If you don't talk to me the first time, the next time it will definitely be me. And when they do meet with Calabrese, lawyers often complain about his demeanor. Calabrese, a former Nassau prosecutor, Hempstead assistant town attorney and defense attorney, doesn't hesitate to use his powerful voice to cut off lawyers when he believes they are wasting his time. With both precision and patience, he often takes them through the often complicated process, explaining the potential consequences of every move they make during plea bargaining and other motions. It's something I try to do, otherwise it becomes meaningless if they don't understand what's going on.
Attorneys only wish they had a similar level of communication be hind the scenes.
He is the only judge who won't engage you in conference. You can only talk to him at the bench in the courtroom. That's highly inappropriate when you talk about serious felonies. You're dealing with lengthy jail sentences and people's lives. The drama of courtroom argument so enticed the former college baseball player that when Hempstead Mayor James Garner made him an associate village justice in 1990, Carter feared he was ill-suited for the job, until he spoke with three friends.