Watch: 'Brigitte Quinn's 22 Minutes' With Judge Patricia DiMango
In this installment of "22 Minutes," 1010 WINS anchor Brigitte Quinn sits down with retired justice of the Supreme Court of Kings County, New York, and current judge on "Hot Bench," Judge Patricia DiMango.
DiMango talked about working on a court television show, the most interesting cases she's been involved with, and her upbringing in Brooklyn.
BQ: This court TV show is different than other ones as far as the format goes, there are three judges?
PD: All the judge shows besides ours have one judge on the bench, which is traditional for a trial level. It's taken off, people love it. They love the idea that we deliberate with one another, whereas the other shows the judge just renders a verdict from the bench.
BQ: People love to see that inside, behind-the-scenes hashing out of legal issues.
PD: They always want an inside view of something that's taboo. You never see the chambers; the thought process behind the judge's verdict is always secret until it's rendered. It's funny because when people stop me on the street they say, "I love it when the three of you argue with each other!" They love the animosity.
BQ: Do you think the cameras affect things at all?
PD: For me, I don't even know the cameras are there. Even when I was doing trials and cases in New York City, I never realized that they were there. I would always just do whatever I was going to do. It's impossible to change who you are because much of what you do is so spontaneous.
BQ: You went to law school and wound up as a prosecutor. How does that work? How do you decide you're going to be a prosecutor versus a public defender or defense attorney?
PD: I think it's pretty much who you are and what comes from you. You can spot a person who you think has that sort of more liberal "let me fight for the underdog" mentality and you have the more conservative government-oriented "let me follow the rules" kind of personality, which is also fighting for the underdog, the victim. That's the role I felt more comfortable with. I felt like I needed to be more part of the fabric, as opposed to the ones on the outside of it.
Check out the full interview in the video above.
About Patricia DiMango
Justice Patricia M. DiMango serves as one of three judges on CBS Television Distribution's syndicated court program HOT BENCH, created by Judge Judy Sheindlin. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani appointed Justice DiMango to serve as a Judge in the criminal courts for the City of New York. She became the first Italian-American woman both in that position as well as to be elected to the New York State Supreme Court in the 2nd and 11th Judicial Districts. Most recently, Justice DiMango held the positions of First Deputy Administrative Judge for Criminal Matters, Second Judicial District and Supervising Justice of the Bronx Felony Project.
About Brigitte Quinn:
Brigitte anchors mornings at 1010 WINS radio and has worked in broadcasting for more than thirty years. She was a TV anchor at the Fox News Channel, MSNBC and NBC. She holds an MFA in writing from Sarah Lawrence College and a BS from Cornell University. Her first novel, "Anchored" was published in 2015.
Follow Brigitte Quinn @BrigitteQuinn11
