Sussex County Justice Home

Scales- Tilted in favor of Sussex County Justice System

What they don't want you to know about the criminal justice system in Sussex County, New Jersey...

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Case Update! New Jersey Supreme Court reverses and vacates Sussex County trial court and Appellate Division wrongful convictions in a stinging 7-0 unanimous decision! Sussex County Judge-Elect Blasts Court! Sussex County Judge-Elect William McGovern III criticizing Sussex County Judges (.wav audio format) in connection with their handling of State v. Cassidy.

From the Corrupt Courts of Sussex County...to the New Jersey Supreme Court!

UPDATE! New Jersey Supreme Court reverses and vacates Sussex County trial court and Appellate Division wrongful convictions in a 7-0 unanimous decision!

Read their decision right now! You will be directed to the Rutgers University website.

On March 14, 1996 many lives were forever changed. It was on that day that a New Jersey State law enforcement officer had experienced local police misconduct firsthand. The misconduct began at approximately 1:20 a.m. when correctional officer Thomas A. Cassidy's family was awakened in the middle of the night by a forcible banging at the front door of their home. At the door were Newton Police Officer Neil Casey and Stillwater Police Officer John Schetting.

The officer's informed Tom's parents that they had a search warrant to search for and seize any weapons that may be in the house. After being awakened by his parents, the officer's then informed Tom that they were there to conduct a search and seizure for weapons- acting under the authority of a valid search warrant. The officer's had even presented the Cassidy's with a document in support of their claims, which read as follows: "THIS ORDER SHALL SERVE AS A WARRANT TO SEARCH FOR AND SEIZE WEAPONS". At that hour of the night, who would have known that the police had lied and that the document was not valid! Only later did we learn that Officer Casey had signed the document authorizing himself to conduct a midnight search and seizure- a task that only a judge can authorize!

What began as a "routine" act of police misconduct in the middle of the night of March 14, 1996 has since expanded to now include the misconduct of prosecutor's, judges, and many others. All within the Sussex County Justice system.

This site has been created to let the world know about the dirty little secrets that Sussex County Justice officials have meticulously strived to keep within the geographical boundaries of their own little corrupt county. Indeed, you will witness firsthand a glimpse of a "good-ol'-boy" criminal justice system network in operation.

As this document is written, 4 New York City Police Officers who fired 41 times on Amadou Diallo, the immigrant from Guinea who stood, unarmed, in the vestibule of his apartment building in the Bronx, were acquitted of all charges. The shooting took place on February 4, 1999. The not guilty verdicts were rendered on February 25, 2000- a little more than one year after the tragic shooting death of Diallo. The average number of days between arrest and conviction in state courts throughout the country is 219 days.^[N.1] Four officers who fired 41 deadly shots at an unarmed man are now free after a period of one year.

By comparison, the malicious prosecution against Thomas Cassidy rages on- FOUR YEARS LATER! A prosecution that began as an allegation of triple hearsay "verbal harassment"! Why does it take more than four years to prosecute an individual for an unsubstantiated allegation of "verbal harassment" in New Jersey and merely one year for the acquittal of 4 persons who had fired 41 times on an unarmed man in New York? The answer lies in police misconduct that is so deeply rooted that it became infectious throughout the entire Sussex County Justice system.

Where is the oversight? Who oversees the police, prosecutors, and judiciary in Sussex County? The answer is no one. Systemic misconduct throughout the Sussex County Justice system flourishes unchecked. A police officer in Sussex County, NJ is not even required to undergo random urinalysis to check for the illegal use of drugs! In New York City and elsewhere throughout the country, there are instruments of accountability in place. There are internal affairs investigator units. There are outside agencies also such as Civilian Complaint Review Board. There is the U.S. Department of Justice who will step in where accountability measures at a local level fail. There are people watching. The Sussex County Justice officials are so intertwined within their good-ol'-boy networks that they fear no one. There is no accountability.

Thus far, Sussex County Justice officials have sought to engage in the practices of containment and damage control. They do not want you to know what they do to law abiding citizens in this county. Aren't you wondering why you haven't yet heard of this four year old case?

