Kat judge pick riles LI GOPer

The ranking Republican on the state Senate Judiciary Committee on Sunday ripped Gov. Hochul’s pick for New York chief judge after The Post revealed the veteran jurist helped to toss out a rape conviction last month.

Anthony Palumbo said the decision by Court of Appeals Associate Judge Rowan Wilson and three other judges raises serious questions about his fitness for the bench and warrants scrutiny by lawmakers, who are set to hold a confirmation hearing Wilson on Monday.

“I’m very concerned,” Palumbo (Brookhaven) told The Post on Sunday. “He seems to completely ignore victims’ rights. It’s frightening. It raises questions about his ability to follow the law.”

Palumbo said he now expects many GOP lawmakers to vote against Wilson’s nomination to head the Court of Appeals.

The Post reported Saturday that Wilson wrote the majority opinion in a 4-2 decision that freed Andrew Regan from prison and cleared his conviction for the 2009 rape of a 22-year-old woman, leaving her shattered.

“It’s devastating,” said the now-37-year-old victim, who is not being identified by The Post because she still fears for her safety. “I would ask [Wilson] if he would make the same decision if it was his daughter who was the victim, because I bet he wouldn’t.”

A jury convicted Regan of first-degree rape Feb. 23, 2015, and a judge sentenced him to 12 years in prison, where he remained until this year.

Citing “inexplicable delays” that violated his right to a speedy trial, the Court of Appeals panel voted to release Regan.