Queens’ criminal court gets new top judge
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Michelle Johnson was named administrative judge of Queens Supreme, Criminal Term on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. Photo via Office of Court Administration
By Jacob Kaye
After an approximately month-long search, Queens’ Supreme Court, Criminal Term has a new administrative judge.
Court officials announced on Wednesday that Queens Supreme Court Justice Michelle Johnson will serve as Queens Supreme, Criminal Term’s next top judge.
Johnson, who has served as interim administrative judge in the court twice before, immediately assumed the new role on Wednesday, filling the vacancy left by Donna-Marie Golia, who was elevated to the Appellate Division, Second Department in August.
“Justice Johnson is a distinguished member of New York’s bench, known for her steadfast commitment to justice and fair and measured decision-making approach,” said Chief Administrative Judge Joseph Zayas, who once held the same seat Johnson now occupies. “She is equally admired for her strong administrative abilities, as demonstrated in her recent capacity as the court’s interim administrative judge.”
“Her intimate knowledge of court operations, coupled with her outstanding leadership skills, will aid her in her new role and be assets to the Queens County Supreme Court’s Criminal Term and those it serves,” Zayas added. “I look forward to our working together in navigating operational and other challenges in the court system’s ongoing efforts to increase access to the courts and improve the delivery of justice.”
In a statement, Johnson, who has lived in Queens since high school, said that words could not “truly express the depth of my gratitude for the trust that Chief Administrative Judge Zayas and First Deputy Chief Administrative Judge St. George have placed in me to ensure that the most diverse borough in the United States remains the gold standard for the administration of justice.”
“I recognize that I have big shoes to fill and am both honored and humbled to serve the Office of Court Administration and the residents of Queens County in this new role,” she added.
Johnson has extensive experience serving in an administrative role in the city’s courthouses.
Not only has she filled in twice as interim administrative judge of the court she now permanently leads, but she also previously served as the presiding judge of Queens’ lower criminal court.
Johnson began her legal career in 1992, when she graduated from George Washington University’s Law School.
Her first legal job out of school was serving as an assistant district attorney inside the Kings County district attorney’s office.
She served in the office for a dozen years, eventually working her way up to serve as a bureau chief and as an executive in charge of the School Crime Specialized Bureau.
Johnson, who was profiled by the Eagle in 2022, eventually began to feel a pull toward more long-term investigative work, and began working as an attorney with the U.S. Department of Education, focusing on discrimination cases.
She worked there for a little over two years before she, again, “missed being in the courtroom,” Johnson told the Eagle in 2022.
The then-attorney opened a boutique law firm, which she ran for six years.
She submitted her application to become a judge in 2011, and was appointed by then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg to serve on the Civil Court bench in Manhattan.
Johnson asked to be transferred to her home borough in 2013, and was moved to serve in Queens Criminal Court. Three years later, she was named the court’s supervising judge.
The judge then ran for a spot on the Supreme Court bench in 2020 and won.
Johnson got her first taste of administration in the court when, in 2021, Zayas was appointed to the Appellate Division, Second Department. Johnson served as interim administrative judge for around five months before court officials appointed former Justice George Grasso to the position.
When Grasso retired a little less than a year later to mount an eventually unsuccessful run for Queens district attorney, Johnson was again tapped to lead the court on an interim basis.
A vacancy atop the Queens criminal trial court again opened up over the summer, when Golia was appointed by Governor Kathy Hochul to serve on the appeals court. Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder was appointed to serve as interim administrative judge until a permanent replacement was appointed.
First Deputy Administrative Judge Norman St. George said in a statement that he believed Johnson was a “superb choice to assume the vital role of administrative judge in one of the nation’s busiest criminal courts.”
“She possesses both the scope and depth of expertise and experience, along with the many other fine attributes, required of this highly challenging position,” St. George said. “I am eager to work with her in her new administrative capacity and look ahead to the operational and other enhancements to come under her dynamic leadership.”