Tom was initially being threatened with a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison for crimes that he has not committed! Now, he is only facing the threat of a maximum sentence of 29.5 years! No doubt, these threats are intended to facilitate the Sussex County Justice officials attempts to keep the widespread and systemic corruption contained. They don't want you to learn of the systemic corruption! Indeed, they have twisted the facts of this case in all ways to suit their malicious prosecutorial needs. Because they are now rapidly seeking to incarcerate Tom in order to keep their dirty little secrets contained, we have created this site so that the world will now know what lengths Sussex County Justice officials will go to in order to secure wrongful convictions and cover up their own unconstitutional conduct.

Below we have included a brief synopsis of each section contained within the site. We recommend that you get yourself a cup of coffee, sit back, and relax as we take you through one mans experience of four years of systemic corruption and misconduct at the hands of the Sussex County Justice system!

In the Search & Seizure section you will read about the illegal search and seizure that was conducted in the middle of the night on March 14, 1996. Thus far, there has been no accountability for their illegal conduct. What does this mean to you? When will your home be tossed?
In the Cover Charges section you will learn about the "cover charges" that were filed against Tom in a - thus far successful - attempt to cover up the unconstitutional conduct that occurred on the night of the warrantless search. UPDATE! Shortly after the launch of this website the "cover charges" that were placed by Newton Police Detective Anthony Virga were suddenly dismissed after 4 years of their lies!
In the section, On the Train to Simple Assault, you will read about the wrongful conviction that Tom was subjected to due to prosecutorial and judicial misconduct and his successful appeal that was hindered by Sussex County Justice officials!
Due to the wrongful conviction, Tom was required to Serve a Sentence where he was frequently harassed by the Sussex County Probation Department, illegally interrogated at the Domestic Violence Assessment Center (DVAC) of Sussex County, threatened with contempt of court charges, charged with a Violation of Probation and more! All for crimes that he had not committed, had been reversed on appeal, and subsequently dismissed! You can then read on in The Hindered Appeal about how the Sussex County Justice officials sought to ensure that their wrongful conviction on trumped up cover charges would go unchallenged.
The section on the Suppression Briefs documents the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office initial position indicating that a search and seizure had been conducted pursuant to a valid search warrant. Realizing that the police had lied, this section then documents the Prosecutor's interoffice memorandum where they next successfully conspired to cover-up their illegal conduct by relying on the fictitious "cover charges" that were filed against Tom by Newton Police Detective Virga. Indeed, they had strategically set Tom up for a wrongful conviction, and then "latched on" to this wrongful conviction to justify their midnight warrantless search and seizure.
We next see how Judge Gerald B. Hanifan, J.S.C. becomes complicit in the fabrication of probable cause and exigent circumstances in the section on the Suppression Hearing. Here we can see where Judge Hanifan relies on the wrongful simple assault conviction to justify the illegal search & seizure.
The New Jersey Department of Corrections section traces how Sussex County Justice officials engaged in misconduct to have Tom wrongfully terminated from his previous position as a corrections officer. Here we will see how the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office intentionally faxed false documents to the NJDOC incorrectly indicating that Tom had pled guilty to their trumped up "cover charges"! At this same time they sought to hinder his later successful appeal!
Conspiracy to Deprive of Civil Rights takes the reader through a detailed overview of why the Sussex County Justice officials have been conspiring to deprive Tom and his family of their civil rights. Included is the $ 2 million dollar civil rights lawsuit that they never told you about! Here we will also see why Tom was unsuccessful in his attempt to seek justice.
In the section that we have included on "Assault Weapons" you will become familiarized with the deceptive practices that high level officials within the State of New Jersey have engaged in to attack firearms owners throughout the State. Here you will learn about their "bait and switch" tactics where officials intentionally mislead the public by discussing machine guns in the context of legislation that deals strictly with semiautomatic firearms- guns in many of your homes right now! Because of this, you too can be maliciously prosecuted under the vague "substantially identical" provision that the legislature has incorporated into this unjust law!
The Case Chronology section is just that. It is a lengthy chronology of the major events in the case of State v. Cassidy. It is useful in that we can see through a quick dateline the strategic set up and conspiratorial conduct that Sussex County Justice officials have engaged in.
Finally, in the About Tom section, we can learn a bit about criminal defendant Thomas Cassidy.

Notes:
1 U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1999). Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 1999, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

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