez from the bench, the Commission found that he “engaged in a pattern of professional misconduct and that his “professional misconduct and his lack of candor demonstrated that he is unfit for judicial office,” the commission said.
"It would be contrary to the public interest and common sense to bar someone from appearing in court as a lawyer, but not from taking the bench and deciding legal issues," said Commission Administrator Robert Tembeckjian on Monday, April 25.
The commission also ruled Gonzalez should be removed for his pattern of professional misconduct and insincere attitude about the disciplinary actions.
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