Editing Edwin Torres (judge)

{{short description|New York state supreme court judge and author}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox writer
| name         = Edwin Torres
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| birth_date    =  {{birth date and age|1931|01|07}}
| birth_place   = [[Manhattan]], New York, U.S.
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| occupation   = attorney, New York Supreme Court judge, writer
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}}

'''Edwin Torres''' (born January 7, 1931) is a former [[New York State Supreme Court]] judge and author of Puerto Rican descent, who wrote the 1975 novel ''[[Carlito's Way (novel)|Carlito's Way]]''. His book was the basis for the 1993 movie [[Carlito's Way|of the same name]], starring [[Al Pacino]], and for the 1979 book ''[[After Hours (novel)|After Hours]],'' the sequel to ''Carlito's Way''.

==Early years==
Both of Torres's parents emigrated from [[Jayuya, Puerto Rico]], and settled in the [[barrio]] in [[Manhattan]]'s [[Spanish Harlem]], where Torres was born. Growing up in poverty, Torres graduated from [[Stuyvesant High School]].<ref name="herald">{{cite news |url=http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/vol4n48/ProfTorres-en.html |title=Puerto Rico Profile: Judge Edwin Torres |date=December 1, 2000 |publisher=Puerto Rico Herald |accessdate=2007-11-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106172450/http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/vol4n48/ProfTorres-en.html |archivedate=January 6, 2008 |df=mdy }}</ref> From there he attended City College of the [[City University of New York]], followed by the [[Brooklyn Law School]].<ref name="Edwin Torres's Way">{{cite web |last1=Narvaez |first1=Richie |title=Edwin Torres's Way |url=https://crimereads.com/edwin-torres-way/ |website=CrimeReads |publisher=Literary Hub |access-date=17 August 2022}}</ref>

==Legal career==
In 1958, Torres was admitted to the New York State Bar. In 1959, as an assistant district attorney, Torres participated in the prosecution of [[Salvador Agron|Sal "the Capeman" Agron]].  Shortly thereafter he became a criminal defense attorney.<ref name="herald" />

In 1977, Torres was appointed to the New York State [[criminal law|Criminal Court]]. In 1980 he was selected to the State Supreme Court, where he served as a justice in the Twelfth Judicial District in New York City. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over felony cases, and Torres presided over a number of high-profile murder cases.<ref name="herald"/>

''[[The New York Times]]'' called Torres “one of the city’s most experienced and sternest judges and a man known for a crackling eloquence both in and out of the courtroom.”<ref>{{cite web |last1=Weber |first1=Bruce |title=Tough Phrases from the Bench |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/30/nyregion/tough-phrases-from-the-bench.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=17 August 2022 |date=November 30, 1991}}</ref> A famous exchange  involved his telling a convicted murderer, “Sucker, your parole officer ain’t been born yet.”<ref name="Edwin Torres's Way"/>

In the ''[[Law & Order: Criminal Intent]]'' season 1 episode "Semi-Professional," the Judge Raoul Sabatelli character is said to have been inspired by Judge Torres.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0868620/ | title=Edwin Torres| website=[[IMDb]]}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=November 2021}}

He retired from the bench in 2008 and since then has served on the [[New York State Athletic Commission]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gonzalez |first=David | url=https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/judge-torres-author-of-carlitos-way-chronicles-el-barrio/ |title = Judge, Author of 'Carlito's Way,' Chronicles el Barrio|date = August 20, 2008 |work=New York Times - City Room}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Commissioners |url=https://dos.ny.gov/commissioners |access-date=12 January 2022 |work=New York Department of State}}</ref>

==Writer of fiction==
Torres' tough upbringing in Manhattan and his work in the criminal justice system enabled him to create realistic [[crime fiction]] characters and plots.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Appelo |first=Tim |date=November 12, 1993 |title=Entertainment Weekly |work=EW |url=https://ew.com/article/1993/11/12/carlitos-ways-judge-character/ |access-date=August 22, 2022}}</ref> [[Richie Narvaez]] called him "the Granddaddy—''¡El Abuelo!''—of Latino crime fiction in the U.S. For a brief while in the 1970s, Torres picked up the mantle of [[Chester Himes]] and [[Miguel Piñero]], keeping the door cracked open for crime fiction writers who happen to be ethnically diverse. Without Torres we might not have gotten Ernesto Quiñonez' ''Bodega Dreams'', Carolina Garcia-Aguilera's Lupe Solano series, or even Walter Mosley's ''Devil in a Blue Dress''."<ref name="Edwin Torres's Way"/>

