December 2007
Judge: Blogger identity is safe
Rules for person targeting officials
By
Alesha Williams Boyd • Freehold Bureau
12-22-07 --
The undisclosed identity of an Internet blogger whose comments
targeted local officials will remain a mystery for now, a state
Superior Court judge ruled Friday. . . . Judge Terence P. Flynn in
Freehold ruled to quash a subpoena filed by Manalapan Township
against Google, seeking the name and account information of the
author of the blog “daTruthSquad.blogspot.com” calling the request
"an unjust infringement on the blogger's First Amendment rights.". .
. The subpoena is part of an ongoing lawsuit filed in June against
Stuart Moskovitz, a former township attorney and mayor. The township
contends Moskovitz botched negotiations for a recreational land
purchase in 2005. . . . Attorneys for the township believe Moskovitz
is the owner of the blog.
Da blog celebrates da ruling
at this link.
Fearing Class Action, Carrier Removes Lawyer's Dental-Bill Suit to
Federal Court
Henry
Gottlieb, New Jersey Law Journal
12-14-07 --
A New Jersey lawyer who won a $45 million class action settlement
last year from Horizon Blue Cross is suing the carrier in small
claims court for not paying his $462 dental bill. . . . And the
carrier, saying it fears the suit may be a prelude to another class
action, has hired McCarter & English, the state's largest firm, to
make a federal case out of it. . . . A dentist charged Eric Katz
$600 to fill a decayed tooth with composition bonding, but Horizon
Blue Cross told him his coverage under his ex-wife's family policy
permitted reimbursement for an inexpensive silver filling only. The
carrier pegged the benefit at $138, leaving the rest of the bill to
Katz. . . . Katz appealed to the carrier, armed with a statement
from dentist Fred Teschemacher that bonding was required because
Katz's teeth were "severely eroded."
`Sopranos'
Creator David Chase in Court
By Janet Frankston Lorin
12-12-07 -- (AP) — David Chase was in federal
court Wednesday to defend his role in creating the Emmy-winning HBO
mob drama, "The Sopranos." . . . The case was brought by a former
New Jersey municipal court judge who claims his ideas helped Chase
come up with the plot for the show. . . . Chase arrived at the
Trenton courthouse with two lawyers, but declined to comment. . . .
Thirty-one prospective jurors were in the courtroom, where they were
told eight would be chosen to hear the case, which is expected to
take eight days. . . . Chase, dressed in a black suit, sat at a
table with his lawyers. His wife, Denise Chase, who is vice
president of his production company, was also seated at the table. .
. . Opening statements were expected after the lunch break. . . .
Robert Baer, also a former assistant prosecutor in Union and Hudson
counties, sued Chase in 2002, claiming he suggested a TV show about
organized crime in New Jersey and gave Chase a crash course on the
North Jersey mob. He wants credit and compensation. . . . A federal
judge dismissed Baer's lawsuit twice, but those rulings were
overturned.

November 2007
Lawyer-Judge May Be at Center of Land-Flip Fraud
Mary Pat
Gallagher, New Jersey Law Journal
11-30-07 --A Garfield, N.J., lawyer who is also the
town's judge may have played a central role in a scheme to defraud
lenders by obtaining mortgages based on inflated appraisals of
run-down properties. . . . A state civil suit points to Garfield
solo William Colacino Jr. as the lawyer referred to in a federal
criminal case as "W.C.," an unindicted co-conspirator whose legal
services, law office, attorney bank accounts and legal assistant
were allegedly used in the scheme. . . . Colacino, admitted to the
New Jersey bar in 1973, has been Garfield's judge since 1984. He
also sat in Wood-Ridge from 2004 until the end of 2006. . . .
Neither he nor his lawyer in the civil case, Karen Painter Randall
of Roseland, N.J.'s Connell Foley, returned a reporter's call. . . .
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Walsh, the prosecutor in the federal
case, declines to say whether W.C. is Colacino or whether W.C. will
be criminally charged.
Judge Korpita pleads not guilty to DWI
He
could face official misconduct charge
By
Michael Scholl, Daily Record
11-28-07 --George R. Korpita is used to presiding over courtrooms from his
perches on the benches of the municipal courts of Dover, Victory
Gardens and Rockaway. . . . But he got a different perspective of a
courtroom Tuesday morning when he made his first appearance as a
defendant in state Superior Court in Union County to face charges of
driving while intoxicated and careless driving that stem from a Nov.
6 incident in Roxbury. . . . Korpita, 47, did not speak during the
three-minute hearing before Judge John S. Triarsi. But he stood
behind the defense table next to his attorney, James E. Trabilsy,
who entered pleas of not guilty to the DWI and careless driving
charges on his client's behalf. . . . Korpita may later face a more
serious charge, according to Assistant Morris County Prosecutor
Ralph Amirata, who told Triarsi that the investigation into the Nov.
