Frank Nucera Jr., the former Bordentown Township police chief charged with a federal hate crime and related charges for the alleged beating of a handcuffed Trenton teenager, was surreptitiously recorded by a fellow police officer -- a lot.

The recordings tally about 100 hours, Nucera's lawyer Rocco C. Cipparone, Jr. said Thursday after his client was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Camden, where he pleaded not guilty.

Frank Nucera Jr.

The number of recordings is an estimation from prosecutors, he said, and he's yet to hear them. But when he does, Cipparone said it will be a vigorous examination.

"It's my understanding that a very small portion contains, allegedly indelicate comments," Cipparone said.

The lawyer has many questions. First, he's under the belief that the officer who recorded Nucera was not under supervision of law enforcement. "He made them on his own," Cipparone said.

Any controls and protocols that would have been put in place had, say, the FBI wired the officer, were absent, he said. Did the officer edit the recordings? When did he start and stop the device?

"These are all questions I have to look at," Cipparone said.

The officer who recorded the chief has not been identified publicly, or in court documents.

Cipparone said the allegations against Nucera are "not pleasant" but they were just allegations.

After his November arrest, federal authorities say Nucera often disparaged African Americans, used the n-word regularly and dishonored his badge.

His alleged behavior came to light during a 2016 arrest in which he is accused of slamming an 18-year-old's head into a doorway while he was handcuffed, federal authorities say.

Bordentown Township officials later identified the teen as Timothy Stroye, of Trenton.

U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick called the assault on the teen a "clear senseless, bigoted, hate-filled," assault of a prisoner in custody.

Court documents allege that Nucera once said: "These (n-word) are like ISIS, they have no value. They should line them all up and mow 'em down."

Recordings alone, Cipparone said, do not capture the person's state of mind, nor do they indicate intent.

He also questioned why after 34 years on the job, and a prior military career, Nucera was "suddenly" accused of making a racially-motivated attack on a person's civil rights.

"That's what I have to look at, and that's what the public should keep an open mind about," he said.

Nucera has been indicted on hate crime assault, deprivation of civil rights under the color of law and making false statements. He's free on bail and his bail conditions were maintained at the Thursday hearing.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.