NewJerseyJustice

2006-05-31T23:36:00.000-04:00

NJJ has moved!

Please visit NewJerseyJustice at our new address: http://njjustice.typepad.com

2006-05-24T12:29:00.000-04:00

Must a disowned father pay for college and beyond?

Former Barnegat resident Paul Gac divorced in 1987 and the divorce decree denied Gac visitation with his two children.
Gac paid child support and occasionally sent his kids cards and money. As they "matured," the children asked their father to cease contacting them and returned his letters unopened. Nonetheless, Gac contributed to their college tuition.
After Gac's daughter graduated from college, Gac ended his child support. His ex-wife, Gayleen Gac (best name since country singer Lurleen Lumpkin, above), asked the family court to order Gac to make his daughter's student loan payments. Lower courts ruled three times that Gac was responsible for the loans, in spite of the fact that his daughter had neither asked Gac for the money before she went to college, nor had she asked his advice on which college to attend. More to the point, parents from unbroken homes are generally not responsible for student loan payments, so there remained questions about why a divorced father would be.
Last week the State Supreme Court ruled that Gac was not legally responsible for her payments. A sad day in the history of this broken family, but a sound legal decision.

2006-05-22T13:54:00.000-04:00

Top-Down Legal Strategy

Deborah Wrede was a morbidly obese psychiatric nurse who had suffered from years of neck and back pain. Hoping to ease the pain, Wrede wanted her double-D breasts reduced to a C cup.
In 2002, celebrity plastic surgeon Dr. Richard Marfuggi (photo) performed a breast-reduction surgery on Wrede. Wrede then sued Dr. Marfuggi, alleging that the good doctor removed too much. Last Friday, Wrede showed the jury just what she meant. She stood topless in front of the jury for a minute. Wrede no longer works and watches soap operas all day, stating "I get into their lives so I don't have to focus on mine."
Perhaps the irony of her situation could make for a good plot twist: Wrede herself was also accused of incompetence. Back in 2003, she was removed from her job as a practical nurse at Greystone Psychiatric Hospital on "the charge of serious mistake due to carelessness which could result in danger to persons/property."

2006-05-22T13:46:00.000-04:00

Small parts fraud equals big indictment

A federal grand jury indicted Branchville-based Parmatic Filter Corporation on truly dreadful charges: intentionally installing shoddy filters on battle tanks used by the Army and Marines. Parmatic won a $6 million defense contract in 1996 and manufactured 11,000 filters from 1997 to 2002. The filters were meant to protect soldiers from nuclear, biological and chemical contaminants. Parmatic, according to the indictment, instead installed oversized parts, removed a protective coating, then jammed the filters into place. Inspectors later found and replaced the parts, but who can guarantee that all of the bad filters were discovered?
It's shocking enough that an American like John Walker Lindh would aid al Qaeda. That a company just 65 miles from Ground Zero would do so is treasonous. Kudos to Chris Christie for pursuing this investigation.

2006-05-19T07:40:00.000-04:00

UPDATE: "Missiles" Has Two I's

Nice to know people are reading New Jersey Justice so carefully. On Tuesday, NJJ noted that Walter Timpone's biography on McElroy, Deutsch & Mulvaney's site included "a funny misspelling of 'Patriot missles.'" Today, that error has been corrected.

2006-05-18T14:25:00.000-04:00

When the Protectors Seek "Protection"

In New Jersey, you can sue your school if you don't like your kid's math grade (see below) or if your Pop-Tart is too hot. Assemblyman Peter Biondi (R-Somerset County) even became something of a national laughingstock for floating a bill seeking to ban anonymous online forums and force any content provider doing business in the state to register a name with its operator.
In the latest giant step in this state's tumble towards infancy, a New Jersey appellate court has overturned the "fireman's rule" doctrine. The "fireman's rule" prohibits police and firefighters who are hurt in the line of duty from suing those responsible for the fire. In the case at hand, a police officer was injured in 2001 when soccer fans fought after a party for a World Cup match. The police officer wants to sue the party's organizers for not hiring more police officers.
The history of the fireman's rule in New Jersey is particularly complicated. Florida repealed its law in 1990, and since then personal injury lawyers, police unions and the like have been looking to repeal the law countrywide. Lawmakers in New Jersey amended the statute in 1994 to allow emergency workers to file suit against anyone, with the exception of other first responders. In 2001, an appeals court tried to restrict the broader interpretation of the new amendment.
In a pragmatic decision, Appellate Division Judge Dorothea Wefing wrote: "We cannot ignore the potential consequence of encouraging an owner to delay summoning aid out of fear of incurring liability to a responding firefighter." Judge Wefing cautioned that "the scope of potential liability would be virtually unlimited."
This week, the state Appeals Court overturned the 2001 decision, which effectively ended the fireman's rule in New Jersey. Lawyers face the confusion of two conflicting rulings, which means this issue will need to be decided by the State Supreme Court. Why should we care? Because it's one thing to sue when you burn a Pop-Tart. It's another when our state, already facing a medical tort crisis, opens up the floodgates to even more lawsuits.
Wefing's other decisions reveal a Solomonic judicial temperament. In February, Wefing upheld the dismissal of a suit against Hoffman-La Roche, makers of the anti-acne treatment Accutane.
Accutane causes severe birth defects. Any woman taking it must sign an agreement that she abstain from sex or use two forms of birth control. The suit was brought by a newly married woman who refused contraception for religious reasons; her husband declined to abstain for human reasons. When their child was born with the advertised birth defects, the couple sued.

2006-05-16T22:30:00.000-04:00

Friends in High Places

The scandal at UMDNJ focuses on $4.9 million improperly billed to federal insurance programs. As of a few weeks ago, those investigating the crimes have racked up fees of $1.98 million.
Herb Stern has been given unlimited billing power by his friend and pupil, Chris Christie. Stern is entitled to bill the state $500 an hour for himself and upwards of $325 an hour for as many extra hands as he deems necessary.
Leading the way is former federal prosecutor Walter Timpone (pictured), now in private practice at McElroy, Deutsch & Mulvaney in Morristown. (Hopefully, MDM puts more care into legal work than biographies; Timpone's includes a funny misspelling of "Patriot missles.") Timpone jumped into the UMDNJ feeding frenzy in December 2005. From New Year's Day through March 24, he billed the UMDNJ $210,000. That works out to 646 hours -- 27 full 24-hour days.
While it's unclear if Timpone has expertise in examining medical universities, Timpone certainly has experience in being named to plum "monitor" assignments. In 2003, Timpone was hired to investigate Camden County officials giving away no-show jobs and illegal benefits. The funny thing is the accused officials had already confessed.
He also incensed Passaic County Republicans during his appointment as that county's election monitor for ringing up hundreds of thousand in legal bills, including "$500 a day paid to a politically connected operative to drive him around on Election Day."
Worth noting: Timpone was hired by Stern in this UNDNJ gig. Stern represents Murray Kushner in Murray's fratricidal civil suit against his brother Charles Kushner. Back when Charles Kushner was bidding to buy the New Jersey Nets, he was represented by, among others, Walter Timpone.
A New Jersey love triangle.

2006-05-15T12:55:00.000-04:00

Easier to stalk a girlfriend than a President?

There was always something just a little off about Rumson's Robert W Ray. Just 39 years old when he took over the country's highest-profile investigation from his boss, Ken Starr, Ray's failure to stick any real charges on President Clinton after spending $70 million made him the Marcia Clark of political prosecutions.
Later, while still employed as "Independent Counsel" during the mop-up phase of Whitewater, Ray began campaigning pretty openly for the Republican nomination to take on Bob Torricelli in 2002. In a memorable exchange reported in Roll Call, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) accused Ray of attending a GOP dinner at Drumthwacket; meeting with then GOP chairman Joe Kyrillos, and other top operatives and fundraisers; and feeling out other announced conservative candidates. Sen Leahy (D-Vt.) sent a stinging letter to the Comptroller General accusing Ray of same.
Those allegations evaporated as both the Whitewater investigation and Ray's candidacy fizzled.
And now, just weeks before his boy graduates Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School and enters boot camp at the Air Force Academy, Ray has been charged with stalking a young lady who asked him to cut it out. Ray is now in private practice at Parsippany's Kelley Drye & Warren. President Clinton could not be reached for comment but is presumed to be "startled at how things work themselves out."

