Judge who let alleged NYC subway cello attacker off is recently elected ex-public defender with liberal ties
The Big Apple judge who cut loose an alleged nut accused of randomly attacking a subway cello player is a former Legal Aid attorney with ties to progressive politicians.
Judge Marva Brown, who opted Thursday to release the 23-year-old alleged attacker — who has at least eight prior arrests — was only recently elected to her judicial role after nearly two decades as a public defender.
Brown became a Brooklyn civil court judge in November after campaigning as self-described “zealous advocate, compassionate advisor, respected negotiator and skilled litigator,” according to her campaign site.
The married mom of three was endorsed for the role by a slew of liberals, including State Assemblyman Brian Cunningham, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and the Brooklyn Democratic Party.
After her election victory, lefty Brooklyn city councilman Chi Ossé was among those to heap praise on her, describing Brown in a string of tweets as “amazing” and “an indispensable community member.”
Brown is a community board member in her borough, who also served on the board of Brooklyn-based non-profit Families and Friends of the Wrongfully Convicted.
She wouldn’t comment when The Post fronted her up Friday over her decision to release alleged violent perp Amira Hunter — especially given her lengthy rap sheet and pleas from Manhattan prosecutors.
“It’s not appropriate,” the judge said outside her home after putting her kids in the car.
“I’m with my children.”
At Hunter’s arraignment on second-degree assault charges, prosecutors argued for $15,000 cash bail or $45,000 bond, noting that she has failed to appear at three of her five court dates in other criminal cases last year.
It wasn’t immediately clear why Brown, as a civil judge, was assigned the subway attack case out of Manhattan Criminal Court.
The state Office of Court Administration didn’t respond to The Post’s queries about her case assignment Friday.
Brown — a graduate of Columbia University and the New York’s Cardozo School of Law — kickstarted her legal career back in 2006 as a Legal Aid Society attorney repping perps charged with misdemeanor offenses, according to her website.
The born-and-bred New Yorker started off litigating for Legal Aid in Nassau County before later deferring to the society’s Bronx office in 2008 and then Brooklyn two years later.
It wasn’t clear if she still retains her role at the non-profit, which provides resources for people who are incarcerated or have recently been released, and their families, in the wake of her being elected a judge.
Reps for the organization didn’t respond to The Post.
Details of Brown’s background surfaced a day after she decided to set Hunter free on supervised release over the Feb. 13. caught-on-camera subway attack on performer Iain S. Forrest — despite the jurist being able to set bail on the assault charge.
Hunter, who lives in Brooklyn, also had a bench warrant out for her arrest in two cases involving petit larceny.
“We don’t comment on bail decisions except to say that in New York, Judges have discretion in making bail decisions in accordance with the law and based on an assessment of a defendant’s risk of flight,” an OCA spokesman said in a statement after Hunter’s arraignment.
A rep for Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday said she has “fought to restore judges’ discretion to hold repeat offenders and violent criminals — refusing to sign off on a budget unless it changed the bail laws — and she expects every judge to utilize that discretion because there’s nothing more important than keeping New Yorkers safe.
“The Governor and the Office of Court Administration last year reached an agreement to expand judicial training on bail and we are committed to ensuring that judges are trained regularly on this law,” the spokesperson said.
Additional reporting by Vaughn Golden
