From Court to Court Meeting Plummer Lott, Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department of the New York Supreme Court, for the first time, it’s easy to believe that the original 1967 Seattle Supersonics drafted him in the fifth round of the NBA draft. It’s also easy to believe that his statuesque appearance commands respect in the courtroom. From 1995 to 2003, Lott served as Supreme
Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Lott
Court Justice Criminal Term and has presided
received numerous basketball scholarships to
over some of the most highly publicized
colleges across the country. His mother wanted
and intricate criminal trials in Kings County,
him to stay close to home, but like most teenage
New York. These trials involved multiple
boys, Lott wondered “how far away can I go?”
occurrences, defendants and juries, including
He chose to attend Seattle University.
New York to preside over a trial involving three separate juries. The People of the State of New York v. Mark Rushion, Samson Nylander and Mavis Brown involved two men and a woman charged with robbing and killing a 17-year-old
While at Seattle U., Lott had a marginal college basketball career and a less than stunning pro career. “But because of the influence of my parents, I entered college with the knowledge that basketball, at best, should be a means to an end and not an end in itself,” Lott said.
pizza deliveryman. He also presided over a
After college, Lott worked at Allstate Insurance
second three-jury trial as judge for The People
along with his good friend and law school
of the State of New York v. Dexter Bostic,
classmate Fred Bonner ‘74, now a Seattle
Robert Ellis and Lee Woods, a case charging
Municipal Court Judge.
three men in the shooting of two Brooklyn police officers, one fatally.
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became the first and only judge in the state of
uw law
two unprecedented three-jury trials. In 2002, he
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