Breitbart v. Galligan

*324OPINION OF THE COURT

On April 15, 1987, respondent Justice summarily held petitioner in contempt and deferred further action thereon until the conclusion of the trial. The adjudication of contempt resulted from a colloquy in which petitioner, 1 of 3 attorneys representing codefendants in a homicide trial, intemperately asserted that respondent was improperly holding ex parte conferences with the prosecutor, "planning the trial”, and perpetrating "a fraud on the People of the State of New York”. Petitioner’s offending comments were made in open court, but outside of the presence of the jury.…