The Saga of Kung Fu Judge John Phillips

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02-11-2010, 10:34 AM
GeneChing

This is way OT

but I had to post this somewhere...

How come you Brooklynites never told us you had a kung fu judge?

Quote:

Family of 'Kung Fu judge' John Phillips sues nursing home over death, allege missed insulin shots
BY Erin Durkin
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Thursday, February 11th 2010, 4:00 AM

The family of a Brooklyn judge has slapped a Park Slope nursing home with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit charging that shoddy treatment led to his death.

The $10 million suit alleges the Prospect Park Residence - where Judge John Phillips lived for eight months until his death two years ago - refused to give him a diabetic menu and frequently missed giving him required insulin shots.

"He had diabetes that was supposed to be controlled," said lawyer John O'Hara, also a longtime friend of Phillips. "They kept screwing up. ... They killed him."

Phillips - known as the "Kung Fu judge" during his 17 years on the Civil Court bench for his habit of making martial arts moves in court - died at 83 in February 2008 after collapsing in a Prospect Park Residence elevator.

He had been declared mentally incompetent in 2001, a move some charged was politically motivated because he had announced plans to challenge Brooklyn District attorney Charles Hynes.

A series of court-appointed guardians allegedly squandered Phillips' assets, and he died owing more than $1.5 million in taxes and other debts.

His Slave and Black Lady Theaters, which were hotbeds for black activism in the 1980s, are now up for sale to pay the debt.

Phillips' nephew, the Rev. Samuel Boykin, who is managing his estate, said he noticed signs of trouble soon after Phillips moved into the Prospect Park West nursing home.

"Looking at him, you could tell his health was going downhill fast," he said. "I was afraid that his life was in danger."

Boykin, who lives in Ohio, said he and a cousin pleaded with the court guardianship program to let Phillips move into one of their homes, but were turned down.

He insisted poor care - not just advancing age - led to Phillips' decline, noting the judge was "a health fanatic."

"My uncle was a 10th-degree black belt in Asiatic martial arts," he said. "He never drank. He never smoked cigarettes. He went to bed every night at 8 o'clock.

"The justice system that he served let him down. It's been devastating."

Prospect Park Residence director David Pomerantz said he was "saddened" by the judge's death but declined to comment on the lawsuit on the advice of attorneys.
04-07-2016, 08:45 AM
GeneChing

The return of the Kung Fu Judge...from beyond the grave....

More on the Kung Fu Judge.

Quote:

Lawyer probed in ‘Kung Fu Judge’ missing $700K inheritance
By Emily Saul April 6, 2016 | 8:09pm

https://thenypost.files.wordpress.co...4&h=441&crop=1
Judge John L. Phillips in 1997. Photo: Steven Hirsch

A Queens lawyer accused of looting the estate of a Brooklyn judge is being probed by a grand jury over seven counts of grand larceny that accuse him of pocketing more than $700,000 in inheritance, The Post has learned.

Attorney Frank Racano — currently serving a 30 day contempt-of-court sentence for not accounting for funds taken from the estate of the late Judge John Phillips — admitted to a Brooklyn surrogate’s court judge in March that he’d written checks to himself from the deceased jurist’s escrow account.

Phillips was known as the “Kung Fu Judge” because of his black belt and habit of breaking out martial arts moves during court proceedings.

The Brooklyn DA’s office is “moving forward with an indictment on the criminal charges,” Phillips’ nephew, the Rev. Samuel Boykin, said Wednesday.

“My family and I are alleging that he has ripped the estate off for 713,000,” Boykin said of Racano, who he had hired to help handle the estate.

A law enforcement source confirmed Racano was “under investigation.”

The disgruntled nephew also recently filed a $160 million notice of claim against the city, saying he was improperly removed as executor of Phillips’ estate in January 2015 and “illegally” replaced with public administrator Charles Fiori.

Fiori then went on to settle the family’s $40M wrongful death suit against Prospect Park Residence — where the judge froze to death in 2008 — for just $750G, without consulting any of them, Boykin said.

