Ex-prosecutor who claims Christie had allies' charges dropped wins battle for records

[Laxman]

Source: Newark Star-Ledger

In the latest chapter of a lengthy, expensive court battle, a former Hunterdon County assistant prosecutor who claims he was fired for objecting to the dismissal of indictments against supporters of Gov. Chris Christie has been granted access to secret documents that he says will help prove his case.

A state Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that the state must provide the former prosecutor, Bennett Barlyn, access to sealed grand jury transcripts related to the indictments.

The matter has cost taxpayers nearly $2 million in legal fees as the state sought to block the release of the documents, according to figures obtained by the Associated Press.

Barlyn, who filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the state, has been fighting for the documents for more than a year, saying they will help him confirm his allegations that he was booted for political reasons in 2010.

Read more: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/07/ex-prosecutor_who_claims_christie_had_allies_charg.html#incart_river

---

Well this ought to lead to some interesting information coming to light. They didn't spend $2 million in taxpayer money to block release of these documents just on the principal of grand jury secrecy. There is going to be something damning in those transcripts and Mr. Barlyn knows it.

[turbinetree]

1. Oh Chrissy.........................

come out come out wherever you are, you can't hide from this and it could mean really big trouble for you------------------now you, can feel the "sit down and shut up " moment coming upon you

[Laxman]

2. This Is A Rock About To Be Turned Over....

and I'll bet there are lots of creepy crawly things that will start scurrying around. Mr. Barlyn knows better than anyone-he presented the case and he wouldn't be doing this if he didn't know EXACTLY what facts were out there.

[turbinetree]

3. Correct...................

and now his past and present team was hoping that they could have gotten this thrown out------------but it wasn't and now the proverbial s****t is going to hit the fan.

[Laxman]

4. Just To Give Some Context......

to this story, this was item #1 in the Christie Crime Digest and is a really interesting story of an honest guy trying to do the right thing and getting screwed because of it.

The Quashing of a Case Against a Christie Ally

FLEMINGTON, N.J. — Prosecutors sent tremors through rural Hunterdon County when they announced a sweeping indictment of the local Republican sheriff and her two deputies in 2010.

The 43-count grand jury indictment read like a primer in small-town abuse of power. It accused Sheriff Deborah Trout of hiring deputies without conducting proper background checks, and making employees sign loyalty oaths. Her deputies, the indictment charged, threatened one of their critics and manufactured fake police badges for a prominent donor to Gov. Chris Christie.

When the charges became public, the indicted undersheriff, Michael Russo, shrugged it off. Governor Christie, he assured an aide, would “have this whole thing thrown out,” according to The Hunterdon County Democrat. That sounded like bluster. Then the state killed the case.

On the day the indictment was unsealed, the state attorney general, a Christie appointee, took over the Hunterdon prosecutor’s office. Within a few months, three of its most respected veterans lost their jobs there, including the one who led the case.

Not long after, a deputy attorney general walked into a local courtroom and handed in papers that, with little explanation, declared that the indictments were littered with “legal and factual deficiencies.”

A judge dismissed the indictments. Soon after, officials took the unusual step of shipping all evidence to the capital, Trenton.

The killing of an indictment is a rare event in New Jersey, and all the more surprising as it came during Governor Christie’s first months in office. The new governor was elected on the strength of his record as a United States attorney prosecuting corrupt officials.

There is no evidence that Mr. Christie ordered the dismissal of the charges against Sheriff Trout. But his attorney general, Paula T. Dow, who had served as his counsel at the United States attorney’s office, supervised the quashing of the indictment and the ouster of the respected prosecutors.

Sheriff Trout had political ties to the administration. She led an association of county law enforcement officials that backed the candidacy of Mr. Christie and his running mate, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who had previously served as sheriff in Monmouth County.

Ms. Guadagno and Ms. Trout exchanged chatty e-mails, according to court records. After the election, Ms. Guadagno thanked Sheriff Trout for sending her deputies to work on the campaign.

read the rest here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/11/nyregion/43-count-indictment-of-a-christie-ally-quashed.html?smid=pl-share&_r=0

[rocktivity]

5. Here's Rachel's report on it from last January

Last edited Thu Jul 23, 2015, 11:31 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/an-even-more-mind-bending-new-jersey-story-131725379572


rocktivity

[Laxman]

6. Another Crack In The Wall....

hopefully this leads to a flood of information. Just getting this grand jury testimony into the public realm (assuming no reversal from the appellate court) should be extremely enlightening.