2006-05-13T10:01:00.000-04:00

An indicted CEO and his surly defender

Mendham's Joe Nacchio, the former CEO of Baby Bell Qwest who is under indictment for insider trading, became a folk hero this week for the unlikeliest of reasons. During Nacchio's tenure, Qwest appears to have been the only phone company that refused to participate in the National Security Agency's collection of information about who is calling whom.
Nacchio's attorney said, "Mr. Nacchio concluded that these requests violated the privacy requirements of the Telecommunications Act. Accordingly, Mr. Nacchio issued instructions to refuse to comply with these requests."
As noted on this blog on April 2, that attorney is none other than Herbert J. Stern. Stern got beat up in the press last week for the pretentiousness of calling himself "Judge Stern" long after trading his robes for lucrative work in the private sector (and of course, the public sector has chipped in, as well, to the tune of $500 for as many hours as he deems necessary to clean up UMDNJ). Stern displayed his judicious temperament when the Wall Street Journal phoned him for comment:

We decided to give Stern a call and ask him about being called "Judge Stern" some twenty years after leaving the bench. Before we could finish our question, Stern cut the Law Blog off and said the following: "Let me ease your pain. You can call me Herb and we'll get along just fine. O.K.? I gotta go." With that, he hung up.

2006-05-09T20:55:00.000-04:00

Racism in Montclair?

When a school is sued over a student's low test score, it's tempting to dismiss it as another frivolous lawsuit, in which relief that once came from a phone call or face-to-face meeting is now sought in courts. Especially when the plaintiff has a long history of suing his town over perceived injustices.
However, if the allegations in the suit filed in state Superior Court are true, there's something fishy in self-righteous Montclair.
David Herron, President of the Montclair chapter of the NAACP and a longtime activist in the town, has filed suit against Glenfield Middle School, its geometry teacher, principal and assistant principal. Herron claims that his son, 8th Grader Justin Miles Herron, was absent on the day a standardized math test was administered. Two days later, the 14-year-old boy was given a makeup exam by well-regarded math teacher Sharon Hurwich.
According to the lawsuit, the instructions call for two hours to complete the test but Justin, who is an award-winning essayist and an honor-roll regular, was only given one hour. Worse, the boy received a "B" even though he missed only one problem – he apparently was docked seven points for failing to write a date on top of the test.
"No white students were similarly penalized; even those who failed to put the date and/or their names on the test," states the suit, which accuses the school district of racial discrimination. The suit further contends that Glenfield is 44 percent African-American, but the younger Herron was one of only two African-Americans in this particular geometry class.
If everything the plaintiff alleges is accurate, it seems that his son was indeed discriminated against. Less clear is that the reason for the discrimination was racial. Even less evident is why the fairness of a middle school grade is worthy of any court's time. Any father wants to teach his son to stand up for himself. But an equally worthy lesson is that life is not always fair.

2006-05-05T10:39:00.000-04:00

Just Another Eugenia Vogel-ism

The Vogels of Englewood participated in many lawsuits during their 20 years of marriage. Howard, 61, a retired real estate broker, had a lucrative second career as a professional plaintiff. Eugenia, 64, is a "local rabble-rouser." She exasperated her fellow Englewoodians with her activism to the point where one of her lawsuits prompted the School Superintendent to declare her legal action as "just another Eugenia Vogel-ism." Eugenia also participated in many of her husband's lawsuits, including one in 1999 against a vacation-home neighbor and Florida's Department of Environmental Protection (Howard and Eugenia Vogel vs. George Wentworth and DEP). They didn't like his big dock.
But Howard went too far, according to his estranged rabble-rousing wife, when he included Eugenia and her son as plaintiffs in lawsuits without their consent. Howard Vogel plans to plead guilty in federal court to accepting kickbacks from New York-based lawsuit-mill Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman from 40 class-action lawsuits in which he acted as a plaintiff against such companies as Travelers Property, Oxford and Barnesandnoble.com.
Milberg Weiss, which lauds itself as the "most prestigious and recognized plaintiff law firm in the United States," is currently suing Estee Lauder, H&R Block and many other publicly-traded companies on behalf of shareholders who didn't make a killing in the stock market. Their website helpfully allows a reader to report a fraud or join a lawsuit, which makes one wonder why they needed Howard's help at all.
Howard has returned $2 million of his "earnings," and Eugenia has now retired to Florida, presumably next door to a neighbor with a newly downsized dock.

2006-05-03T09:18:00.000-04:00

Stern v Kushner, Round II: Dueling Medical Schools

On April 19, the state's Board of Medical Examiners voted unanimously to grant approval to Touro College to build a medical school in Florham Park. According to the proposal submitted to the board, the school would be built in a building owned by Kushner Companies, with Charles Kushner donating "up to $10 million toward the project."
According to the Daily Record, the president of the local Chamber of Commerce already loves the idea. It's hard to imagine anyone opposed to the economic development a medical school would bring, although the paper did unearth some fossil who lamented that the town had changed since she moved there in 1952, "when sheep grazed near the intersection of Columbia Turnpike and Brooklake Road." That's too bad about the sheep, but Touro will be only the second medical school in all of New Jersey and our woeful lack of training facilities has combined with a lawsuit-friendly judiciary to create a severe shortage of medical care throughout the state.
Consider the irony. The state's sole medical school, UMDNJ, is currently under the control of US Attorney Chris Christie. He agreed to defer prosecution of the school's brass for fraud and mismanagement if they'd install a monitor with total carte blanche to hire and fire, as well as to bill the school – and thus the taxpayers, who fund the school -- $500 an hour for the monitor and $325 for as many assistants as he see fit. Who did Christie pick for this juicy plum? His predecessor and mentor, Herb Stern.
So far, Stern has done an admirable job of spotting corruption and pushing those responsible for it out the door. But he is also, as the New Jersey Law Journal observed (April 17, 2006; subscription required, alas) in danger of over-reaching:

"The proper scope of [Stern's] mandate to control how UMDNJ exercises its lawful discretion in hiring and contracting is much less clear. The university is an institution of state government. It belongs to the people of New Jersey. Subject to federal criminal and civil statutes, the ultimate decision as to how it should be run is theirs."

It is the opinion of this blog that Chris Christie has been more than zealous in his pursuit of Charles Kushner and members of Kushner's family. The lawyer who represented Charles' brother, Murray Kushner, in Murray's lawsuit against Charles was none other than . . . Herb Stern.
Funny how things work out sometimes.

2006-05-01T13:58:00.000-04:00

Hammered lawyer skirts jail after DWI

The Daily Record reports Flanders-based attorney Donald P. Fedderly was sentenced to three years probation for a DUI conviction resulting from a crash in which he injured an elderly lady. Fedderly had a blood-alcohol content of .247, which sounds more like a batting average. A blood-alcohol impairment chart shows that Fedderly, who weighs 225 lbs, had at least 15 drinks in the hours before the crash. Lucky for his fellow New Jerseyans that Fedderly has come to believe that drinking so much that he careered onto Route 206 in a stupor and broke the ankle of a fellow driver is "deeply wrong."
Fedderly is represented by Gerard Hanlon of Hanlon & Dunn, who has a fascinating client list. Highlights include a 2002 case in which distinguished urologist Dr. Kathleen Hagen murdered her elderly parents (Hanlon got her insanity). He's also involved in a bizarre turf war involving a family that's at war with Sussex County over an eight-foot strip of land and four trees in Montague. It appears the county basically tried to seize the land of the Davies family and then arrested four of them when they protested the cutting of the trees on the disputed land.

2006-04-28T14:40:00.000-04:00

Plaintiffs lawyers jump for joy (and a Holocaust mystery gets resolved)

