The fate of Goldman Sachs, at least for now, is in the hands of a federal judge who made a name for herself as a prosecutor pursuing mafia cases.

The SEC's civil case against Goldman, in which it accuses Goldman of defrauding customers who bought investments tied to risky mortgages, was wheeled out to Federal Judge Barbara S. Jones in the Southern District, on Friday (and it will remain with her, unless for some reason the case get reassigned).

In...