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The state Supreme Court reprimanded former Linden municipal court judge Louis DiLeo for the "egregious" errors he committed during a 2010 trial.

(File Photo)

TRENTON —A former Linden municipal court judge was reprimanded today for committing "egregious legal errors" in the way he handled the robbery trial of two men, the state Supreme Court concluded.

The state’s highest court handed out the sanction to Louis M.J. DiLeo, who it said deprived the two defendants of their rights to due process when he would not let them apply for public defenders, forcing them to represent themselves at their trial before him.

A former municipal prosecutor, DiLeo took on the role as prosecutor by questioning witnesses and then he ultimately used that information to convict the defendants, cousins Anthony and Wendell Kirkland, the court said in its 42-page decision.

Making matters worse, the court said, DiLeo allowed the arresting officer to question them at their trial, which lasted less than an hour in May 2010.

“The egregiousness of these errors – indeed the judicial misconduct that occurred here – had the clear capacity to undermine public confidence in the dignity, integrity and impartiality of the judicial system in this state.”

The court rejected DiLeo’s attempt at using the backlog of cases as justification for his actions.

“A court’s concern about judicial ‘backlog’ never trumps protection of a defendant’s constitutional rights,” the 42-page decision said.

The court was limited in the type of sanctions it could bring against DiLeo – such as suspension or removal – because the mayor and council have already terminated him. This written reprimand stays on his record for his career.

DiLeo, who is now a divorce attorney in Linden, was not immediately available for comment. A member of his office staff said he would be out for the week because of the death of his father.

The discipline stems from the May 2010 trial of the Kirkland cousins, who were arrested in Linden and charged on Oct. 4, 2009 with unlawful taking of five lug nuts, attempted theft by unlawful taking of a tire, possession of burglary tools, and possession of marijuana. The charges eventually were downgraded to disorderly persons offenses and sent to the Linden Municipal Court

Michael P. Rubas, an attorney who had represented Wendell Kirkland in his appeal before Superior Court Judge Scott Moynihan in Elizabeth, filed a complaint with the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct in February 2011.

DiLeo sentenced the cousins to 180 days in jail, twice the amount permitted my law, Rubas said. They remained behind bars for 124 days until they were paroled, he said.



After the Supreme Court's action, Rubas said he was pleased with the outcome but questioned whether more defendants faced what his client did.

"It leaves open the question to me how many other people did he do this to?" Rubas said.

He said the Kirkland cousins eventually had the charges vacated and resolved as municipal ordinance violations.

Moynihan had concluded that DiLeo violated their constitutional rights. He found them not guilty of the marijuana allegations and sent the other charges to Elizabeth municipal court.

Linden Mayor Richard Gerbounka and the city council removed DiLeo, who served as judge for nearly nine years, from his position in 2012 after he refused to step down.

Last year, DiLeo filed a lawsuit against the city and Gerbounka for wrongful termination, claiming the mayor retaliated and discriminated against him after an alleged attempted ticket-fixing issue became public.

DiLeo contends Gerbounka asked him to void a traffic ticket given to an unidentified city resident. When he refused, DiLeo alleges, the mayor and other city officials engaged in a campaign of “wrongful and malicious conduct” to get him out of his job.

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