Eight years ago, Maple Shade couple Fred and Jen Wolfinger invited their neighbors Steve and Mary Ann Bagnana over for a barbecue. Steve and Mary Ann hopped onto the trampoline in Wolfinger's backyard. Mary Ann hurt her knee. She called a lawyer.
The trial judge granted defendant's request for summary judgment and dismissed the Bagnanas suit, concluding that the plaintiff "was experienced on the trampoline … familiar with the warnings and understood that there were certain dangers inherent upon climbing up onto the trampoline." If the judge also felt that any adults goofy enough to hop around like imbeciles on a backyard trampoline deserve what they got, he kept that to himself.
Last Friday, the appeals court reversed the trial court. Having concluded that "Courts in other jurisdictions have relied upon significantly more trampoline experience to support their decisions to grant or affirm summary judgment against the injured trampoline user," the court permits the Bagnanas to press on in their search for justice.
If you're wondering why I'm writing about this now instead of last week, well I'm glad you asked. New Jersey torts has become so lawsuit happy that "my hot coffee was hot" suits no longer seem newsworthy. But something about one of the players stuck in my head.
I couldn't place it and a bunch of Google searches came up empty. Then it hit me. Bagnana's lawyer, solo practitioner Sal Daidone of Voorhees, was involved in one of the weirder cases in NJ legal history.
Isaac Wolowicz was born in 1913 in Zyradov, Poland, a small community of Hasidim near Warsaw. Isaac's little brother, Shlomo Zelman Wolowicz, was a soldier in the Polish army and was killed when the Nazis invaded in 1939. Isaac fled and spent the war in Russia and France, returning to Poland after the war to discover that his parents and other siblings had all been murdered.
Isaac came to New York, married the former Mollie Rutenberg and in the early 60s opened Wolow's Western clothing store in Berlin, NJ, near where he and Mollie had settled in Cherry Hill. Mollie died in 1993 and Isaac began to suffer. His own health problems intensified and he began to suffer over the idea that no one would remember his 38 family members who'd been killed by the Nazis. He started hanging out with Lubavithers and in 1994, donated $250,000 to name the sanctuary at Chabad Lubavitch of Camden and Burlington Counties in Voorhees for his family, whose Hebrew names are engraved on a plaque there.
Isaac died in 2001, leaving behind no will, no immediate family, and $4 million. Various distant relatives came forward to work out their share. All of a sudden, a mystery nephew surfaced. Represented by good ol' Sal Daidone.
Alexander Altshuler claimed to be the son of Shlomo Zelman Wolowicz, Isaac's beloved little brother. He said he'd been born Isaac Wolowicz -- named for his uncle -- and had been raised in Leningrad by Boris and Sara Altshuler, whom he believed were his biological parents until he discovered that he was actually the son of Shlomo and Zelda Wolowicz, who had married possibly without anyone knowing it, including Isaac. After Shlomo was murdered, Zelda fled to Russia to be near her sister Sara. She died a few years later and Sara and Boris raised Isaac as their own, changing his name to Alexander. He never met his uncle Isaac. He didn't know Isaac had died until a professional "heir hunter" tracked him down in Israel, where he'd moved fifteen years earlier to reconnect with his Jewish roots.
If Alexander's story was true, he'd be entitled to the whole four mil, which by now had been whittled down to $2 million by estate taxes and legal fees. The other distant cousins doubted Alexander's story. But genealogists and documents seemed to back it up. The only way to prove it for sure would be to dig up Isaac, who was buried in Long Island next to Mollie. Superior Court Judge Allan Vogelson was reluctant to prescribe such an odious remedy and Altshuler wouldn't hear of it, labeling exhumation "repugnant to Jewish ethics and Jewish religion."
If the court sided with Alexander, he'd walk away with everything. If it went against him, he'd get nothing. Reason prevailed. In March of 2005, a mediator, Cherry Hill's Michael Heine, helped work it out so that Alexander got $405,000, the eight distant cousins would split a million, and the rest would go to the lawyers, the estate administrator, and the mediator.
The part I most remembered about this story was Daidone's description of his client. Alexander was an intellectual who worked as a maintenance man. Daidone told the media that Alexander could not be made available for interviewers because he "speaks in parables and answers questions with a 10-minute philosophical response."
I loved that poetic portrait, and had the impression from it -- as well as from the fairness of the settlement and the decency of the way it avoided exhumation -- that Daidone was a thoughtful, reasonable lawyer. I'm hoping this trampoline business hasn't undone my favorable opinion.

2006-04-27T10:18:00.000-04:00

NJ: Frivolous Friendly

UPDATE: After publishing the post below, New Jersey Justice was contacted by Josh Spielberg. He explained that he had left the firm he helped found and will be starting a "purely public interest job" next month, "working on health care access issues." NJJ wishes Mr. Spielberg the best of luck in his new career!

This week, the New Jersey Supremes ruled 5-0 that a man who worked with asbestos covered pipes can sue his employer -- not for his own illness, but for that of his wife, who died in 2001. At age 82.
Representing the plaintiff was Joshua Spielberg of Cherry Hill's Shivers, Gosnay & Greatrex, which until April 1 was known as "Shivers, Spielberg, Gosnay & Greatrex, LLC," according to an email from an SGG partner. (The transition is a tad murky. Spielberg does not appear on the list of attorneys on SGG's website, but his resume is still available and lists him as a founding partner.)
Spielberg (photo) has made a name for himself as an innovative plaintiff's attorney, having previously cooked up ways to evade restrictions on suing HMOs -- he's the author of "Overcoming ERISA" -- but it's in the "toxic exposures" field that he's really making his mark.
Last year, the New York Court of Appeals dismissed a similar lawsuit that claimed a wife got mesothelioma from handling her husband's clothes. That court, hardly known as a friend to industry, spoke of a "specter of limitless liability" in imagining that anyone who ever knew anyone who worked with asbestos could eventually sue.
The Wall Street Journal has been pounding the asbestos trial lawyers for overreaching. An article last week, "The Great Asbestos Scam," details how Gilbert, Heintz & Randolph were ordered to surrender $9.6 million -- "one of the largest disgorgements on record" -- it received working on the "prepackaged bankruptcy" of a company called Congoleum. GHR was supposed to be suing Congoleum for all the people it supposedly sickened, but instead provided a way for the defendant companies to declare bankruptcy and emerge whole, sticking insurers with all the liability. It's a despicable conflict of interest, even moreso as new evidence emerges that many of the asbestos claims are bogus in the first place.
Spielberg's victory enables him to continue suing Exxon Mobil. In a sign of both Spielberg's ambition and the pathetic state of asbestos litigation, Exxon was the only defendant that did not settle; Mr Spielberg sued a whopping THIRTY-TWO asbestos companies that MAY have been the manufacturer of the asbestos that MAY have leapt from Anthony Olivo's clothing to cause the demise of poor old Mrs. Olivo. At age 82.
Worth noting: Spielberg contributed the maximum to fellow trial lawyer John Edwards during the 2004 campaign. As did asbestos shakedown artists Scott Gilbert (Gilbert Heintz & Randolph), Perry Weitz (Weitz & Luxenburg) and Fred Baron (Baron & Budd), who was the Edwards campaign's finance chairman, no 2 donor, and the creator of a witness-prep memo that was accidentally handed over to the defense and included the gem, "It is important to maintain that you NEVER saw any labels on asbestos products that said WARNING or DANGER."

2006-04-25T21:12:00.000-04:00

Drunken newspaperwoman runs down veteran

The Brick man run down last Friday by Claudia Ansorge has died. Ansorge, 62, founded the Two River Times, which chronicles the Navesink River towns of Middletown, Red Bank, Little Silver and Rumson. The paper is known both for its quaintly long and well-written letters to the editor and for being bought by Geraldo Rivera. Ansorge was ticketed for DUI when she ran over Robert Lisowsky on Front St in Red Bank. The 59-year-old Lisowsky, a Vietnam War veteran, leaves behind a wife, two sons, a grandson, and seven siblings, as well as his mother.

2006-04-24T19:48:00.000-04:00

New Jersey Law Journal - April 17, 2006

From the Inadmissible section ...

I'm grateful for the coverage and it's dramatically increased the number of emails and comments. Thanks, NJLJ!

2006-04-24T19:43:00.000-04:00

The art of persuasion

Rodney Dangerfield used to joke that his high school was so tough that after the football team sacked a rival quarterback, they went after his family. Well, in New Jersey, the developers are so tough that they're liable to kidnap you at gunpoint.
James Quirk at the Asbury Park Press reports that a Monmouth County grand jury has indicted Anthony Spalliero for an incident last September in which the 62-year-old developer allegedly pulled a gun on a 22-year-old female Brookdale Community College student. According to the indictment, Spalliero approached the comely co-ed in the campus parking lot, pointed a gun at her and demanded that she speak with him.
Spalliero has built nearly every piece of Marlboro, as well as owning some interesting restaurants, nightclubs and even a cemetery. His long string of success came to an end in May 2005 when Chris Christie accused the Naples-born developer of paying $143,500 in bribes to a pair of Monmouth County officials for expediting his projects.
No one should be surprised that Spalliero should have a girlfriend 40 years his junior. After all, in addition to owning tons of shore property, he and his sons own and operate at least four go-go bars, including Bourbon Street (Sayreville), After Dark (Old Bridge), Centerfolds (Neptune) and Heartbreakers (North Brunswick). Furthermore, in a masterstroke of understatement, Spalliero described the circumstances of his 1997 divorce. Referring to the discovery that he had fathered two children by another woman, he told a reporter that his wife "found out about it, and we weren't getting along anymore."

2006-04-21T12:44:00.000-04:00

Campbell and Samson: One hand washes the other

Last week, the Star-Ledger ran a story headlined "Ex-state official's new job raises questions of ethics."
Bradley Campbell, who spent four years as the head of New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection, has joined Wolff & Samson. The Samson is former Attorney General David Samson and the "politically connected law firm has an expansive environmental and development practice."
Campbell thinks of himself as Solomon because he is equally despised by both developers and environmentalists. Actually, he was simply a weak leader, leaving behind a confused, directionless and paralyzed bureaucracy.
Now that he's gone to a firm that represents the real estate interests of the oil company Chevron-Texaco among others, people like the Sierra Club's Jeff Tittel call the arrangement "ethically challenged" since he'll be representing the interests of developers before people he hired at the DEP.
The Star-Ledger article somehow neglected to mention the biggest conflict of all. Those DEP folks before whom Campbell will appear include … Samson's wife. Campbell hired Joanna Dunn Samson to be his No. 2 in 2003. Ms. Samson knows her way around political law firms -- before coming to the DEP, she used to work for DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Gluck.