6 incident "is still ongoing."
Garfield judge relieved of duties
By
Alexander MacInnes, Herald News
11-28-07 --William C. Colacino Jr., the Garfield
municipal judge with alleged ties to an elaborate real estate scheme
in Paterson, has been removed temporarily from his seat by Garfield
City Manager Thomas Duch. . . . Colacino, who has not been indicted
or identified by federal prosecutors in that case, was relieved of
his responsibilities last week by Duch, with Bergen County presiding Municipal Judge
Roy McGeady replacing Colacino until further notice. . . . "The
press has indicated that his initials have come up frequently in
this case, but at this point without an indictment, they're just
allegation," Duch said. "You're innocent until proven guilty on one
side, and on the other side, people are coming into Municipal Court
to have cases heard, and they're having their case heard by a judge
who keeps being referred to in the press."

Arrest report says judge failed several sobriety tests
by Bill
Swayze/The Star-Ledger
11-16-07 --
When pulled over by Roxbury police
for suspected drunk driving, Municipal Court Judge George Korpita
handed the officer a blue identification card, nonchalantly saying
"I'm a judge," according to the arrest report released today. . . .
"I'm OK, bro. I'm OK," Korpita said, according to the report. "I'm a
judge, bro." . . . But the 47-year-old judge for Dover, Rockaway,
and Victory Gardens had a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the
legal limit when he got behind the wheel after leaving a Route 46
go-go bar early on Nov. 6, according to the arrest report. . . .
Korpita proceeded to fail several back-to-back sobriety tests, even
when given several chances to pass them. He couldn't recite the
alphabet, couldn't walk a straight line, or stand on one leg or
touch the bottom of a pen held in front of his face, according to
the report.
Judge Broome reprimanded by N.J. panel
By Madelaine Vitale Staff Writer
11-14-07 -- An Atlantic County judge who imposed
improper fines for young motorists caught with small amounts of
alcohol in their blood has received a reprimand for not following
proper protocol, but not for his tough stand on the issue. . . . A
judicial panel concluded that Municipal Court Judge Henry Broome Jr.
did nothing wrong beyond charging excessive fines. Broome fined 11
young violators as much as $800 each after they were caught driving
with blood-alcohol levels between .01 and .07. The fines were issued
between 2004 and 2005 and were later partially refunded after a
court order. . . . The "baby drunken driving" law allows motorists
younger than 21 to be prosecuted for driving with blood-alcohol
levels below the legal limit of .08, but it does not allow a judge
to issue the same fines that would be issued to drivers caught with
higher blood-alcohol levels.

Judge Disciplined for Rough Justice But Not for Leveling 'Baby DWI'
Fines
Michael
Booth, New Jersey Law Journal
11-9-07 -- The New Jersey Supreme Court on
Wednesday reprimanded veteran municipal court Judge Henry Broome Jr.
for multiple ethics violations but decided against discipline for a
particular quirk of his jurisprudence: imposing DWI fines not
authorized by statute. . . . The court agreed with its Advisory
Committee on Attorney Ethics that at the time Broome assessed fines
on underage drivers under the so-called "Baby DWI" law, there was
genuine uncertainty about municipal court judges' power to do so,
since the statute and its legislative history could be construed as
ambiguous. . . . However, the court did impose fines upon Broome for
other foibles, such as: . . . failing to follow a state-court
prohibition against dismissal of charges of refusal to take a
Breathalyzer test; . . . participating in plea negotiations while
sitting as a judge in a case; . . . negotiating and approving a plea
agreement in the prosecutor's absence; . . . accepting plea
agreements without first ascertaining the factual bases; . . .
warning a defendant who testified in his own behalf that the judge
would have him "indicted" if he lied under oath; . . . advising
litigants at the start of court sessions of his "$100 policy,"
namely that fines of that amount or less were due and payable on the
day imposed.
Local Lawyer Cited for Contempt Files Ethics Complaint Against Judge
New York
Lawyer, By Michael Booth, New Jersey Law Journal
11-9-07 --
A lawyer arrested and held in contempt by a Bloomfield Municipal
Court judge has filed a complaint against him with the Advisory
Committee on Judicial Conduct, claiming he penalized her for raising
a racial-profiling defense in her client's traffic-violation case. .
. . Rashidah Hasan, an East Orange solo who is also the director of
legal affairs for Essex County College, appeared before
Judge Joseph Connolly on Oct. 4 on behalf of her client, DeWayne
Smith. Bloomfield police had stopped Smith and charged him with
careless driving, driving with no insurance, having a loud muffler
and failing to obey police orders. . . . Smith, who is black,
believed he was the victim of racial profiling, Hasan says, and she
demanded that the police department turn over records of its traffic
stops, which might support his claim. . . . After Municipal
Prosecutor Paul Sant’Ambrogio concluded his case, Hasan made a
verbal motion to dismiss the charges. . . . Connolly, she says,
“went into a rage, pounding on the desk,” held her in contempt and
ordered her to pay a fine of $100. He told her to pay up at the next
scheduled hearing in the case, on Oct. 25. . . . At the second
hearing, Hasan asked Connolly to withdraw the contempt finding,
arguing that she could not adequately represent Smith under the
threat of jail for noncompliance.
Former N.J. Muni Court Judges Plead Not Guilty to Improper Ticket
Fixing
Lisa
Brennan, New Jersey Law Journal
11-4-07 --Four former Jersey City, N.J., Municipal Court judges
alleged to have improperly dismissed tickets for themselves or
others pleaded not guilty to official misconduct charges on Thursday
in Hudson County. . . . Superior Court
Judge Peter Vazquez, in arraigning Wanda Molina, Pauline Sica,
Victor Sison and Irwin Rosen, did not require them to post bail but
directed that they be fingerprinted and processed as defendants. . .
. Vazquez said the venue of the cases will be moved to another
county, since the state's chief witnesses are Hudson County
Assignment Judge Maurice Gallipoli and trial court administrator
Joseph Davis, who conducted the initial investigation. . . . Once
venue is changed, state prosecutors will present the cases to a
grand jury in the new county.
October 2007
Criminal Charges Announced in N.J. Ticket-Fixing Scandal
Lisa
Brennan, New Jersey Law Journal
10-24-07 --
Four Jersey City, N.J., municipal judges,
including the former chief judge, were charged Monday with
improperly dismissing traffic and parking tickets for themselves,
relatives, friends or colleagues. . . . Wanda Molina, who resigned
as chief judge on Sept. 20, was charged with second-degree official
misconduct, as were part-time Judges Pauline Sica and Victor Sison,
who took unpaid leaves of absence last month. All three have since
been replaced. . . . A fourth judge, Irwin Rosen, also on unpaid
leave, was charged with third-degree official misconduct. Since
Rosen has not yet been replaced, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner issued
an order Monday suspending him from judicial duties. . . . The
second-degree charges against Molina, Sica and Sison each carry a
potential jail term of 10 years. Rosen faces a possible five-year
sentence. . . . Molina is accused of dismissing five parking or
traffic tickets for her personal companion. Sica allegedly dismissed
a parking ticket issued to Sison, downgraded another for him and
downgraded a traffic ticket issued to a member of Sison's immediate
family. Sison is charged with soliciting Sica to handle those
tickets for him. Rosen allegedly fixed one parking ticket he had
received three years ago.
N.J. Chief Justice Wants Review Of Courts After Corruption Charges
10-24-07 --
(WNBC.COM) Four Jersey City municipal
judges have been charged with official misconduct for allegedly
fixing traffic and parking tickets for themselves, their friends and
family members. . . . Reacting to the charges, New Jersey Chief
Justice Stuart Rabner ordered "a review of the entire municipal
court system to ensure that proper procedures for dismissing tickets
are being followed." . . . His order could mean a statewide
investigation to determine if "the culture of corruption" referred
to by Attorney General Anne Milgram in Jersey City has infected
local courts elsewhere in the Garden State. . . . Milgram, announcing
the charges regarding the parking tickets Monday at a news
conference, said judges are supposed to avoid any conflict of
interest or suggestion of impropriety, but these four clearly did
not. . . . "Judges are like umpires," she said. "They're supposed to
call the balls and strikes fairly," she said. "They basically made
up the rules themselves."
Top judge denies report that tix-fix probe extends into
Guttenberg
by
Ken Thorbourne
10-17-07
--The state's top judge denied a
report today in the New Jersey Law Journal that Guttenberg's
municipal court is a target of the state's ticket-fixing probe,
which has resulted in five Jersey City judges stepping down. . .
. According to the article, written by reporter Lisa Brennan,
"court sources" confirmed that the state Attorney General
Office's investigation into improperly dismissed tickets has
been expanded to Guttenberg and East Orange. . . . But Tammy
Kendig, a spokeswoman for New Jersey Chief Justice Stuart Rabner,
denied that the four-block wide town is part of the probe. . . .
"There is an investigation in East Orange being done at the
request of the chief justice," Kendig said. "There is nothing in
Guttenberg." . . . But the Law Journal isn't taking back its
words.
