JURIST EYES HIS NEXT ROLE: RETIREMENT CURCIO PLANS TO VACATE MALTA BENCH.(Local)

Byline: Winifred Yu Staff writer

After 10 years on the bench, Town Justice Joseph Curcio is ready to retire.

Last year, the 68-year-old Curcio underwent open-heart surgery and had a quadruple heart bypass, "which does take a heck of a lot out of you," he said. "At this point I'd like to take it easy a little bit."

And so he will when his term expires Dec. 31. His departure paves the way for a new town justice, who would be elected next November and would share the duties with Malta's other judge, James Nichols.

Among the candidates, Curcio said, is his daughter-in-law Gina, who has been his clerk for five years. "She knows what it takes to …