2006-04-20T20:45:00.000-04:00

In MoTown, NFLer gets probation for … caring about his kids

Yesterday, Morristown Superior Court Judge Joseph A. Falcone accepted a plea from former NY Giant defensive tackle Keith Hamilton, who is expected to be sentenced to three years probation for child endangerment. What did the Paterson-born, 34-year-old giant Giant do to earn his punishment?
He sent his 12-year-old son to an elite private school in Passaic. One day, Hamilton picked up the boy after school and learned that his son's grades were bad, so he whipped the boy with an electric cord. Harsh? Maybe so. But does the following sound like the words of a criminal or a concerned father?

"I disciplined him the way I was raised, which I have come to learn is not acceptable in today's society," Hamilton told Superior Court Judge Joseph A. Falcone in Morristown. "School is very important. I told his mother I saw his report card and I was very disappointed. It wasn't the fact of the grades but that he wasn't trying in my eyes. To not even try, in my eyes, was unacceptable."

Sports fans might remember a 1998 Sports Illustrated cover story that detailed the sad phenomenon of professional athletes siring children they don't know. Ex-Knick Larry Johnson (five children by four women) and Shawn Kemp (seven children by six women) led the list of pampered thugs who couldn't be bothered to care for the children they'd sprinkled throughout the country. According to the article, almost none of these "fathers" had anything to do with their offspring and most fought even minimal requests for child support.
It's not for me to say whether Hamilton crossed some sort of arbitrary line. But I'd be willing to bet his son has a far better shot in life with a father who picks him up from school and cares enough to know what kind of grades he gets.

2006-04-17T21:04:00.000-04:00

First fired

Attorney Michael D. Homans (photo) of Cherry Hill’s Flaster Greenberg got a big win in Philadelphia when Chief U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III decided to let stand the lion’s share of the $2.9 million judgment. Homans had four clients who sued the Philadelphia School District after their African-American boss fired them because there were "too many white male managers in this department."

In November 2002, Kimberly Sangster's first day as the district's chief procurement officer included asking one plaintiff if he would "have a hard time working for a black woman." A few weeks later, she fired him and three other white men. The jury, having seen Sangster's handwritten notes listing the race of various school district employees, rejected her claims that she was reorganizing to save money. Her department actually grew from 25 to 30 employees, and the first seven people she hired were African American, including several employees with little procurement experience or time at a school district.

Upholding the decision was right, of course, but the $500,000 award to each plaintiff for "past, present, and future mental anguish … and humiliation" is silly. If Judge Bartle wants to punish the School District, let him say so. Allowing to stand the notion that it’ll take a half mil to repair the tender feelings of these four crackers sends the wrong message to anyone who’s ever been canned.

2006-04-17T19:17:00.000-04:00

Bryant, Part II – the Norcross angle

Like all South Jersey Democrats, Bryant is entirely controlled by power broker George Norcross (photo). For example, when Lee Solomon was going to be appointed Camden County prosecutor, Norcross instructed his stooges Sen Bryant and Sen Allen to oppose the appointment. Their opposition was dropped when Bryant's law partner – oh yes, he also finds time to have a law practice with many government contracts – was made a judge.

Recently, George Norcross nearly had his iron grip on power undone. Former Palmyra councilman (now Mayor) John Gural secretly tape-recorded Norcross bragging about his influence and control over Jersey appointments and, among others, Gov. McGreevey and Sen. Corzine. The great blog vilefraud has full audio and transcripts of these tapes, which include nuggets like Norcross saying about Ted Rosenberg, Moorestown's township attorney who opposed him:

Ted Rosenberg has no future ... anywhere. No Corzine, no McGreevey, no nothing ... zippo. He has no chance of anything ... and anybody he's associated with is gonna be tainted by him ... because of what he's done. Rosenberg is history, I mean he is done ... and anything I can do to crush his ass, I wanna do ... cause I think he's just a ... an evil fuck.

The interesting thing is that Norcross was never indicted for the many questionable things he's alleged to have done, including some alluded to on the tape. The US Attorney attributes that fact to former Attorneys General John Farmer (R) and Peter Harvey (D) having so badly botched the case.

In a blistering letter, rare for its candor between law enforcement agencies, Christie said his own investigation "was materially hampered by poor oversight, inexplicable strategic decisions, and a failure to fully develop potential evidence" by the AG. Maybe so. But Chris Christie has made a big name for himself by pursuing those who are said to be unreachable.

Why was his investigation of George Norcross concluded after only 10 months? Why was George Norcross treated so differently from John Lynch? Nick Acocella of Politifax told Alan Guenther at the Courier-Post that Norcross and former state Senate President John Lynch of Middlesex County "are the top two political powerbrokers in New Jersey." So why did Norcross emerge without a scratch while Lynch had his offices raided by the FBI?

2006-04-16T14:54:00.000-04:00

When the best defender is your accuser

The Gloucester County Times reports on a last-minute $2.7 million grant given to the scandal-plagued University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. State Senator Wayne Bryant and Gloucester County freeholder Warren Wallace are being investigated by Chris Christie in connection with that grant.

It would appear that Bryant is particularly hardworking, as is his family:

"In addition to his post as the Legislature's senior budget negotiator, Bryant, Democrat of Lawnside, held a part-time $36,000 public affairs position at the university. In all, he collects salaries from four separate government jobs; in his family, not only Bryant but his wife, two brothers, son and sister-in-law collectively hold 10 public sector jobs earning a total of $700,000."

Miraculously, Freeholder Wallace also finds time for a part-time job at UMDNJ, and Bryant's brother is the mayor of Lawnside.

In addition to Terrence Dopp at the GC Times, all the papers, including the Philly Inquirer and NY Times have done a good job covering this probe.

But they're missing a big angle. The best move for someone in trouble with Chris Christie would be to hire Herb Stern, the former US Attorney for New Jersey whom Christie regards as a "mentor." However, in this case, Bryant's alleged corruption was actually uncovered by Herb Stern, acting in his capacity as monitor for UMDNJ – an unlimited $500/hour plum given to him by … Chris Christie. So Bryant can't exactly hire Stern to defend him.

Bryant had better hope he's socked away some of pay from those four jobs.

2006-04-15T14:16:00.000-04:00

Skimpy Sheets = Fat Payday

Imagine the outrage. You buy a set of sheets at Bed Bath & Beyond with a thread count of 1,200, picturing yourself and your sweetie luxuriating in 600 plush vertical threads woven into 600 horizontals. Horrors! You come to discover that there are significantly fewer threads than were marked on the package. Return the sheets? Consider it a life lesson? Not in America. And especially not in New Jersey.

On Tuesday, Florida attorney Edward Zebersky (photo) filed suit in the District Court of New Jersey against BB&B, which is based in Union, NJ. He alleges that the company knowingly sold sheets with lower thread counts than was listed on the package. Laura Zebersky-- Ed's sister-in-law and a slip-and-fall attorney in her own right -- is the lead plaintiff, having presumably suffered abrasions and scratchiness. Ed is also suing Wal-Mart for similarly outrageous behavior. Because he cares.

2006-04-12T04:45:00.000-04:00

Is Chris Christie obsessed with Charles Kushner?

Several comments and private emails have suggested that NJ's US Attorney has a personal vendetta against real estate developer Charles Kushner.

Yesterday, I blogged about a lawyer saying the same thing. Robert Fink told the Star-Ledger that the prosecution of his client, Kushner Company executive Richard Stadtmauer, was a "vindictive and shameful misuse of prosecutorial power. . . in his relentless pursuit of Charles Kushner and his family, [US Attorney] Christie has twisted ordinary civil tax issues into a criminal indictment." (See the full text of Fink's remarks here.)

Does Fink's charge hold water?

* Well, the amount of the alleged conspiracy mysteriously shrunk from $10 million to $5 million over the last year (see April 12 post The "conspiracy" shrinks).

* January's indictment of Kushner Company employee Ira Bloom was particularly odd for two reasons. First, why would an alleged underreporting of $265,000 in income trigger a federal indictment? That amounts to less than $100,000 owed to the government -- the kind of thing usually handled in a quick "pay us more" notice from the IRS, not a criminal indictment.

More puzzling, how could it be that not a single newspaper happened to notice that Bloom is not only a Kushner employee, but also Charles Kushner's brother-in-law? The DOJ's press release also fails to note it, even though their Stadtmauer press release specifically mentions that Stadtmauer is Kushner's brother-in-law.

Two different brothers-in-law indicted on relatively minor charges. Suddenly, Fink's notion that Chris Christie has a personal vendetta against Charles Kushner doesn't seem so paranoid.

2006-04-12T04:18:00.000-04:00

Stadtmauer's defenders

Kushner Company executive Richard Stadtmauer is defended by Paul Fishman (photo) of NYC's Friedman Kaplan.

