Pig Roast Leftovers

The New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed with modification an Appellate Court decision granting access to an Internal Affairs report of an expunged criminal matter involving a police lieutenant

The expungement statute does not bar release of the report because the [Internal Affairs] report is not a criminal record. The expungement statute and the expungement order entered by the Sussex County Superior Court do, however, bar release of any information related to the lieutenant’s arrest, conviction, or the disposition of his criminal case. Counsel for defendants has certified that the IA report in this case contains “information pertaining to [the lieutenant’s] arrest, charges and [the] disposition” of his criminal case. Therefore, pursuant to the expungement statute and order, any such information must be redacted from the IA report. The Court affirms but modifies the Appellate Division’s judgment. It remands to the trial court to perform those redactions in camera and to then conduct the common law balancing test set forth in Rivera on the remainder of the IA report. If the court finds that the “interests that favor disclosure outweigh concerns for confidentiality,” Rivera, 250 N.J. at 135, it must redact the additional information specified in Rivera, id. at 150, and then release the redacted report to plaintiff. As to the sealing of court documents, the Court leaves undisturbed the Appellate Division’s direction.

Incident at issue

In August 2019, a JCPD lieutenant and his girlfriend hosted a pig roast at their home. The lieutenant consumed six to eight beers. He and his girlfriend argued about what to do with the leftover food and drink. After stating, “Today is your day,” the lieutenant retrieved his shotgun from his safe. As his girlfriend walked her son to the car, the lieutenant fired one round in their direction. One witness recounted that she heard the lieutenant say, “It’s time to die.”

The New Jersey State Police responded to the scene and arrested the lieutenant. He was charged with terroristic threats and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, a Graves Act offense. On March 2, 2020, with the consent of the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office (SCPO), the lieutenant was permitted to plead guilty to a lesser charge and enroll in a twelve-month PTI program.

The JCPD was not involved in the criminal proceedings. However, it opened an IA investigation into the lieutenant’s conduct. As part of that investigation, the JCPD requested records from the State Police and SCPO about the incident. The JCPD ultimately sustained a finding of misconduct  against the lieutenant and suspended him for ninety days. Counsel for defendants certified that the IA report “contains several pages worth of passages copied verbatim or nearly-verbatim” from State Police and SCPO records regarding the lieutenant.

(Mike Frisch)