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Thanks for the links. I have read both the complaint and the answer. I would now comment as follows:

1) The entire incident was poorly handled by all involved.

2) When one reads two sides to a story, the truth usually lies somewhere in between.

3) An investigation into the Judges conduct is reasonable in view of the potential for misconduct.

4) The Judges story is more easily confirmed then that of the accusers.

5) At worse, the Judge could be subjected to a 'reprimand' or letter of warning.

6) Any punishment beyond that would lend credibility to those who believe that this was a systematic/collusionary assault on the Judges position.

7) None of the above pints conflicts with the position I have held from the get go regarding this incident.

Nice post. But you point 7 caused me to read you comments again, especially this one:

...Here is the quote:

Rivera-Soto made the same request of Camden County Acting Prosecutor James P. Lynch that day, but also "asked the prosecutor to make certain that his complaint received attention," the complaint said.

I would say that crosses the line of using the power of your office for personal reasons.

Now, let's put this "receive attention" statement into context.

You have Superior Court criminal matter with a trial date scheduled weeks in advance. The lawyers have been working to get the case ready. The defense, seeking to stall, comes up with a reason to delay the trial.

The reason stinks - probably fabricated. The way it usually goes is you seek the consent of your adversary - the Prosecutor. If you get it, you make some phone calls to court personnel. If you have juice, you may get some consideration. Otherwise, you need to show up on Monday and make a formal application. Personally, I call this "The Crying Game". If the Prosecutor gives consent for an adjournment and it is granted, they need to contact their witnesses, who they have already told to clear their schedules, that the case is off.

Here, the Prosecutor knew full well that his victim, to whom he owes ststutory duties to keep informed, was the son of a Supreme Court Justice. And he just forgot to tell him not to show up. Yeah right. This was a deliberate slap.

So what do you do when you show up in court and the Judge calling the list says you case has been adjourned? Just be happy and go home? Some might do that. Or, do you speak to somebody?

So, on that Monday, you are a lowly Prosecutor doing the scut work at the trial call. You see a Supreme Court Justice sitting in the room who your office just shafted. What do you do - run away or try to smooth it over? So the lowly Prosecutor, being politically savvy probably runs over, does an introduction and offers assistance. It sure is what I would do. But this is just my SWAG

The scut work Prosecutor passes the Justice over to the low level employee who sends out the paperwork. It's the paperwork snafu gambit in full action! So here is what happened - guarantee it. The low level employee - secretary, paralegal, etc. said to the Justice, well we didn't have your conact information in the file sio we couldn't contact you, i.e. it's not my fault. That's when he gave her his business card. I have no problem with that either.

So Lynch comes out, because the scut Prosecutor has run to his office to tell him what has happened. Lynch falls on the sword and says we should have given you notice and I am sorry. The Justice says "Give this file the attention it deserves." I have no problem with that because he is absolutely right.

Third thing. So at this point Lynch gives the Justice all the reasons for the adjournment. And it stinks of fabrication. The Justice knows he has been slapped.

At that point, it is your right to complain, as a victim, that the system is not treating your case as it should. I am not sure which Judge in Camden was running the criminal list, but that is who you go to on that Monday Morning to complain as a victim that you just got shafted. Orlando is the Assignment Judge (I don't like him one bit - I am not sure, but he is probably a D). He is not the Judge that runs the criminal list. How the Justice came to confer with Orlando may come to be a problem.

The Criminla List Judge could well have said to Orlando this potato is too hot for me and Orlando could have looked at diving on the hand grenade as a way to score points with the Supremes. After all, the Supremes made him the Assignment Judge. So he proabaly fell all over himself to get to this boot licking session. But that's just my SWAG. However it went down, I still have no problem with it.

The Justice got shafted by he football coach (Lawyer), got shafted by the School administration (They want to be Football State Champs and get the Captain-bully a scholarship to Notre Dame) and then got shafted by the Court System. The Supremes are responsible to ensure that the court system works correctly. After he got shafted how could he just go home? He owed a responsibility to make inquiries and tell those who fell down on the job to get their act together. It just so happened that his his rights as a victim and his duties as a Supreme were in harmony. I see no conflict of interest.

So I stick to my original post. I don't think he did anything wrong. So maybe we can agree to disagree my FRiend.