Legal junkies will find this interesting because just two years before Chris Christie became US Attorney, Montclair's Fishman was nominated by Sen. Lautenberg to replace Faith Hochberg as NJ's US Attorney. It didn't happen, but his career as her first assistant was impressive, including co-authoring some stuff with a Jersey guy named Sam Alito. During the Enron meltdown, Fishman appeared frequently on the CNBC show that was hosted by another Jersey guy, Jim Cramer, who himself had been represented by Fishman in a suit against Fox News.

Worth noting, it was Stadtmauer's other lawyer, Robert Fink, who came out swinging in the papers:

Stadtmauer's lawyer, Robert Fink, countered with a statement that accused Christie of a "vindictive and shameful misuse of prosecutorial power." Fink suggested the prosecutor sought the indictment because he lost a bid to delay Kushner's release from prison. "Having no place left to go in his relentless pursuit of Charles Kushner and his family and after being rebuffed by the Bureau of Prisons ... Christie has twisted ordinary civil tax issues into a criminal indictment," he said.

2006-04-12T03:20:00.000-04:00

The "conspiracy" shrinks.

A couple details about the alleged conspiracy by Kushner Company employees have gone unnoticed by the Star Ledger in today's story about the indictment of Richard Stadtmauer.

1. When Kushner Company accountant Marci Plotkin was arrested -- one year ago today, and still no trial – the US Attorney bragged that, "The scheme is alleged to have involved the mischaracterization of more than $10 million worth of expenses." But yesterday's indictment for the exact same says Stadtmauer "conspired with others to illegally write off $5 million worth of gifts, entertainment, political and charitable contributions and capital costs."

Suddenly the conspiracy shrunk in half. By the time they indict the Kushner Company janitor, the conspiracy will be down to pennies.

2. Ms. Plotkin's age keeps shrinking, as well. In the S-L story about her arrest last year, she was said to be 56. In yesterday's DOJ press release, she was 49. Then in today's story, she is called 47.

2006-04-11T08:23:00.000-04:00

Irish eyes are smiling in Plainfield

The New York Post reports that Jim McGreevey (aka, the man who is never mentioned when Gov. Corzine whines about the $5 billion state deficit) is househunting in Plainfield. The former governor and his special friend, Mark O'Donnell, are said to be looking in the $1-2.5 million range and "have asked real-estate agents and homeowners to sign confidentiality agreements." Perhaps the governor should have required the same discretion from his homeland security directors.

O'Donnell is the CFO of First Spring Corp., the investment company set up to manage the money of the profligate Bronfman heirs. He is active in AIDS issues, serving on the board of the Treatment Action Group. He is also a reliable Democratic donor. Which explains spending $2.5 million on a house in Plainfield.

2006-04-10T21:17:00.000-04:00

Four-year Kushner investigation produces … bollocks

John Martin has an item in the Star Ledger's blog about the indictments of three people with ties to Charles Kushner. Kushner's brother-in-law, Richard Stadtmauer (photo), and two of the company's outside accountants are accused of conspiring to claim $5 million worth of charitable donations and political contributions as business expenses.

"The charges stem from a four-year investigation into the financial affairs of the 51-year-old Kushner," says Martin.

Pretty weak, if you ask Black Jack. Any prosecutor knows that four years of investigation will turn up a certain number of misplaced decimal points in a big company's books. The idea that a company "that controls more than $2 billion worth of real estate" needs a conspiracy to hide $5 million in donations is a reach. Assuming a business tax rate of 25% (which is high), the tax on $5 million is $1.25 million. If the $2 billion number is correct, then Chris Christie alleges that these three plotted to avoid taxes that equaled .06% of the company's value.

Hardly the sort of ambitious criminals one would expect the government to spend four years investigating.

2006-04-10T07:10:00.000-04:00

Stab him? He ran into my knife!

Bill Thomas, a lawyer for members of the Duke lacrosse team, told the AP that the black dancer who claims she was raped at a party for the team actually showed up at the party impaired and already injured.
The New Jersey angle to this story comes from several Duke LAX players being from our fair state, including Delbarton's Ryan McFadyen (photo). The sophomore, named "defenseman of the future" by the Dailly Record two years ago, wrote the notorious post-party email suggesting the team "have some strippers over" and then "kill the bitches" as soon as they walked into his dorm room. After the strippers were killed, McFadyen suggests they be skinned while he is "cumming in my duke issue spandex."

What a charming young man.

The DA, Mike Nifong, has been out of state at a conference and had no comment. Inspiring leadership for the prosecutor to skip town at a time like this.

2006-04-07T08:47:00.000-04:00

Christie loses key prosecutors
Morale said to plummet

In January, US Attorney Chris Christie dressed down one of his assistants. It seems that Saddle River bred AUSA David B. Lat had been moonlighting as the author of the blog Underneath Their Robes. Using the pseudonym Article III Groupie, Lat cleverly and breezily covered the federal judiciary.

Christie didn't like it. According to the New York Times, his spokesman was "fuming" and "Mr. Lat was told by his superiors that it would be wise to take the site down, and he did." Christie wouldn't speak to Lat for a week. His secretary instructed the promising young Yale Law grad to sweat it out while the great man pondered his assistant's fate:

Finally, on Thursday, Mr. Christie summoned Mr. Lat to his well-appointed room with sweeping views of Newark Liberty Airport and the Manhattan skyline. Mr. Christie settled into a couch and fixed his gaze on the young lawyer. "You put us in an awkward position," he said.

Now Christie is the one in an awkward position. Lat left the US Attorney's office and is now one of the manly editors of Wonkette (photo, on the left). NJ Justice has just received a tip that AUSA Scott Resnik, one of Christie's pets, has also just left the office.

Resnik prosecuted many big cases in the Christie era, including a federal inspector taking bribes for smuggling immigrants from India, a bribe-taking councilman in Marlboro, and most notably, developer Charles Kushner.

Resnik was the lead prosecutor in that case, and was masterful at applying additional pressure, first by arranging for five cars to arrest Kushner accountant Marci Plotkin at her gym and then by flipping Kushner chief operating officer Scott Zecher by allegedly offering a virtual walk in exchange for damaging info on Kushner and Kushner associates.

Suddenly, Resnik disappeared from the scene. When Kushner's brother-in-law, Ira Bloom, was indicted for tax evasion, it was obvious that the real purpose was to put heat on Kushner. Federal authorities don't convene criminal grand juries for those accused of underpaying their taxes by $91,701. But Resnik, who had been handling all Kushner related matters, was nowhere in sight.

According to a source, Resnik lost enthusiasm for the ongoing investigation into Kushner employees. Resnik, who went to Harvard Law and was an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School, suddenly found himself staring at the office's most boring cases. So he left.

2006-04-07T07:41:00.000-04:00

Wolf guarding the hen house.

Kim Predham writes in the Ocean County Observer that jail guard Richard O. Peterson Jr., 51, of Lacey in Ocean County has been charged with official misconduct, sexual assault and criminal sexual contact for having sex with two female inmates. In 1995, Peterson had been suspended after being charged with sexually assaulting and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend – he was acquitted of the more serious charges and when the jury deadlocked on the rest, he pleaded guilty to violating a restraining order and got a one-year suspended sentence.

2006-04-06T21:58:00.000-04:00

Trial judge wrong. Appeals panel wrong. Supreme Court right.

On January 19, 2002, Boris Boretsky (scary photo) beat the hell out of his wife, Saoule "Lana" Moukhametova. She needed 22 stitches to close a wound above her left eye. The next day, he called her from jail and threatened to kill her. On March 3, 2002, Boretsky parked his car where she couldn't see it and then ambushed her as she walked in the door. He stabbed his estranged wife in the chest with an 8-inch knife. He watched her bleed for 45 minutes before finally calling 911 to report that his wife had attempted suicide.

When the police arrived, they immediately began administering first aid, while asking Boretsky what had happened. Boretsky repeated his ludicrous suicide scenario and then tried to hand the police a portable phone so they could speak to his lawyer.
As Sue Epstein's Star-Ledger story recounts,

"The trial judge and an appeals panel ruled that prosecutors could not use the statements because Boretsky invoked his constitutional right to counsel when he called his lawyer from the murder scene and tried to get the officers to talk to him while they were ministering to his wife."

The other evidence was overwhelming so Boretsky was convicted, but he avoided the death penalty. Trial Judge James Mulvihill seems to have a soft spot for woman beaters. You may remember his declining to give 260-lb Rutgers defensive end Alfred Peterson any jail time when he pleaded guilty to punching a woman who needed 7 stitches.

Luckily, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned, ruling, "The police officers' emergency aid response trumps application of Miranda and its protection of defendant's privilege against self-incrimination."

2006-04-06T20:14:00.000-04:00

Judge to Media: Don't talk. Not even to your lawyers.