Judge Keeps Lawyer Disciplinary Reports Under Wraps
By
Robert G. Seidenstein
10-17-07
--The
activist who lost a bid to open everything in an Office of Attorney
Ethics (OAE) file to public view once an attorney has agreed to be
disbarred will be appealing that decision. . . . John Paff, an
outspoken proponent of openness in the attorney-discipline system,
made clear his intention to challenge the ruling during an interview
with New Jersey Lawyer. . . . In his case, Assignment Judge Linda R.
Feinberg of Mercer County ruled the OAE does not have to reveal
reports prepared by its investigators or analyses prepared by its
attorneys in building cases against lawyers. . . . In Paff v.
Director, Office of Attorney Ethics, Feinberg said the reports and
analyses constitute privileged work product "generated in
anticipation of litigation of ethics charges" and reflect the
thought processes of OAE attorneys. . . . She also said the
documents fall within the so-called "deliberative process
privilege," which allows the government to withhold documents
reflecting advice, recommendations and deliberations that are part
of its decision-making process. . . . Paff was instrumental in
bringing R.M. v. Supreme Court (2005), in which the New Jersey
Supreme Court ruled that those filing complaints against lawyers
have a First Amendment right to discuss the matters in public.
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Cynicism, but no sign of voter revolt over corruption in Jersey
By Tom
Hester Jr., Associated Press
10-13-07 --
It sounds like a joke poking fun at New Jersey's soiled political
reputation: Government corruption is so widespread in the state that
it alone cannot turn off scandal-weary voters. . . . Even as state
Democrats seeking to keep legislative control in November's election
endure high-profile corruption cases, many New Jersey voters seem to
accept corruption as par for the course. . . . New Jersey voters
think their politicians are more corrupt than other states and link
government corruption to the Democrats, but are no more likely to
vote Republican, according to recent polls by Fairleigh Dickinson
University and Quinnipiac University. . . . "The results demonstrate
how cynical the New Jersey electorate has become,'' said Michael
Torpey, who was former Republican Gov. Christine Whitman's chief of
staff. ******** Voters might take some comfort in knowing New Jersey
isn't the most corrupt state, at least in the eyes of one analysis.
The Garden State ranked ninth, based on federal corruption
convictions monitored by the
Corporate Crime Reporter, a weekly crime newsletter,
behind Louisiana, Mississippi,
Kentucky, Alabama,
Ohio, Illinois,
Pennsylvania and Florida. . . . The study
examined convictions in the 35 most populous states and found
Utah, Kansas,
Minnesota, Iowa and Oregon to be
the least corrupt. . . . Russell Mokhiber, the Corporate Crime
Reporter editor, isn't surprised by polls that show New Jersey
voters seem immune to corruption. . . . "In a culture of corruption,
the citizenry submits and stops agitating for change,'' . . .
Mokhiber said. "Citizens need to stand up and demand a war on
corruption to break the cycle of corruption in New Jersey and
elsewhere.''
New Jersey Sees Corruption Flourishing
[pdf link]
Poll indicates public takes dimmer view despite four years of
reforms
A poll
was conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute, 400
Cedar Avenue, West Long Branch, NJ 07764 / www.monmouth.edu/polling
10-13-07 --
In the past four years, the state has passed pay-to-play reforms,
banned dual office-holding, and pilot-tested public financing of
legislative elections. In addition, the U.S. Attorney has arrested
or indicted over 100 public officials for corruption. So has the
ethics situation in New Jersey improved? Not at all, say Garden State residents. In fact, on
most questions tracked by the latest Monmouth University/Gannett New
Jersey Poll, public perceptions of corruption in the state have
worsened since 2003.
NOW 5 & COUNTING. . .
Latest 'Ticketgate' judge leaves
as Healy replaces 4 others
By
Ken Thorbourne, Journal Staff Writer
10-12-07
--Yet another Jersey City Municipal
Court judge has been dis-robed. . . . Vincent Signorile, a
full-time judge at the court for more than a decade, took an
immediate leave of absence without pay yesterday amid an ongoing
state investigation into the improper dismissal of parking
tickets. . . . Signorile's departure makes it five Jersey City
justices who have either taken leave or resigned due to the
probe that began last month when two court employees were
suspended based on allegations they fixed more than 65 of their
own tickets. . . . The most prominent judge to give up the bench
has been Chief Judge Wanda Molina, who on Sept. 21 resigned in
the wake of allegations she improperly disposed of parking
tickets issued to her female companion, according to law
enforcement officials. . . . The judges have been falling like
dominoes since, with Judges Victor Sison, Irwin Rosen, Pauline
Sica, and now Signorile all taking leaves. . . . The state
Attorney General's Office, the lead agency conducting the
investigation, has refused to confirm or deny whether the
judges' resignation and leaves are tied to "Ticketgate," but
county and city officials have said the departures are all due
to the probe.
