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TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that criminal complaints were
issued this morning charging four Jersey
City Municipal Court judges, including the
former chief judge, with official misconduct.
Three
of the judges were charged with second-degree
official misconduct. They are former chief
judge Wanda Molina, 48, Pauline Sica, 45,
and Victor Sison, 64. Second-degree crimes
carry a sentence of up to 10 years in state
prison and a fine of up to $150,000.
Judge
Irwin Rosen, 52, was charged with third-degree
official misconduct. Third-degree crimes
carry a sentence of up to five years in
prison and a $15,000 fine. All four defendants
are Jersey City residents, as required to
sit on the municipal court. Molina previously
resigned from the court. The other three
judges have taken unpaid leaves of absence.
The
complaints charge that the defendants took
judicial action regarding parking or traffic
tickets – or in the case of Sison,
solicited a fellow judge to take action
– in cases where the ticket was issued
to the judge or to a relative, friend or
colleague. In some cases, tickets were dismissed
or fines were reduced.
“When
judges take official action in cases where
they have a personal stake, or someone close
to them has a stake, it seriously erodes
public confidence in our judicial system,”
said Attorney General Milgram. “These
judges broke the law. They violated their
duties and put their interests ahead of
the interests of justice.”
“Our
investigation is ongoing,” Milgram
added.
The
charge against Molina relates specifically
to her dismissal of five parking tickets
issued to a personal friend. Sica was charged
in connection with her adjudication of two
parking tickets received by Sison –
one dismissed, and one for which only court
costs were assessed – and a traffic
ticket issued to a member of Sison’s
immediate family, on which the charge was
reduced, avoiding points against the license.
Sison is charged with soliciting Sica to
handle those tickets for him. Rosen is charged
with dismissing a single parking ticket
that he received himself.
Molina,
Sison and Rosen were served with complaint
summonses containing the charge. Service
of a complaint on Sica is pending, because
she could not be located. The complaints,
which were filed in Superior Court, direct
the defendants to appear in Superior Court
in Hudson County on Nov. 1 to answer the
charges.
Hudson
County Assignment Judge Maurice J. Gallipoli
initially investigated allegations regarding
irregularities in the disposition of tickets
in Jersey City Municipal Court. He referred
the matter to the Attorney General’s
Office.
“It
is particularly disturbing when judges are
accused of official misconduct, because
New Jersey citizens must be able to count
on the courts as a bulwark against public
corruption,” said Criminal Justice
Director Paw. “I commend the Judiciary
for acting swiftly to uncover these allegations
and refer this matter to the Attorney General’s
Office.”
The
case was investigated for the Division of
Criminal Justice - Corruption Bureau by
State Investigators Lisa Shea and Lisa Cawley.
Deputy Attorneys General Thomas Clark and
Asha Vaghela are handling the case for the
Attorney General.
The
charges are merely accusations and the defendants
are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
On
Sept. 21, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner of
the New Jersey Supreme Court assigned Superior
Court Judge Sheila A. Venable to serve as
chief judge of the Jersey City Municipal
Court, in the wake of Molina’s resignation.
On Oct. 1, Chief Justice Rabner announced
that he had directed Judge Gallipoli to
assume direct leadership of the Jersey City
Municipal Court, administering day-to-day
operations with Judge Venable.
The
Jersey City Municipal Court normally has
10 sitting judges. Four new municipal court
judges were appointed by city officials
and sworn in this month.
>>
View
Complaints (428k
pdf)
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The
Division of Criminal Justice – Corruption
Bureau has established a toll-free Corruption
Tipline for the public to report corruption,
financial crime and other illegal activities.
The statewide Corruption Tipline is
1-866-TIPS-4CJ. Additionally, the
public can log on to the Division of Criminal
Justice Web site at www.njdcj.org
to report suspected wrongdoing. All information
received through the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Tipline or Web site will
remain confidential.
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