Robert Schwaneberg has a good update on the appeal of 350 Prudential insurance agents who agreed to arbitrate a dispute they had with their employer. According to the agents, Prudential made a secret deal to limit its exposure with the lawyer for the agents, New York civil rights firm, Leeds, Morelli & Brown. Back in September 2003, Judge Theodore Winard issued a monumentally stupid decision. The normally reasonable judge -- he previously agreed that Newark could limit the hours of all-night chicken joints and also ordered Newark to hire fire captains -- forgot about a little thing called the First Amendment and ruled that lawyers for ABC and The Record could not even share his opinion with their clients, let alone their viewers and readers. His decision has been ridiculed throughout the legal world, and I expect the Appellate division to overturn, but justice delayed …

2006-04-05T02:00:00.000-04:00

A Journalist in Love with a Source

My last post triggered a few comments and a very interesting email, all regarding the dicey relationship between prosecutors and journalists.

Look. Tom Moran has a tough job. As the big political columnist for the state's big newspaper, he has a compelling need to remain in the good graces of a US Attorney who clearly has pets in the New Jersey press corps. If Moran loses his access, his usefulness to the Star-Ledger is greatly diminished.

New Jersey has never had a US Attorney more hungry for headlines than Chris Christie (and from the looks of things, just plain hungry). His office makes blatant use of leaking to favored journalists, not just for the sake of garnering attention but as a strategy. In no instance has this been more evident than in matters involving Charles Kushner.

In February, when the US Attorney decided to challenge Kushner's transfer to a halfway house, the Star-Ledger's John P Martin And Kate Coscarelli found themselves in contact with " two sources" Prison bureau puts Kushner's release on hold (Star-Ledger only keeps its stories up for two weeks, but it was called "Prison bureau puts Kushner's release on hold") who knew details of the US Attorney's accusations regarding the prison's alcohol abuse program. But Kushner's spokesman, Howard Rubenstein, said Kushner himself and his lawyers didn't even know about these accusations!

Unless Rubenstein is lying – his reputation for truthfulness is unimpeachable and you don't get far in the PR business if you lie to the newspapers – then the US Attorney's office shared this information with journalists BEFORE THE DEFENDANT HAD EVEN SEEN IT!!!

2006-04-04T19:59:00.000-04:00

Tom Moran: Nasty and Wrong

On Friday, the Star-Ledger's Tom Moran wrote a column with the triumphant headline, "Kushner's out of jail but he's not home free."

Moran describes how Kushner was permitted to transfer from prison in Alabama to a halfway house in Newark because he successfully completed a 500-hour treatment program for alcohol abuse. The transfer was delayed for more than a month while the Bureau of Prisons investigated claims by New Jersey's US Attorney that Kushner had faked his was into the program. The BOP decided that Kushner had done nothing wrong and ordered the transfer. The column makes a few snarky comments about the "gourmet lunches" the "real estate mogul" will now be able to enjoy, before raising the specter that the US Attorney is not done with Kushner, after all.

There are four things wrong with Moran's column. I point them out because these mistakes are repeated over and over in news coverage of this story. Worse, the reason for these mistakes goes beyond lazy or sloppy journalism. It cuts to the core of why Chris Christie and other prosecutors have been able to amass unchecked, nearly limitless power in New Jersey.

MISTAKE ONE: "Kushner hired a prostitute to lure his sister's husband into a sexual encounter in a motel room. And he had it recorded, with a tape sent to his sister. He wanted at first to send it to her children as well, but his co-conspirators talked him out of it."

WHY IT'S FISHY: Kushner admitted to hiring a prostitute to help tape his brother-in-law cheating on his sister and to having it sent it to his sister. He did NOT admit to asking that the tape be sent to her children. That part of the story comes from the US Attorney's complaint (Attachment B, Paragraph 23, to be specific). Here's the relevant paragraph:

On or about May 9, 2004, defendant CHARLES KUSHNER instructed CCA that he wanted CCB to mail the videotape and still photographs of CW2 having sex with W1 to CW2's spouse, CW1, and to the children of CW1 and CW2. Defendant CHARLES KUSHNER further instructed that he wanted the videotape mailed from Canada and that he wanted it to arrive at CW1 and CW2's house immediately prior to a family party which was scheduled for the following weekend. CCA convinced defendant CHARLES KUSHNER that he should not send the video to the children of CW1 and CW2.

The part about sending the tape to the children comes from accomplice James O'Toole ("CCA"), who heroically "convinced" Charlie not to stoop to that part of the stunt. In other words, Moran takes O'Toole's version of events and states it as fact. That's a no-no in journalism. Moran should at least acknowledge that unlike the rest of the scheme, the part about sending it to the kids has been denied by Kushner. That's why you see "allegedly" all over the place in good newspapers.

Here, there's no evidence that Moran even tried to contact Kushner or his phalanx of lawyers, none of the typical "Calls to Kushner were not returned." O'Toole's version is gospel. This is particularly suspect, since O'Toole is:

A) an accomplice in the sordid events and thus has every reason to cast himself in favorable light.
B) O'Toole was never charged with hiring a prostitute, accepting money to videotape someone illicitly, or sending the tape. Only Kushner was prosecuted. Obviously, O'Toole did something to win the good graces of the US Attorney.
C) According to Moran's own paper ("Woman Accuses Police of Sex Assault," October 13, 2004), O'Toole was named in a lawsuit by an East Orange prostitute as one of eight members of the East Orange police who sexually assaulted her over the past 20 years. Whether those charges are true, we don't know, but it's good reason not to print O'Toole's version of events at face value.

MISTAKE TWO: "Pardon those hard-hearted prosecutors who don't buy [Kushner's drinking problem]. … Why did none of the hundreds of letters Kushner's friends sent to his sentencing judge mention a drinking problem?"

WHY IT'S FISHY: How on earth does Moran KNOW whether or not the "hundreds of letters" Kushner's friends sent mentioned a drinking problem? Other than a select few that were released to the newspapers, these letters were never made public!!! Unless Kushner or his lawyers or the judge told Moran – very unlikely – the only way Moran would know this is if the US Attorney told him so or shared the letters with him. If that's how he got his info, he should report it. Moran basically prints the US Attorney's version of events – a version that contradicts not only Kushner's, which is to be expected, but also the Bureau of Prisons, which is hardly biased toward prisoners.

MISTAKE THREE: "Why did Kushner happen to surrender to prison a month early, on the last possible day he could apply for the spring session of treatment?

WHY IT'S FISHY: What the heck? Why wouldn't Kushner surrender at the time that's best both for getting treatment sooner and for getting home sooner? How on earth is that suspicious? That's like accusing a prisoner who is granted time off for good behavior of "behaving well only so he could leave prison early."

MISTAKE FOUR: "A federal grand jury in Newark is doing its own investigation. Prosecutors are talking to Kushner's friends and associates for evidence, and have even interviewed his personal doctor. None of that information could be passed on to the Bureau of Prisons because grand jury testimony is secret. Which means their investigation had to be pretty flimsy."

WHY IT'S FISHY: Moran is disgusted by the "flimsy" BOP's investigation. Moran, a member of the "fourth estate"– whose role is to provide a check on the power of the three branches of government – is impressed by a prosecutor who would call someone's PERSONAL DOCTOR before a grand jury to investigate not murder, not rape, not extortion, but … drinking!

2006-04-04T08:21:00.000-04:00

Speak of the devil

University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ monitor Herb Stern released his first report on mismanagement at the scandal plagued school. According to the NY Times,

"The report also details a broad range of financial irregularities that it said plague the university, including influence-peddling, abuse of expense accounts, and sweetheart deals to steer contracts to politically powerful vendors."

Most troubling are the details regarding patronage and favoritism in hiring. Stern found a document in which job applicants were scored according to how powerful the person recommending them for the job was perceived to be. A candidate from Bob Menendez or State Sen. Ray Lesniak (pictured) got the highest ratings.

Disgusting. The university should use the massive funds provided by New Jersey taxpayers to hire the best people it can find. And yet, the Times article neglects to mention that Herb "He Works for Me" Stern got his monitor job in the EXACT SAME WAY – his primary qualification being friendship with US Attorney Chris Christie.

2006-04-02T22:32:00.000-04:00

Herb Stern: Mile-High Paycheck

Late December was very good to Herb Stern.

On Tuesday, December 20, 2005, former federal NJ US Attorney Herbert J Stern landed a plum assignment. Joe Nacchio, former CEO of Qwest, hired Stern to defend him on against charges that he had dumped $100 million in Qwest stock after being warned that the company's performance would not meet expectations.

With 42 counts and a defendant with limitless pockets -- Nacchio was paid $27 million in 2001 and more than 96 million in 2000 -- Stern can expect a big payday.

Just three days later, on December 23, Stern was given an equally juicy assignment. His close friend Chris Christie, who holds the very US Attorney position once held by Stern himself, appointed Stern to be the financial monitor of scandal-plagued UMDNJ, New Jersey's only medical and dental school and the largest health-sciences university in the nation. According to a follow-up article a few days later entitled "UMDNJ cedes power to U.S. monitor in unique deal," Stern's power will be extraordinary. And if someone doesn't do what Stern says, his student and apprentice makes no bones about the consequences.

