Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Judges Are Allowed to Google Too
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 22, 2010
Modified Mar 22, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 22, 2010
Modified Mar 22, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A convicted bank robber who appealed his case on grounds that the judge had overstepped his authority by Googling was denied his appeal today. Anthony Bari allegedly knocked over the Ridgewood Savings Bank in the Bronx in Sept. 2008 while on parole for a previous bank robbery; evidence against him included a security video, which showed the robber was wearing a yellow rain hat, similar to one found in the garage of Bari's landlord. In his sentencing Bari to three year's in jail, Judge Denny Chin noted that he had Googled rain hats to research the disguise.
Bari argued that "Chin's Googling violated federal rules that prohibit judges from serving as witnesses at trials over which they preside," the Post reports, but the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, "Common sense leads one to suppose that there is not only one type of yellow rain hat for sale...(Chin's) independent Internet search served only to confirm this common sense assumption." Judge Chin is no stranger to strange cases: he famously sentenced Bernie Madoff to 150 years in prison, ruled that calling someone gay was no longer defamation, and once dealt with a "1,784 billion, trillion dollars" lawsuit.
Tagged
appeals
judge denny chin
robbery
trial
yellow rain hats
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
News
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .