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This Bergen County courtroom is where the fate of a criminal complaint alleging official misconduct on the part of Gov. Chris Christie in the Fort Lee lane closures was decided on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017. (Claude Brodesser-Akner | NJ Advance Media)

TRENTON -- A state Superior Court judge on Thursday denied a request by Gov. Chris Christie to throw out a citizen's complaint alleging official misconduct by the governor during the George Washington Bridge lane closures in 2013.

But in ordering a new hearing on the complaint, Judge Bonnie Mizdol also found a lower court judge had wrongly found probable cause for the case to proceed because Christie was improperly denied to right to counsel at the initial October 2016 hearing.

The complaint of official misconduct accused Christie of knowing about a plot to close down access lanes to the George Washington Bridge as an act of political revenge against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, but failing to act to reverse it -- something the governor has always denied.

Last year, two of Christie's top allies, Bill Baroni and Bridget Ann Kelly, were convicted of conspiring to orchestrate the lane closures.

In October, Bergen municipal judge Roy McGeady issued a surprise ruling that there was sufficient evidence the complaint to move ahead.

On Wednesday, both the governor's criminal defense attorney and the Bergen County Prosecutor's office contested the municipal judge's ruling in Superior Court in Hackensack, with both sides saying that McGeady "erred" in allowing the complaint to proceed because he did not permit the governor's criminal defense attorneys to participate at the hearing.

In her opinion, Mizdol cited the U.S. Constitution's Sixth Amendment, which established the right to confront one's accusers in a criminal trial, and said the governor was "denied counsel at a critical stage."

However, she also remanded the complaint back to the same Fort Lee municipal judge who approved it, denying a request by Christie's attorneys to dismiss the criminal summons because citizen activist Bill Brennan of Teaneck lacked "personal knowledge" of the lane closure plot.

Brennan, who is running for governor, on Thursday said he was pleased there will be a new hearing, saying he believes his case will be stronger.

"What an epic strategic blunder on the part of the governor's attorneys," said Brennan in a telephone interview with NJ Advance Media. "All they did was draw more attention and provide me the opportunity to supplement the record with testimony previously unavailable from Bill Baroni and Bridget Ann Kelly."

"The noose just tightened around Chris Christie's neck."

Brennan said he would now also seek to introduce the testimony and the convictions of Baroni and Kelly, and hasn't ruled out including testimony from the governor's own political strategist, Mike DuHaime.

Christie's attorney and the governor's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClaudeBrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.