Torres wrote ''[[Carlito's Way (novel)|Carlito's Way]]'' in 1975 and its sequel ''[[After Hours (novel)|After Hours]]'' in 1979; both novels follow the exploits of Carlito Brigante, a fictional [[Puerto Rican people|Puerto Rican]] drug kingpin and hustler who ends up doing time in [[Sing-Sing]] and struggles to go "straight" after his release. ''The New Yorker'' praised ''Carlito's Way:'' "It is in the grisly tradition of ''[[Little Caesar (novel)|Little Caesar]]'', ''[[The Jones Men]]'', and ''[[The Friends of Eddie Coyle (novel)|The Friends of Eddie Coyle]]'', and it is the equal of any of them."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wolfe |first=Linda |date=January 8, 1990 |title="One Tough Hombre" |pages=14–15 |work=New York Magazine}}</ref>

Another novel, ''Q & A'' (1977), portrays the investigation of a decorated New York City police lieutenant suspected of corruption.<ref name="IGN">{{cite news
  | last = Gilchrist
  | first = Todd
  | title = Edwin Torres: IGN DVD speaks to the scribe responsible for ''Carlito's Way'' and its prequel, ''Rise to Power''.
  | publisher = IGN
  | date = September 23, 2005
  | url = http://dvd.ign.com/articles/653/653491p1.html
  | accessdate = 2008-01-28
  | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120204115553/http://dvd.ign.com/articles/653/653491p1.html
  | archivedate = 2012-02-04
  | url-status = dead}}</ref>
Of the book, ''The New York Times'' noted, "Judge Torres infuses these nearly current events with so much life and style that you can almost smell the musty air of 100 Centre Street."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Levin |first1=Martin |title=Five Novels |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/09/02/archives/five-novels-novels.html |access-date=22 August 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=September 2, 1979}}</ref>

===Film adaptations===
A film adaptation of ''[[Q&A (film)|Q & A]]'' was released in 1990, directed by Sidney Lumet, and it starred [[Nick Nolte]] and [[Armand Assante]]. ''After Hours'' was filmed in 1993, but used the title ''[[Carlito's Way]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F0CE4D71E3AF933A25752C1A965958260|title=Carlito's Way; The Triumph of Atmosphere Over Detail in Spanish Harlem|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=Janet Maslin|date=November 10, 1993|accessdate=2012-02-18|author-link=Janet Maslin}}</ref> to avoid being confused with [[Martin Scorsese]]'s 1985 film ''[[After Hours (film)|After Hours]]''. The film starred [[Al Pacino]] and [[Sean Penn]], under the direction of [[Brian De Palma]]. The novel ''Carlito's Way'' was filmed in 2005 and released under the title ''[[Carlito's Way: Rise to Power]]''.<ref name="IGN" />

==See also==
{{Portal|Puerto Rico|Literature|Biography}}
*[[List of Hispanic and Latino American jurists]]
*[[List of Puerto Rican writers]]
*[[List of Puerto Ricans]]
*[[Puerto Rican literature]]
{{clear}}

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/653/653491p1.html  Edwin Torres IGN DVD speaks to the scribe responsible for ''Carlito's Way'' and its prequel, ''Rise to Power''.]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041113040231/http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/vol4n48/ProfTorres-en.shtml  ''Puerto Rico Herald'' Puerto Rico Profile: Judge Edwin Torres]
*[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0868620/ Edwin Torres (judge) on IMDb]

{{Carlito's Way|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Edwin}}
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:Brooklyn Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Carlito's Way]]
[[Category:City College of New York alumni]]
[[Category:Hispanic and Latino American judges]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:New York Supreme Court justices]]
[[Category:Organized crime novelists]]
[[Category:People from East Harlem]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican writers]]
[[Category:Stuyvesant High School alumni]]
[[Category:New York state athletic commissioners]]