City's shame spurs probe all over N.J.
10-12-07
--State judicial overseers are
reviewing the operations of municipal courts throughout the
state following Jersey City's ticket-fixing allegations, the
state's top judge said yesterday. . . . "One case of a judge who
is dismissing his or her own ticket, even if there is a problem
with that ticket, is a case too many. We'll have zero tolerance
for this," Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said. . . . As it
examines the municipal courts, which generally handle cases such
as speeding, drunken driving and disorderly behavior, the state
Administrative Office of the Courts will alert prosecutors or
the judicial conduct panel if it finds wrongdoing, Rabner said.
. . . "This has our sustained attention," said Rabner, whose
duties include supervising all courts in the state. . . .
Municipal courts serve the state's 566 towns, with some of the
smaller towns combining their courts or sharing a judge.
In Parking-Pinched Jersey City, Four Judges Are Suspected of Fixing
Tickets
By
Jonathan Miller
10-10-07 --Four
of the city’s 10 municipal court judges — including the former chief
judge — are being investigated by the New Jersey attorney general’s
office on suspicion of fixing parking tickets for friends or family,
and in at least one case for a colleague on the bench, officials
here say. . . . During the past month, the chief judge has resigned
and the three other judges have taken leaves of absence. In
addition, the chief justice of the State Supreme Court, Stuart J.
Rabner, has assigned the day-to-day operations of the court to a
Superior Court judge from Hudson County. . . . In a state
regularly buffeted by the indictments and convictions of public
officials, the trial court administrator here, Joseph F. Davis,
added an ominous note. . . . “People are concerned with what they’re
seeing,” Mr. Davis, whose position is part of the state court
system, said in a recent telephone interview, “and others may be
concerned with our ongoing investigation.” . . . Mayor Jerramiah T.
Healy — a former Jersey City municipal court judge himself who
appointed the recently-resigned chief judge to her $109,265-a-year
position — said he was shocked and saddened.

NOW IT'S FOUR
Yet
another city judge ducks out as probe goes on
By N.
Clark Judd, Journal Staff Writer
10-4-07 --
Amidst a widening probe into allegations of ticket-fixing in Jersey
City, another municipal court judge has left the bench. . . . Victor
Sison delivered a terse letter to Mayor Jerramiah Healy and Hudson
County Assignment Judge Maurice Gallipoli yesterday morning
announcing he was taking an unpaid leave of absence from his
position immediately. His letter does not offer a reason and calls
to his New York and New Jersey law offices yesterday afternoon were
not returned. . . . Sison joins colleagues Pauline Sica, Erwin Rosen
and Wanda Molina in removing themselves from the bench in the past
two weeks. All the cases involve what has been described as the
improper handling of parking tickets. . . . The New Jersey Law
Journal reported Monday that Gallipoli questioned Sica about tickets
she may have fixed for another judge. Sison is believed to be the
other judge, sources told The Jersey Journal.
Judges don't need another salary bump
Bob
Ingle is the Trenton bureau chief for Gannett New
Jersey newspapers.
10-1-07 -- Pity the Superior Court judges of
New Jersey. They have to make do on just $149,000 annually. Two
months after they got an $8,000-a-year raise, they're looking
for another salary hike. State Supreme Court Chief Justice Stu
Rabner thinks they should get it. . . . Good judges deserve to
be paid well, and there are many good ones, but there are also
some who shouldn't be in charge of animal court. All are paid
the same, good and bad. . . . Enough already of what first-year
lawyers make and how much the feds pay judges. These people knew
what the job paid when they accepted it. If they're unhappy, let
them jump into the shark tank with their ambulance-chasing
brethren. . . . Speaking of the supremes, one of their former
colleagues, Peter Verniero, is chairing a committee of 29 judges
and attorneys that will consider educational requirements for
the state's attorneys.

September 2007
Court In A 'Fix'
A.G. probes ticket scandal
dogging 2 city judges
By
Michaelangelo Conte, Journal Staff Writer
9-28-07 -- The inquiry into "Ticket-gate"
widened yesterday as the state Attorney General's Office
announced it has launched an investigation into issues leading
to the resignation of Jersey City's chief municipal court judge
who, according to sources, may fixed tickets for a woman she was
romantically involved with. . . . It also came to light
yesterday that another judge has taken an unpaid leave of
absence related to fixing tickets, officials said. . . . Jersey
City Chief Municipal Court Judge Wanda Molina resigned Sept. 20
in the wake of allegations she improperly disposed of parking
tickets issued to her partner, according to sources familiar
with the investigation. . . . Municipal Court Judge Erwin Rosen
took an unpaid leave of absence effective Tuesday as a result of
allegations he "improperly dismissed one of his own parking
tickets," according to the same sources. . . . The Hudson County
Prosecutor's Office had been investigating ticket fixing by
Municipal Court employees, but Hudson County Trial Court
Administrator Joseph Davis confirmed yesterday that the Attorney
General's Office has become the lead agency looking into the
matter.
