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She’s got a soft spot for suspects headed for hard time, critics charge.
Lefty Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Janice Robinson has repeatedly cut accused criminals loose with no or minimal bail, including in attempted-murder cases — refusing to side with prosecutors’ recommendations in those instances even once, a damning review by The Post has found.
Since recently moving over from the civil bench, Robinson, the niece of a longtime Democrat state lawmaker, has consistently gone easy on many defendants, according to an examination of more than a dozen of her criminal cases.
Of those 13 cases, eight accused criminals walked out of court with no bail — including two charged with attempted murder, among them a minor who already had a pending attempted-murder rap against him. The other five defendants had bail set — but it was well below what the DA’s office requested, records show.
“She’s never set bail over $10,000, and that was on an attempted murder, which means you walk for a lousy 10% — a $1,000 — partially secured bond backed by nothing,” a frustrated law-enforcement source told The Post.
It is outrageous to refuse “to set meaningful bail on defendants with this many open cases — shooters, blatant recidivists who have shown they will shoot, steal and do violence no matter how many bites at the apple they get,” the source said.
The state Office of Court Administration, which speaks for judges in the state, did not respond to several Post requests for comment on Robinson’s behalf.
Nearly all of the defendants set free by Robinson in the reviewed cases have return dates to court later in the year, so it is not yet known if any will take advantage of their cushy situations and blow off their mandated appearances.
But very few would likely be on the streets if prosecutors had gotten the bail conditions they asked for.
Robinson, the Brooklyn-born daughter of Jamaican immigrants, was elected to the bench in 2024 and took a seat in the borough’s civil court Jan. 1, 2025, according to reports.
She is the niece of Nick Perry, a Democrat who served in the state Assembly nearly 30 years representing parts of East Flatbush, Canarsie and Brownsville and later served briefly as US ambassador to Jamaica.
Robinson graduated from Hofstra University and earned a law degree from American University. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first black sorority, and spent the first 20 years of her legal career as a lawyer for insurance companies before turning to politics.
After serving as a civil court judge, she was recently transferred to the criminal bench.
Among the cases reviewed by The Post is the arrest of 19-year-old accused attempted murderer Nayshawn WIlkinson.
The teen was in court Aug 4 when the DA’s office asked that he be sent to Rikers without bail. Wilkinson was charged with attempted murder for allegedly firing a gun into a busy Brooklyn intersection. Robinson granted him $5,000 bail or a $10,000 bond, which he later posted.
Jonathan Morris, 21, was also facing an attempted-murder charge when he went before Robinson on two cases, which also included weapons possession. Prosecutors wanted him held on $250,000 cash bail, but the judge set the mark at $5,000 in one case — and $1 on the other, sources said.
In another case, Brooklyn prosecutors asked for bail of $100,000 cash or a $500,000 bond for Omar Perry, 44, who charged with robbery and weapons possession for stealing a cell phone from a bus passenger and threatening to kill them while wielding a hammer.
Robinson instead let Perry walk without bail but under supervision Aug. 3.
She did the same in the case of Sunny Demitro, 31, who has at least 10 open cases and was nabbed June 17 on charges that he stole a car and fled the scene of a hit and run accident. Robinson let him go on supervised release despite the DA asking for $25,000 cash or a $50,000 bond.
Demitro, who faced 38 charges in the case, was arrested over a new grand larceny incident Aug. 8, when a different judge set his bail at $5,000 or $10,000, which he posted.
On Aug. 3, Robinson released 32-year-old Elijah Guy without bail despite the DA’s office asking he be held on $50,000 cash or a bond of up to $100,000 on charges that he pulled a gun and fired two shots at a 66-year-old man after a dispute.
Guy was also charged with another assault case stemming from a July 31 incident.
In addition, Robinson ordered Blackman Devon, 36, released without bail Aug. 6 after he was allegedly nabbed with a loaded gun and felony drug charges two days earlier. Prosecutors asked for $100,000 cash bail.
In yet another case, Watson Barthelemy went before the judge the same day facing robbery, assault and theft charges — with two open cases, including a felony assault rap, already hanging over him.
Barthelemy, 29, had been previosly locked up at Rikers Island on a public lewdness and harassment charge after another judge set his bail at $10,000 over $25,000, which he posted July 11.
When he went before Robinson on the new robbery charge, Brooklyn prosecutors asked that he be held on $100,000 cash or a $200,000 bond, but the judge released him without bail.
In another case, Humberto Ortiz, 48, who has seven open cases, was charged with grand larceny, burglary, possession of stolen property and possession of burglar tools July 21 but released without bail by Robinson — despite a request by the DA that he be held on $25,000 cash bail or a $50,000 bond.
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