Monmouth County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon was sworn in as President of the Monmouth County Bar Association on Thursday in a socially distanced ceremony presided over by Assignment Judge Lisa P. Thornton outside the County Courthouse.
Superior Court Judge Dennis R. O’Brien ruled this afternoon, in Freehold, that the Board of Elections and all district workers will provide all credentialed Challengers with total vote counts in each ward and district in today’s municipal election in Long Branch, in two hour intervals, so long as there is no disruption in the flow and voting.
Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty told The Asbury Park Pressthat he would disclose all donations to his campaign for Monmouth County Freeholder under the amount of $300, but only those donations received after July 13. July 13 was the date that the Doherty administration filed the 12 year old pay to play ethics ordinance with the state.
“I’m going to follow the ordinance and the state statutes to the letter.” Doherty told app. It’s disappointing that the reporter let him get away with that Clinton speak.
Dion Harrell of Long Branch spent four years in prison for a rape he did not commit.
Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni announced this afternoon that a recent DNA test proved the Harrell was not the source of the biological evidence found in the 17 year old victim of the 1987 rape. Gramiccioni sad that Harrell’s conviction will be vacated.
Harrell was convicted on March 26, 1993 and released from prison in 1997. He turned 50 years old last week and is homeless, according the the New Jersey Sex Offenders Registry.
Governor Chris Christie announced yesterday that he has nominated Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Paul X. Escandon for reappointment to the bench. Should Escandon be be confirmed by the State Senate, he will be a tenured Judge eligible to serve until the mandatory retirement age of 70.
Escandon was appointed to the Superior Court in 2009 by Governor Jon Corzine. His service on the bench became a matter of public controversy when Governor Chris Christie lent a sympathetic ear to Rachel Alintoff, whose divorce was being presided over by Escandon, during a Town Hall Meeting in Garfield, Bergen County, on May 2, 2012. Alintoff complained to Christie that Escandon stripped her of her parental rights as a punishment for seeking an Order of Protection against her estranged husband in New York and that the Judge ordered her estranged husband, who she said makes over $500,000 per year on Wall Street, to provide only $1000 per month in support for her and her son.
TRENTON — In a surprise announcement, Gov. Chris Christie on Monday once again nominated a veteran Monmouth County judge to the state Supreme Court — even though the same nominee was rejected by the state Senate three years ago. The governor announced he was nominating David Bauman, a fellow Republican, at a Statehouse news conference. The… Read the rest of this entry »
Brian Farmer, 59, the registered sex offender arrested for the double strangulation murders of his cousin Joan Colbert, 62, and her 10 year old foster daughter Veronica Roach in August of 2014, was indicted on six charges by a Monmouth County Grand Jury on November 30th, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
The grand jury charged Farmer with first degree Murder for causing the death of Colbert and Roach, one count of first degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child, one count of second degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child and two counts of third degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child. The Endangering charges are related to Farmer causing or permitting a child to engage in child pornography, for the manufacture of child pornography and for the possession of child pornography.
Kevin Motyka, 24, of Howell Township, was sentenced to 12 years in state prison for sexually assaulting a toddler and electronically recording the act, according to a statement by Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
Motyka must serve 85% of his sentence before being eligible for parole. He will be subject to the provision of Megan’s Law, Parole Supervision for life and is banned from having unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18, pursuant to the sentence imposed by Judge Anthony J. Mellaci, Jr.
A Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Computer Crimes Unit investigation revealed Motyka sexually assaulted a 2-year-old boy between May and December 2012, and created photographs and video recordings of the attacks. The defendant also distributed child pornography of images that did not include his young victim.
FREEHOLD – A Colts Neck teen will have up to 15 years behind bars to think about the night he repeatedly stabbed and slashed a woman with a 10-inch knife, before carjacking her and then leaving her for dead. Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Ronald Reisner sentenced Brennan Doyle, 18, of Colts Neck, to a pair… Read the rest of this entry »
Matthew Kleinstein. Photo via FelicianAthletics.com
Freehold, NJ- Robert Honecker, Esq. smiled broadly as he left Judge Ronald Lee Reisner’s courtroom at 9:10 a.m. on Friday morning, followed closely by his client Matthew Kleinstein and the Kleinstein family.
Judge Reisner was not on the bench. A reporter sat in the last row of the courtroom with a perplexed look on her face. Kleinstein, the former Marlboro Camp Counselor who pleaded guilty in August to 4th degree Cyber Harassment after sending images of his penis to four 11-13 female campers in his care the previous summer, had his sentencing hearing outside of the presence of the media.
It is a rare occurrence that Court proceedings start promptly at 9 a.m. when so scheduled. If you’re summoned to Court at 9 a.m. and bring an attorney, chances are pretty good that you’ll be paying for an hour or two of his/her time to work on other cases from his/her phone and/or laptop computer.
Judge Reisner started his calendar promptly on Friday morning. Maybe even early. He dealt with the Kleinstein matter and then apparently left the bench as approximately 30 other defendants patiently waited in the courtroom for their sentencing hearings.