Lawyer wants high court to reconsider abortion ruling
by
Kate Coscarelli
9-26-07 -- A lawyer for a former Somerset
County woman has asked the state Supreme Court to reconsider its
recent unanimous opinion that doctors don't have to
tell a woman seeking an abortion that the procedure would kill a
human being. . . . In asking for the do-over, a lawyer for Rosa
Acuna, a former Somerset County woman who sued her doctor for
emotional distress after having an abortion, said the court
should hold rearguments on the case. If the request for the
rarely-granted reconsideration wasn't honored, the next step
would be the U.S. Supreme Court, said the lawyer, Harold
Cassidy. . . . "We feel the errors are so patent and palpable
that we should ask the court to correct those errors," he said.
"What issue is more important than protecting the constitutional
rights of a pregnant mother?" . . . Cassidy has already asked
the nation's highest court to review a separate issue in Acuna's
legal battle: whether she should be able to sue for wrongful
death of her fetus. He filed the motion for reconsideration late
Monday, he said.
Judge Steps Down
Molina caught up in parking
ticket probe
By
Michaelangelo Conte, Journal Staff Writer
9-24-07 -- Jersey City Chief Municipal Court
Judge Wanda Molina has resigned amid an investigation into
possible irregularities related to parking tickets, officials
said yesterday. . . . Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio
said his office will look into the matter but added that he
wants "to make it clear that there are no criminal charges." . .
. He said the resignation, which took effect at noon on
Thursday, "had to do with parking tickets, the disposition of
parking tickets." . . . Molina sent copies of her resignation to
state Superior Court Assignment Judge Maurice Gallipoli and
Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy. . . . The letter simply
states: "By way of this letter I am submitting my resignation as
judge of the Jersey City Municipal Court effective noontime
today (9/20/07). I thank you for the opportunity to have served
this court and the people of Jersey City."
Court: MDs need not say 'abortions kill'
Jersey decision on doctors' advice could have ripples throughout
U.S.
By
Kate Coscarelli, Star-Ledger Staff
9-14-07 --
In a unanimous opinion expected
to have ramifications across the country, the New Jersey Supreme
Court ruled yesterday that doctors have no duty to tell a woman
seeking an abortion that the procedure would kill a human being.
. . . It is well-established that a physician must give a woman
information about the medical risks of terminating a pregnancy,
the court said in a 5-0 decision. However, it ruled there is no
requirement for a doctor to go further. . . . "We know of no
common law duty requiring a physician to instruct the woman that
the embryo is an 'existing human being,' and suggesting that an
abortion is tantamount to murder," Justice Barry Albin wrote in
a 28-page opinion. . . . The decision said there is no consensus
among the state's medical community or citizenry that such a
statement is based on medical facts rather than "firmly held
moral, philosophical and religious beliefs." . . . The case
involved a woman who sued for emotional distress, contending she
agreed to her doctor's advice to abort her 6- to 8-week-old
fetus based on false information. The court said it was
sympathetic to the "deep pain" the woman suffered emotionally
when she came to feel she had killed a child, but dismissed her
lawsuit, overturning an appeals court decision that said it
should go to a jury.
Rosa Acuna v. Sheldon C. Turkish, M.D., et als
(A-15-06)
Case of Pet-Ridden House Nudges Law on Setting Aside Foreclosure
Sales
Henry Gottlieb, New Jersey Law Journal
9-14-07 -- In a rare defeat for caveat
emptor in foreclosure sales, a judge let a winning bidder cancel
the $2.6 million purchase of a house because 142 foul-smelling
dogs and cats -- some living, many dead -- were found on the
premises. . . . Bergen County Superior Court Judge Peter Doyne
ruled that Michael Acciardi of Saddle River, N.J., was relieved
of his obligation to buy the house next door because of
conditions he discovered five days after he won the bid at an
Aug. 10 sheriff's sale. . . . Letting successful bidders wriggle
out of paying for foreclosed property is so uncommon that Doyne
resorted to a 70-year-old precedent to support his Sept. 7
ruling in Wells Fargo Bank v. Philip Tamis,
Ber-F-20770-04. . . . Sheriff's auctions can be set aside when
there is fraud, accident, surprise or irregularity in the sale,
under the hoary Karel v. Davis, 122 N.J. Equity 526 (E&A
1937). . . . Acciardi's lawyer, Gerald Salerno of Hackensack's
Aronsohn Weiner & Salerno, argued the case fit the "surprise"
element because Acciardi discovered from news accounts that the
previous owner had used the house as an ad hoc, perhaps illegal
animal shelter.