Quote:

‘My uncle served as a civil court judge for 17 years, and the system he served so diligently has really let him down.’
- Rev. Samuel Boykin, nephew

“None of the seven heirs have any idea what happened to the $750,000. We have no idea where it is,” Boykin told The Post. “Many of my family members believe he stole the money. Fiori has been over the estate since January 2015, and not only do we not know where the money is, but we have no idea what he’s doing with it.

“These people have taken that money, pretended it was theirs, and disappeared,” a frustrated Boykin continued, referring to both Racano and Fiori.

“All seven heirs are highly upset, and wondering how the courts could let these people get away with this,” he added. “My uncle served as a civil court judge for 17 years, and the system he served so diligently has really let him down.”

Boykin says he also intends to sue Queens DA Richard Brown, because he filed a complaint with his office asking them to investigate Racano’s actions in February 2016, and they never responded.

It wasn’t until Boykin reached out to Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson following Racano’s admission of theft in court that the claims were taken seriously, he said.
04-25-2017, 08:38 AM
GeneChing

Another three's a crowd...

...time to split this into an indie thread. It was slightly OT in Busted Martial Artists anyway.

Quote:

Queens lawyer sentenced for stealing from estate of late Judge John 'Kung Fu' Phillips

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopo...e_1200/str.jpg
Frank Racano appears in Brooklyn Supreme Court for his sentencing on Thursday, April 20, 2017. He pleaded guilty earlier this month to stealing over $500,000 from the estate of the late Judge John Phillips after the sale of the Slave Theatre in Bedford-Stuyvesant. (Byron Smith for New York Daily News) (BYRON SMITH FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
BY CHRISTINA CARREGA NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, April 20, 2017, 1:19 PM

A Queens lawyer who admitted to stealing over $500,000 from the estate of the late Judge John Phillips was sentenced Thursday to up to three years in prison.

Frank Racano pleaded guilty earlier this month for dipping into Phillips’ escrow account after the historic Slave Theatre and an adjacent lot in Bedford-Stuyvesant sold for $2.28 million in 2012.

The Slave Theatre was demolished earlier this year.

“For over several years, Racano took out thousands and paid off his mother’s condo until the account depleted to nothing,” said Assistant District Attorney Frank Dudis at Racano’s sentencing in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

In May 2016, after Racano admitted in civil court to writing over 300 checks from the account and was thrown into jail for 30 days, he was indicted for the brazen grand larceny.

Prosecutors recommended Racano go to prison for up to four years, but Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun decided three was appropriate.

“Grand larceny in the second-degree does not always require jail time ... I felt given the amount stolen and the abuse of his position as an attorney did not warrant no jail time,” Chun said.

Racano was also ordered to pay back $587,161 to the estate of Phillips, who was known as “the Kung Fu Judge” because of his martial arts proficiency.

His attorney, Samuel Karliner, said he has paid some of it back already.

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopo...l21n-2-web.jpg
Judge John L. Phillips in front of his Slave Theatre at 1215 Fulton Street in Brooklyn. (HE, GARY)

“It doesn't surprise me. When attorneys embezzle a clients money, its never an isolated incident. They know what they are doing, they just decided to throw in the towel," said John O'Hara, an attorney for Phillips.

The disgraced lawyer was also pleaded guilty in Queens for stealing over $50,000 from Tina Rashkover and Lisandra Vasquez, according to court documents. He's expected to be sentenced for that case on April 24.

“This is hopefully the last straw to destroy the legacy of a beloved judge here in Brooklyn,” said Dudis.

This was not the first time an attorney had raided Phillips’ estate.

In 2008, Phillips' former guardian, Emani Taylor, was ordered to repay $403,000 to his estate.

In 2006, Maria Leyna Albertina pleaded guilty for stealing the deeds of several homes in Brooklyn, including one that belonged to Phillips.

Phillips, who was a civil court judge for 17 years and known for his martial arts skills, suffered from Alzheimer’s and died in 2008 at the age of 83.