No signs of criminality in death of judge found by river

April 13, 2017 at 9:22 a.m. | Updated April 13, 2017 at 9:35 a.m.

by Associated Press

FILE- In this April 30, 2013 file photo, Justice Sheila Abdus-Salaam looks on as members of the state Senate Judiciary Committee vote unanimously to advance her nomination to fill a vacancy on the Court of Appeals at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. The New York City Police Department confirmed that Abdus-Salaam's body was found on the shore of the Hudson River off Manhattan on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)
FILE- In this April 30, 2013 file photo, Justice Sheila Abdus-Salaam looks on as members of the state Senate Judiciary Committee vote unanimously to advance her nomination to fill a vacancy on the Court of Appeals at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y. The New York City Police Department confirmed that Abdus-Salaam's body was found on the shore of the Hudson River off Manhattan on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)

NEW YORK (AP) - Police say there are no signs of criminality in the death of the first black woman appointed to New York state's highest court whose body was found on the bank of the Hudson River.

An autopsy will be conducted on 65-year-old Sheila Abdus-Salaam.

The New York City police harbor unit retrieved her body from the Hudson on Wednesday, a day after she was reported missing.

Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who appointed Abdus-Salaam to the state's Court of Appeals in 2013, called her a "trailblazing jurist."

Abdus-Salaam graduated from Barnard College and received her law degree from Columbia Law School.

She started her career as a staff attorney for East Brooklyn Legal Services. She served as a judge on the Manhattan state Supreme Court for 14 years.

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