Judge Faces Discipline for Disparaging Remark on the Bench
Michael Booth, New Jersey Law Journal
9-12-07 -- Municipal Judge Frank Leanza
admits he shouldn't have labeled a landlord's excuses for
ignoring summonses "a lot of bullshit" but says he was just
overly frustrated with the man he characterized as a "slumlord"
who for years ignored fines and orders to fix his apartment
buildings. . . . During a hearing on Thursday, Leanza, a judge
in Guttenberg, N.J., for 17 years, told the Advisory Committee
on Judicial Conduct that his remark from the bench was spurred
by acute frustration over a man who had contemptuously ignored
court orders to fix his properties or to pay fines. . . . Leanza
told the ACJC that the landlord, Dr. Esmat Zaklama, an
anesthesiologist, had dodged summonses and warrants until he was
arrested on March 7, 2006, and brought before Leanza. At that
point, he had racked up at least $200,000 in fines. . . . Leanza
said Zaklama told him he had not answered the summonses or
warrants because he had been away. That's when Leanza described
the excuse as "bullshit." Leanza, whose private law practice
takes him to various municipalities in Hudson County, told the ACJC he had run
into Zaklama on numerous occasions in town halls. "I knew he
hadn't been away," Leanza said in response to questioning by his
lawyer, Alan Zegas of Chatham, N.J.
Will Americans Rise Up Against The Corrupt Justice System?
By
Bill O'Reilly, Fox News
9-7-07 -- On August 4, three young college
students were murdered in New Jersey by a gang of thugs, which
included two criminal illegal immigrants. Now, the young woman
was nearly killed, her face slashed in that attack. . . .
Reports say Peruvian Jose Carranza, who was out on bail after
being charged with child molestation and assault was the
shooter. The judge who allowed Carranza out on the street is
Thomas Vena who actually cut Carranza's bail in half, allowing
the man to walk out of jail and into the murder zone. Well, the
State of New Jersey investigated Vena and has released this
report. . . . Quote, "Judge Vena's bail determination was made
with knowledge of Carranza's criminal history and the nature of
the charges. And an awareness that the prosecutor had previously
consented to bail of $150,000 with knowledge that the victim's
allegations, included a history of sexual abuse extending over
time and occurring in two municipalities." . . . Nevertheless,
the State of New Jersey has concluded that Judge Vena's bail cut
for Carranza wasn't wrong. But, of course, it was wrong, and so
is New Jersey. Number one, the state ordered the investigating
officer in the case not to take Carranza's illegal status into
account. That is insane. . . . Number two, Vena should have
known Carranza was here illegally and was a chronic criminal.
We're sure the judge did know that. Why would any judge, then,
take the chance of putting a guy like that back on the street?
Doesn't make any sense.
August 2007
Will NJ Justices Give Miranda A New Reading?
By
Dana E. Sullivan
8-31-07 --The viability of Miranda warnings
to protect defendants' rights may be facing perhaps its biggest
test in New Jersey. . . . An upcoming case before the New Jersey
Supreme Court could drastically affect the timing of Miranda
warnings, either by tightening the rules police must follow or
by giving them plenty of slack in dealing with suspects who
volunteer incriminating information before they're read their
rights. . . . Public defenders say the stakes are enormous. . .
. If a suspect is read his right to counsel and his right
against self-incrimination only after he's already made damning
statements, "then of what use are these rights?" asks Assistant
Deputy Public Defender Stephen W. Kirsch. . . . Nonsense, says
Deputy Attorney General Deborah Cronin Bartolomey, contending as
long as no trickery is involved, police can - and should be able
to - question someone they thought was a witness to a crime and
who talked on his own.
Judges in Newark more cautious with bails after triple slaying
8-27-07 -- (AP) _ Judges in Newark have been
making it tougher for suspects in crimes to be released on bail
since an illegal immigrant who was free on bail in another case
was charged in the horrific slaying of three Newark college
students. . . . Essex County Assignment Judge Patricia Costello
has told the judges who hear criminal cases in her county to end
the practice of approving bail reductions in off-the-record
conferences with attorneys and to obtain written consent from
prosecutors before reducing bail. She has also told them to
verify defendants' immigration status. . . . "There is a chill
in the air when it comes to bails," Michael Robbins, a criminal
defense attorney, told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Monday's
newspapers. . . . The execution-style killing of three young
people hanging out in a schoolyard caused an outcry in Newark, a
city accustomed to violence. . . . Three men and three teenagers
have been charged in the Aug. 4 murders of Terrance Aeriel, 18;
Dashon Harvey, 20, and Iofemi Hightower, 20. Aeriel's sister,
19-year-old Natasha, was shot in the back of the head but
survived and has helped police identify suspects. . . . One of
the men charged is 28-year-old Jose Carranza, an illegal
immigrant from Peru. He was released from jail in May after
being charged with repeatedly sexually assaulting a child. He
made bail after it was reduced from $300,000 to $150,000. A bail
bondsman posted the entire amount.


