Judge censured following 'little experiment' in court with gun, stapler
A “little experiment” involving a stapler and a handgun in court has led to a censure for a judge in the New York City Criminal Court.
In 2025, New York City Criminal Court Judge Jeffrey A. Gershuny presided over a suppression hearing focused on a police search that resulted in a recovered handgun.
After a police officer was questioned by the government and the defense, Gershuny said from the bench he was placing his personal gun in a bag, so that the officer could explain to the court how he could tell that it was a firearm.
However, Gershuny actually put his gun on the floor and put a stapler in the bag, according to an Oct. 2 determination by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
“Respondent then asked the officer a number of questions about what he repeatedly and falsely represented was a gun in the bag,” according to the determination.
The officer said he could not see that the item was a gun. He did testify that he saw “an L-shaped object,” which might be a firearm, but he would have to do a frisk to confirm that, according to the determination.
Then Gershuny made his big reveal.
“I guess … what you identified is an L-shaped object, which is a Swingline stapler,” he said.
The determination also stated that a sergeant assigned as Gershuny’s court officer told him during recess that she was uncomfortable with the idea of his experiment. She called her supervisor, who came to court and told the judge that he shouldn’t do it.
At the end of the hearing, the judge suppressed the gun as evidence, saying his experiment was one of many things influencing his decision. The government, which objected to his experiment, dismissed the case and did not file an appeal.
“Respondent exercised poor judgment when he engaged in deceptive conduct while on the bench by, inter alia, falsely telling the witness that he had placed his gun in a bag when in fact respondent’s firearm was on the floor next to respondent’s foot. His conduct was also deceptive toward others in the courtroom, including the prosecutor and defense counsel,” according to the determination.
The determination also noted that Gershuny did not get “any personal benefit” from his conduct, “unlike many of the prior disciplinary matters involving deception by a judge.”
An Oct. 13 news release from the judicial conduct commission can be viewed here.
New York lawyer Michael C. Farkas represented Gershuny in the matter.
“As stated in the commission’s release, Judge Gershuny fully cooperated with its investigation and has agreed to the censure,” Farkas told the ABA Journal.
Gershuny graduated from the Hofstra University Maurice A. Deane School of Law in 2001, according to an alumni piece posted on the school’s website. He was appointed to the bench in 2018 after serving as the chief counsel to the administrative judge of the New York City Criminal Court and as a JAG officer in the U.S. Army Reserve.
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