Stern, 69, was given sweeping authority to open the university's books, recommend firing staff, choose candidates for top positions and make major reforms. The U.S. attorney said he will quickly begin a criminal prosecution if UMDNJ officials refuse to cooperate with the federal monitor or break the agreement at any time.
"Herb Stern works for me. And if somebody doesn't do what Herb Stern wants them to do and comes to me, I think I have a much different power of persuasion," Christie said.
Stern, who takes office Tuesday, will be paid $500 an hour to serve as federal monitor and make public reports every three months. He will be free to hire advisers at $325 an hour. UMDNJ will cover all the bills. … Stern will decide how to structure his new position and may work out of an office at UMDNJ, campus officials said.

Not bad. $500 an hour plus unlimited hires at $325 an hour. And the threat of criminal prosecution should anyone fail to bend to his will.

Can Stern manage both assignments? Nacchio lives in Mendham, NJ, only about 20 miles from Stern, Greenberg & Kilcullen in Roseland, NJ. But Denver is 1750 miles away.

According to the Rocky Mountain News, Stern is doing all the heavy lifting in the case, assisted by Nacchio's local counsel, Denver defender John Richilano. And in a few days, he's expected to lose a motion to change the venue.

Oh, to be a fly in the fall of that strategy room! How wonderful to imagine tough-guy former prosecutor Herb Stern strategize alongside a guy who's best known for defending violent offenders and representing mass murderer and terrorist Terry Nichols from the bombing of Oklahoma City.

2006-04-01T15:20:00.000-05:00

McCarter & English grows again.

The biggest firm in New Jersey just got bigger. McCarter & English is acquiring small-but-well-regarded Boston firm Gadsby Hannah. Gadsby's 28 lawyers brings M&E's total to 430 lawyers, including such superstars as Robert Mintz (pictured), who worked for Gov. Kean before serving as an AUSA and serving as ABC's legal expert during the the Martha Stewart trial.

2006-04-01T10:31:00.000-05:00

Charlie Kushner comes home.

Real estate mogul and political patron Charles Kushner returned to New Jersey after serving twelve months in a federal pen in Montgomery on charges of witness intimidation and tax fraud. His 24-month sentence was trimmed because he was accepted into and completed 500 hours of substance abuse counseling for alcohol abuse. Kushner is being transferred to the Kintock halfway house in Newark for four months. Adding meaningful perspective, The Star-Ledger reports that he arrived in a blue car but does not know what airline he flew. "Details of Kushner's flight from Alabama to New Jersey yesterday were unclear," reports John Martin.

Kushner was originally scheduled to be transferred in late February, but the date was pushed back a month because Chris Christie decided to challenge Kushner's admittance into the program. And "challenge" he did. According to a Feb. 24 story in the Star-Ledger, "Federal prosecutors and FBI agents said they believe Kushner faked his way into the program." They sent FBI agents to interview " liquor store owners, Kushner's doctor and employees." This may be the first grand jury investigation ever launched solely to investigate someone's drinking problem.
The Bureau of Prisons conducted its own investigation and concluded that Kushner was entitled to admittance to the program and signed off on his release.

2006-03-31T16:05:00.000-05:00

Blog says Andrews to become NJ Chief Justice

In a MAJOR April Fool's Day scoop, PoliticsNJ says that Representative Rob Andrews, recently heartsick over Corzine not naming him to fill his US Senate seat, will instead be appointed by the governor to fill the highest judicial seat in the state. If approved, Andrews will replace the miserable idiot Debbie Poritz, who stepped down to "devote herself to watching American Idol."

PoliticsNJ also says that former Whitman Chief of Staff Michael Torpey will also be nominated to the court, the state's tradition of balanced appointments being in effect.

South Jersey kingpin George Norcross is thought to basically control Andrews, so this can be read as Corzine paying him back for having appointed Menendez instead of Andrews. Nevertheless, Andrews will be an improvement. Keep an eye on the bitter fight for Andrews' seat in the First District. Norcross will presumably call the shots there, but an open seat is still an open seat.

This photo is of the Rob Andrews who used to play for the Giants, rather than the presumptive new Chief Judge. Couldn't resist the moustache. Congratulations to Rob Andrews and to Politics NJ for a major coup.

2006-03-31T15:39:00.000-05:00

McGreevey's new book due in September.

Philadelphia Inquirer has a "we have nothing to say so let's rehash a bunch of old stories" story on Jim McGreevey's book being due in September. The formerly Catholic former governor (Star Ledger reported in December that the former altar boy had begun attending services in an Episcopal church) cleverly titles his book "The Confession." The only thing interesting about this story is the quote from "McGreevey's spokesman, Scott Widmeyer." Not the quote itself, but the fact that everyone somehow has a "spokesman." Where do these "spokesmen" come from? Who pays them? Care to answer, Mr. Widmeyer?
While we wait to hear from Scott, here's a prom photo of the former governor and his friend, Golan Cipel.

2006-03-31T15:25:00.000-05:00

Ton of news in the land of New Jersey legal mischief today.

First, the Asbury Park Press has a story about a municipal court judge from Oceanport by the excellent name of William Throckmorton. It seems he shot a goose with an air rifle. A neighbor's daughter saw it happen and "took photos of the struggling animal before it died." When the judge was arrested -- air rifles are considered a deadly weapon under New Jersey law -- the 70-something judge fessed up and admitted he'd shot the goose because he was sick of them crapping on his lawn.

I couldn't find a photo of Throckmorton, but check out this awesome rifle fellow bird shooter Vice President Cheney received from the NRA in April 2004.

2006-03-30T13:54:00.000-05:00

What takes so damn long?

Remember Superior Court Judge Stephen Thompson from Camden? He's the judge who was convicted by a jury of traveling to St Petersbyrg for sex with a minor. The same jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity on charges of "possessing vast amounts of child pornography." Infuriatingly, Thompson was actually the judge assigned to handle Megan's Law violations at the time of his arrest.

This case was a model of cooperation. Thompson was arrested on April 30, 2003, by the New Jersey State Police. He was charged by the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. Then he was tried in federal court by two US Attorneys, in cooperation with state and county authorities.

My only beef is that it takes so long for sentencing to be handed down. Today's Courier Post reports that sentencing, scheduled for today, has been delayed. No reason was given and no new date was set. This guy was caught red-handed, convicted and is already in custody. Needlessly delaying punishments for the awful acts this man committed deprives the people of New Jersey the justice we deserve.

If you don't agree, read from the press release the US Attorney's office published back when Thompson was convicted:

According to trial testimony and evidence, on April 30, 2003, the State Police and Camden County Prosecutor's Office executed search warrants at both of Thompson's New Jersey residences and his judicial chambers located in the Camden County Hall of Justice. Authorities recovered 17 VHS tapes containing child pornography involving images of children engaged in sexually explicit acts, magazines containing child pornography and child erotica; materials associated with the North American Man Boy Love Association (NAMBLA); an 8mm film containing child pornography; various papers containing the age of consent in countries all over the world, as well as in various states in the United States; more than 300 printed images of child pornography and child erotica; a laptop computer, a locked box containing 17 computer Zip disks, with each disk containing more than 200 images of child pornography; 57 floppy disks containing more than 6,000 thousands of images of child pornography; and a Cannon ZR40 digital video camera loaded with a videocassette.

One of the videocassettes found along with the video camera was played for the jury and contained what appeared to be tourist footage from a trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, that Thompson made in September 2002. The scene then cuts to a hotel room with a young teenage boy under the age of 18, according to expert testimony. Thompson is heard telling an unidentified man speaking in Russian to ask the child to take off his clothes. As played for the jury, the camera appears to be placed on a piece of furniture in the hotel room and shortly thereafter, Thompson can be seen climbing naked onto the bed with the child and engaging in sexual acts with the child. The tape contains approximately 40 minutes of sexual footage of the child.

2006-03-30T11:52:00.000-05:00

CRIME: An error of .03 percent. PUNISHMENT: Go to jail.

According to WNBC, Charles Kushner is the richest man in New Jersey. New Jersey is like the richest state in the country. The Forbes 400 list includes at least four New Jerseyans with over a billion bucks: candy heiress Jacqueline Mars, investors Michael Price and Peter Kellogg, and hedge fund operator David Tepper.
So let's assume that Charlie Kushner has $1 billion. He pleaded guilty to "16 counts of assisting in the filing of false tax returns" causing "losses to the IRS of between $200,000 and $325,000."
Let me get this straight. A guy worth $1 billion underpaid by $325,000. That's three one-hundredths of a percent -- equivalent to a guy worth $1 million underpaying by $325!
Put another way, let's assume Kushner's salary for the year in which those 16 different tax counts occurred was $10 million -- a conservative estimate given his wealth and the Northeast's real estate market. Someone in the top tax bracket pays just under 39%. That means Kushner would owe about $3.9 million. In other words, the government put a guy in jail for underpaying his taxes by a whopping EIGHT percent. And that's IF all sixteen violations occurred in the same year (the DOJ press release doesn't say). If you earned $100,000 this year you'll probably owe the Feds something like $20,000, depending on your mortgage and how many kids you have. Imagine sending in a check for $18,400 and the next thing you know you're bumming smokes off guys in a federal pen.
I'm not suggesting that rich people should be allowed to make $325,000 errors. If he underpaid, he should have to pay what he owed and if it was on purpose, there should be a penalty. All I'm saying is that guys who set out to cheat on their taxes don't cook up schemes to save .03 percent of their net worth.

