Category: In The Courts

Virtual grand jury proceedings will convene within the next two weeks in Bergen and Mercer counties, under a Supreme Court order signed on May 14, 2020 by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner.

The pilot program, which is expected to begin “as soon as practicable,” will be used to determine whether the Judiciary expands remote grand juries to additional counties and state grand jury proceedings. Cases will be presented to a grand jury only if the defendant gives consent to proceed in a remote format.

The technology will be similar to the formats the Judiciary currently uses for virtual hearings but will employ additional security measures.

“In the past two months, much of the work of the courts has continued through virtual operations,” Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said. “That same technology will now be used to continue grand jury proceedings remotely, in a manner that protects the public while safeguarding the rights and privacy of defendants, witnesses, victims, and jurors.”

The pilot program stems from a recommendation of a working group formed by the state Supreme Court that includes representatives of the Attorney General’s Office, the Office of the Public Defender, the County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey, the American Civil Liberties Union, the New Jersey State Bar Association, and the private defense bar, in addition to judges and court staff.

“Our state is facing an unprecedented crisis, and we need to examine solutions that we might not consider in ordinary times,” said Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal. “I’d like to thank Chief Justice Rabner and Acting Administrator Grant for their boldness and their creativity as we work together to safeguard our criminal justice system during this difficult time.”

There are 1,400 defendants currently detained in county jails awaiting indictment along with additional defendants on pretrial release.

To date, the Judiciary has conducted more than 23,000 virtual proceedings involving more than 189,000 participants. Based on current guidance from the New Jersey Department of Health, the COVID-19 virus is expected to continue to disrupt normal court operations in the months ahead.

Many New Jersey municipal courts began remote proceedings today, holding court sessions by video or phone under an order issued by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner.

In-person municipal court sessions had been suspended in mid-March so that the courts could conform with social distancing guidelines put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19. Only certain matters, such as those that involved public safety, were permitted to continue.

A follow-up order allowed municipal court cases to proceed with the consent of all parties starting April 24, with all municipal court sessions resuming on May 11 “to the extent possible, based on facilities, technology and other resources.”

The order applies to all case types. “Municipal courts are vital to our state’s justice system” Chief Justice Rabner said. “This is another step in expanding virtual proceedings to allow court business to continue, safely, wherever possible.”

Most public interaction with the New Jersey court system is through the state’s 515 municipal courts, which handle approximately six million cases a year.

Some municipal courts are working with their respective municipalities to make the transition to virtual court easier.

For example, in Jersey City, court users can download a form on the municipal website to register for court. Court administrators schedule the cases, and defendants receive an email with instructions on how to participate virtually.

Since the form was made public last week, 90 defendants registered to schedule their cases, Jersey City Chief Municipal Judge Carlo Abad said.

The court is scheduled to hear 15 of those cases this week, he said.
Judge Abad also developed a training video to teach other municipal court judges how to conduct remote proceedings through Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

“The feedback has been great,” Judge Abad said. “It’s being well received by the other judges and the prosecutors.”

The Supreme Court order also makes it easier for the public to respond to fines and infractions online.

Starting Monday, May 11, defendants can now use NJMCdirect.com, the municipal court online payment system, to resolve not only motor vehicle violations but also disorderly persons offenses and other ordinance violations where the defendant has been placed on a time payment plan.

The Supreme Court also relaxed court rules to make it easier for defendants to enter a plea by mail.

A Gloucester County, New Jersey, man was sentenced on May 8, 2020 to 65 months in prison for mailing thousands of fraudulent invoices to hospitals, clinics and doctors’ offices throughout the United States, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Robert S. Armstrong, 49, of Turnersville, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman in Camden federal court to an information charging him with one count of mail fraud. Judge Hillman imposed the sentence today.

This is Armstrong’s second mail fraud scheme. On Nov. 19, 2015, Armstrong was sentenced to 57 months in prison for committing a similar mail fraud scheme in the name of his company, Scholastic Book Supply. In that case, Armstrong caused the mailing of thousands of fraudulent invoices to schools throughout the United States billing them for books that the schools did not order or receive. He was sentenced today to 41 months on the Pinnacle Medical Supply case, which was committed while he was on supervised release for the Scholastic Book Supply case. He pleaded guilty to three violations of his supervised release from prison in the Scholastic Book Supply case, and was sentenced to an additional 24 months in prison, for a total prison sentence imposed today of 65 months. 

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Operating under the name of Pinnacle Medical Supplies, Armstrong prepared and caused to be prepared fraudulent invoices billing hospitals, clinics and doctors’ offices across the United States for medical supplies such as diabetic test strips, EpiPens® and sanitizing wipes that the medical providers never ordered or received. In addition to billing for medical supplies never ordered or received, the invoices included fraudulent shipping information and a fraudulent address.

Armstrong then contracted with a legitimate bulk mailing company to mail more than 10,000 invoices to medical providers across the United States. Each invoice included a payment envelope preaddressed to Pinnacle Medical Supply at mail boxes Armstrong had set up with commercial mail receiving agents in Florida and Texas.   

In response to the phony invoices, at least 943 medical providers sent $214,495 to Pinnacle Medical Supply. Armstrong deposited many of the checks from the victim medical providers into a bank account he opened in the name of Pinnacle Medical Supply.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Hillman sentenced Armstrong to an additional three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay full restitution.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited law enforcement officers of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Damon Wood in Philadelphia, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing. He also thanked the Washington Township Police Department in Gloucester County, the Woolwich Township Police Department and the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB). 

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Carrig of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Camden.

The Burlington Vicinage, in partnership with the Burlington County Bar Association, will begin a program to help provide legal services for litigants who do not qualify for legal aid or a public defender, Assignment Judge Jeanne T. Covert and Trial Court Administrator Alba R. Rivera announced on May 8, 2020.

The Reduced Fee Referral Program, one of only a handful in the state, will provide legal services to those litigants who do not qualify for legal aid or a public defender and who cannot otherwise afford to retain counsel.

The program will offer legal representation either for a discounted flat fee or at a reduced hourly rate in cases in municipal court and in every division of the Superior Court.

The bar association will prepare a Zoom presentation in the coming months to explain the program to its members and to recruit willing attorneys interested in providing their services.

“I am extremely pleased to announce a brand-new initiative entitled ‘The Reduced Fee Referral Program,’ and it could not be timelier, or more needed, given the financial difficulties many are now experiencing,” Judge Covert said.

After studying Morris County’s successful Reduced Fee Referral Program, a working group comprised of family division attorney Reema Scaramella and Assistant Public Defender Kevin Walker, who chaired the group, and attorneys Berge Tumaian, Nicholas J. Sansone and Christopher Baxter, developed and tailored a program for Burlington County.

At its April meeting, the bar association’s board of trustees unanimously endorsed the proposal of the working group.

The program is expected to begin operating within the next few months. Judge Covert expressed her gratitude for the attorneys’ quick work in developing the program within a matter of months.