Judge Richard T. Snyder, of Petersburgh Town Court in New York, was referred to the judicial watchdog after making the remarks.

Judges are not automatically excluded as potential jurors in New York, where most are elected by voters.

When Judge Synder was summoned for jury duty in October 2023, he introduced himself as a town judge and then said he shouldn’t serve as a juror because he believed that people coming before a court must have done something wrong.

He was excused from jury duty but the judge presiding over jury selection subsequently reported him, the New York Post reports.

The judge, who has held the post since 2014, agreed to step down and not to run again for election as town judge.

Robert Tembeckjian, administrator of the New York Commission on Judicial Conduct, said: “It is bad enough that a judge would seek to avoid such a fundamental civic responsibility as jury service.

“It is astounding that the judge would claim an inability to be impartial, and to declare under oath that the accused must be guilty or they would not be in court.

“There is no place on the bench for someone who so deeply misunderstands the role of a judge and the administration of justice.”