2006-03-30T11:23:00.001-05:00

Charlie Kushner is coming home.

John Martin reports in today's Star-Ledger that developer Charles Kushner will be granted the early release that he earned for participating in an " inmate treatment program" for alcohol abuse. His release was supposed to occur a month ago but federal prosecutors disputed Kushner's claim of alcohol dependency. According to the Star Ledger,

"After a monthlong review, prison officials notified Kushner's attorneys and prosecutors late Tuesday that they had determined no wrongdoing."

It might have been nice if the prosecutors had challenged Kushner's claim before he completed a 500-hour treatment program, but I guess justice delayed is not justice denied after all.

2006-03-30T10:13:00.000-05:00

Something I don't understand about the Charlie Kushner case.

As I said in a post a couple days ago, The Record reports that "Some officials in Christie's office are so angry" at Kushner that they want to deny him the early release that the Bureau of Prisons believes he's entitled to.
According to the article, Kushner successfully "completed 500 hours of counseling to combat alcohol abuse." Prosecutors suspect that Kushner's claim of alcoholism is bogus. One of them displayed his total naivete (and bias) by anonymously telling the Record, "We all know alcoholics. Kushner is not the picture of alcoholism."
Apparently, this person forgot to attend his or her "spot the abuser" class. The President himself -- the man who appointed Chris Christie -- is proud to have recovered from his own problems with alcohol:

"It’s become clear to America over the course of this campaign that I’ve made mistakes in my life, but I’m proud to tell you I’ve learned from my mistakes. And that’s the role of a leader -- to share wisdom, to share experience with people who are looking for someone to lead." (Speech in Michigan Nov 4, 2000)

Even more to the point, Since when are prosecutors qualified to make decisions about inmates' drug or alcohol abuse? Charlie Kushner was under the supervision of the Bureau of Prisons for 12 months, 24 hours a day. They saw him wake up, eat, sleep and apparently go to 500 hours of counseling. They are better qualified to make decisions about whether he does or does not have a substance abuse problem, especially compared to prosecutors who by their own admission are "angry" at him.

Chris Christie was one of President Bush's biggest fundraisers in 2000. Another quote from his boss is even more telling:

Bush spoke to a group of recovering drug addicts and told them he identifies with them: “Just like you, I’m on a walk, and it’s a never-ending walk as far as I’m concerned. I used to drink too much and I quit drinking. I want you to know that your life’s walk is shared by a lot of other people. Even some who wear suits.“ (Boston Globe, p. A12 Jan 22, 2000)

See? Even the President said that a guy in a suit might have an alcohol problem.

This is a much bigger issue than just Charlie Kushner. What kind of message is Chris Christie sending to recovering addicts? "Try to get help and I will come after you." Not very compassionate, but also not very smart. We should encourage our drug addicts and drinkers to seek treatment, especially while they're in prison.

2006-03-21T11:54:00.000-05:00

Was Chris Christie's biggest triumph a sham?

According to ABC News, the big missile bust that Chris Christie bragged was going to make his career might have never posed a threat to anyone. Following the arrest, prosecutor Chris Christie stated that Lakhani was “a true believer in the cause that America should be attacked and that its citizens should be killed.” According to ABC news, Lakhani might never have posed a threat to anyone.

Administration officials are leaving out key facts and exaggerating the significance of the alleged plot to smuggle a shoulder-launched missile into the United States, law enforcement officials told ABCNEWS. They say there's a lot less than meets the eye.
Outside the courtroom, U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie called accused ringleader Hemant Lakhani an ally of terrorists who want to kill Americans.
But what he did not say was just how much of the alleged missile plot was a government setup from start to finish. For example, Lakhani had no contacts in Russia to buy the missiles before the sting and had no known criminal record for arms dealing, and court documents show much of the case is based on the government's key cooperating witness, an informant seeking lenient treatment on federal drug charges, officials told ABCNEWS.
The missile shipped into the New York area last month was just a mockup — arranged entirely by the government. The government also arranged the meetings at a New Jersey hotel and elsewhere, where Lakhani allegedly told undercover agents posing as al Qaeda terrorists about his support of bin Laden.
"One would have to ask yourself, would this have occurred at all without the government?" said Gerald Lefcourt, a criminal defense attorney.

Elsewhere, The London arms trader claims he was entrapped.

2006-03-21T10:35:00.000-05:00

FINALLY! A reporter has at last found the gonads to suggest that there ought to be some reason and restraint to what has thus far been an unbridled, personal vendetta. Mike Kelly's column in the Record is entitled What to make of Charlie Kushner?" but it really should be called "What to make of Chris Christie?" Kelly makes the brilliant point that

...At the heart of this debate is a deeper question: What is the line between enforcing the law and going overboard?

This is the hard question Chris Christie needs to ask himself.

There is no doubt that Kushner was a crook. Facing a federal investigation three years ago into his campaign contributions and taxes, Kushner tried to threaten a key witness -- his own sister, who was cooperating with the FBI.

...

Kushner eventually was sentenced to two years in a federal prison, with instructions from a judge that he enter a mental health program. But alcohol abuse?
...

Sources close to Kushner now paint a more detailed portrait of a desperate man coming unglued emotionally and drinking heavily as the FBI closed in on him in 2004. After his arrest, Kushner drank even more, sources say, usually knocking down at least one bottle of wine at dinner, then following up with vodka as the night wore on.

"He was basically drinking himself to sleep," one source noted.

...

What he did behind bars is nothing less than many inmates do. He took advantage of a program he could benefit from. After completing the program, he followed rules and applied for a sentence reduction. Is all that worth a grand jury investigation?

Chris Christie is one of the best federal prosecutors ever to set foot in New Jersey. He bagged Kushner in 2004. That's enough.

Finally, someone begins to questions -- however gingerly -- Christie's clear impression that he answers to no one.

2006-03-21T10:27:00.000-05:00

The New York Times ran an editorial about Todd Christie (below) and Capitalism Magazine reports that Todd resigned as a nominee to the NYSE just days after resigning from Spear Leeds "for personal reasons."

April 16, 2005
EDITORIAL
Money for Nothing

Once upon a time, most of the mug shots in newspapers were of violent criminals. These days, the perps wear suits in the lineups.

Just the other day, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed securities fraud complaints against 20 former New York Stock Exchange floor traders who are accused of cheating customers to benefit their firms. This is the second Big Board trading-floor scandal in recent years - the last was in 1999, when the S.E.C. found that the stock exchange had failed to uncover and halt illegal proprietary trading by a ring of independent floor brokers.

This time, the Big Board did a little better - by uncovering the original instances of improper trading itself. But it failed to follow through, leading to the S.E.C.'s supervision of the investigation.

In one case, a trader made $1,280 in about 14 seconds by selling stock from his firm's accounts to clients at an inflated price.

We can't help but note that Todd Christie, the brother of Christopher Christie, the United States attorney for New Jersey, was among the 20 stock traders charged. But while 14 of the traders were charged with criminal fraud, Mr. Christie, a major donor to Republicans and the youngest brother of a prosecutor who has specialized in rooting out political corruption, faces only civil penalties and fines.

The S.E.C. said Mr. Christie's firm had earned $1.59 million for its own account in trading maneuvers that cost customers $1.4 million in extra expenses. Mr. Christie ranked fourth in the S.E.C. complaint among the 20 traders who earned the biggest profits at customers' expense. The top three were indicted, as were 11 traders lower down. We don't know whether this is a case of how nice it is to have big brothers in high places. But it doesn't look good.

2006-03-21T10:19:00.000-05:00

Here's a story that gets to the heart of Gov. McGreevey's trouble with "saying no."

McGreevey at odds with two of his top backers - Rising power of Norcross, Lynch meets opposition
JEFF WHELAN AND JOSH MARGOLIN
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
1,339 words 1 April 2003

Gov. James E. McGreevey is quietly distancing himself from two political power brokers who helped engineer his rise to power, opening a rift that could have enormous consequences for the state's Democratic Party.

In recent weeks, McGreevey has reached out to two top Democrats to say he has had an "epiphany" and now believes he made a mistake allowing George Norcross of Camden County and former state Sen. John Lynch of Middlesex County to gain so much influence in his administration.

The split has emerged over a mix of politics, policy and patronage, according to interviews with two dozen Democratic sources, including lawmakers, lobbyists, administration officials and party operatives. Most of the sources requested anonymity.