Town of Wallkill

WALKILL JUSTICE TOSSES 70 TICKETS:

Town Justice Ray Shoemaker yesterday dismissed about 70 traffic tickets written by troopers, a move that could land him in a higher court — as a defendant.

Both the chief lawyer for the state police and Orange County District Attorney Frank Phillips think Shoemaker's wrong.

"Step one is to contact the judge, to try to explain to him that his decision is in error," Phillips said yesterday. "Our next step would be either an appeal or an Article 78 proceeding (a civil suit) to prohibit him from doing this in the future. In my opinion, he's clearly acting in excess of his authority."

Shoemaker's move was the most dramatic response so far to a new state police policy that bans troopers from reaching plea bargains when they prosecute traffic infractions. Some judges have postponed trials because Gov. George Pataki is considering whether to sign a bill that would return plea-bargaining power to troopers and avert fears of late nights in court caused by an abundance of trials.

Yesterday, troopers who showed up for trials in Wallkill Town Court told their superiors that Shoemaker dismissed the tickets after declaring that the new policy, which took effect on Sept. 1, made troopers witnesses, not prosecutors.

Shoemaker confirmed that account during a brief interview yesterday after court.

"I'm not going beyond that," he said.

The tickets were dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could be refiled. "They were just dismissed for failure to prosecute," Shoemaker said.