N.J. Judge Sued Over Handling of Scratched Maserati Incident
Charles Toutant, New Jersey Law Journal
8-22-07 --When Judge George R. Korpita
emerged from a Rockaway Borough, N.J., restaurant and saw
scratches on his Maserati and Warren Hartzman leaning on it, he
did not respond in a judicial manner, according to a U.S.
District Court suit. . . . Hartzman ended up being criminally
charged with scratching the car, and while the case was pending
on Korpita's docket, the judge pressured Hartzman to pay for the
damage, the complaint says. . . . The suit, filed Aug. 13 in
Newark, N.J., includes a civil rights count under 42 U.S.C.
1983, a deceit count and a malicious abuse of legal process
count against Korpita, who sits in Rockaway Borough. . . .
Hartzman also sued Korpita and the police department for
malicious prosecution. And he claims that Korpita, the borough
and the police intentionally or negligently inflicted emotional
distress, falsely arrested and imprisoned him, and wrongfully
enforced the law. The suit alleges that the police took Hartzman
into custody for several hours without charging him. . . .
Hartzman is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief finding
that Korpita is unfit to serve on the bench and enjoining him
from doing so. In addition, Hartzman is seeking compensatory and
punitive damages. The suit is Hartzman v. Korpita,
07-3848.
N.J. Court: Malpractice Deadline Is Tolled
by New Lawyer's
Advice
Henry Gottlieb, New Jersey Law Journal
8-17-07 --The six-year statute of
limitations on legal malpractice can be a fuzzy concept in
matrimonial cases, and a New Jersey appeals court showed why on
Tuesday. . . . A three-judge panel ruled that a wife who agreed
to an alimony settlement in 1994 could sue for malpractice
almost 10 years later because she did not know she had a case
against her lawyer until another attorney told her so. . . .
Defendant Christine Farrington argued that the statute of
limitations ran out in 2000 -- six years after the client began
feeling disappointed about the settlement and six years after
her accountant allegedly told her the settlement could have been
better. . . . That was enough to start the six-year clock in
1995, a trial judge ruled last year in throwing out the
malpractice case. . . . But the appeals court reinstated the
claim in Viglione v. Farrington, A-3912-05, saying the
cause of action did not accrue when the client had a premonition
that something went wrong. It accrued when another lawyer told
the client she might have a malpractice case.
3rd Circuit: Time to Cure Mortgage Default Ends at Auction
Mary
Pat Gallagher, New Jersey Law Journal
8-10-07 -- New Jersey homeowners facing
foreclosure will have to move faster to cure a mortgage default,
under a federal appeals court decision. . . . The 3rd U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals held that the right to cure ends when
the property is sold at auction, rejecting the owner's argument
that it continues until the deed is delivered to the purchaser.
. . . The ruling in the closely watched case, which drew amici
on both sides, resolves a more than decade-old split among
federal bankruptcy and district judges in New Jersey. . . .
"Having finally been given the opportunity to break what is a
virtual tie between the New Jersey federal courts," the court
held in its Aug. 3 decision that 11 U.S.C. §1322(c)(1) does not
afford the debtor a post-auction right to cure. . . . The
relevant provision, §1322(c)(1), enacted as part of the
Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1994, allows a Chapter 13 debtor to
cure a home mortgage default "until such residence is sold at a
foreclosure sale that is conducted in accordance with applicable
nonbankruptcy law."

N.J. Appeals Court: Client's Illegitimate Purpose Isn't
Necessarily the Lawyer's
Henry Gottlieb, New Jersey Law Journal
|
"This court has just said that a lawyer cannot be held liable for
malicious use of process even though anybody else can be
liable for the very same thing. That's a pretty
outrageous position to take."
Co-counsel Joan Pransky |
8-6-07 -- A New Jersey state appeals court
cleared a law firm of malicious civil prosecution on Wednesday
in a decision that champions the right of lawyers to advocate
zealously even when they know a claim is baseless. . . .
Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla represented a beach club owner in a
failed defamation suit against a neighbor. The neighbor, having
won, countersued the club owner and the Middletown, N.J., firm,
alleging the first suit had no purpose but to stifle her free
speech rights maliciously. . . . The appeals court found,
how