By Michelle Caffrey | South
Jersey Times
'Cut off' phrase at center of
N.J. cop's misconduct trial for Assemblyman arrest
Video of N.J. cop's arrest of
Assemblyman comes into focus in officer's misconduct trial
Meet the key players in cop's
trial from politician's DWI
5 things we've learned in first
week of N.J. cops' misconduct trial for DWI arrest of Assemblyman
Fellow officers testify against
N.J. cop accused of misconduct in DWI arrest of Assemblyman Moriarty
As the trial of Washington
Township Police Officer Joseph DiBuonaventura resumed Tuesday, the video that
lead to the filing of official misconduct charges against the officer, as well
as the dismissal of all charges against Assemblyman Paul Moriarty became the
focus.
Captain Robert Borkowski --
supervisor of the patrol division to which DiBuonaventurawas assigned on July
31, 2012, when DiBuonaventura arrested Moriarty for allegedly driving drunk
-- testified for the prosecution Tuesday
morning, elaborating on how he retrieved the video and his interactions with
DiBuonaventura in the weeks following the arrest.
DiBuonaventura is facing 14
charges, including multiple counts of official misconduct, false swearing,
tampering with public record and more. Tuesday marks the third day the jury has
heard testimony on the charges.
Borkowski, a 26-year veteran,
told Assistant Prosecutor Audrey Curwin that he was first made aware of
DiBuonaventura's arrest over the radio, and soon began observing a video feed
from the processing room where Moriarty was being held.
"I could tell [Moriarty]
wasn't happy to be there," said Borkowski, mimicking arm movements he said
he saw Moriarty make as he spoke to officers in the processing room. After
getting confirmation from Cpl. Preston Forchion, who was in the processing
room, that everything was under control and the room was being recorded, he
continued to watch.
But later that day, as he
attempted to listen to audio recording of the processing room, Borkowski found
DiBuonaventura's remote microphone, connected wireless to his patrol vehicle's
video recorder, did not turn on as he intended and no audio recording took
place.
He then went to retrieve the
disc from DiBuonaventura's video recorder, to find if audio had recorded at
some point, but soon saw only it only recorded 30 seconds before the stop was
conducted at the Chick-Fil-A on Route 42, and stopped when DiBuonaventura
pulled into the station.
The jury was shown just that
recording, in which DiBuonaventura is heard telling Moriarty he stopped
Moriarty because Moriarty "cut me off after the jug handle," then
shows him conducting field sobriety tests and transporting him to the station.
The prosecution's attention
then turned to what happened in the days afterward -- namely the investigation
DiBuonaventura conducted himself on the DWI and the retrieval of video beyond
what was recorded on the disc.
Borkowski said in the days
after the arrest, DiBuonaventura contacted him about getting his schedule
shifted so he could perform follow up investigations into the DWI arrest, which
struck Borkowski as unnecessary, he said, and Borkowski suggested the
department's investigative division take it up instead. He said DiBuonaventura
refused, stating he didn't want anyone else involved.
"I didn't believe [the
investigation] was critical," Borkowski said, explaining that DWI arrests
are usually cut and dry, and if you have probable cause to stop the vehicle,
there's no need to investigate where the suspect was or what they were doing in
the time leading up to the arres
Later on, as part of the
internal affairs investigation prompted by Moriarty's claims, Lt. Steven
Rolando had Borkowski help him retrieve the full footage -- recorded in a
continuous 40-hour loop -- from DiBuonaventura's patrol vehicle, which was left
at the station.
During one conversation,
DiBuonaventura told Borkowski that the video had actually missed the motor
vehicle violation that was his reason for stopping Moriarty, but when Borkowski
told him they were actually able to retrieve that footage, and asked if he'd
like to retrieve it, there was no response.
"It was like the question
didn't occur," said Borkowski, continuing later. "I thought it was
kind of odd."
A first attempt at burning the
footage on a disc failed, but they were able to successfully transfer the
recording to a disc on the second try.
During those attempts,
Borkowski said he had seen the video and at no time did he observe Moriarty
"cut off" DiBuonaventura.
"I didn't observe any
violations at that time," said Borkowski, in response to Curwin's
questioning.
The jury has yet to be shown
the full video of footage leading up to the stop.
On Aug. 14, DiBuonaventura was
served an official paper stating he was the target of the internal affairs
investigation, and the next day DiBuonaventura was also given notice to stop
his investigation into the DWI arrest.
"The [Turnersville Auto
Mall, where the Nissan dealership is
located] requested DiBuonaventura stop contacting them in regard to the
case," Borkowski said.
DiBuonaventura then advised
Borkowski he would be filing a supplemental report on his investigation so far,
which surprised Borkowski.
"I thought it was all
done," he said, adding that's especially because DWI cases are normally
"cut and dry."
He then spoke about
DiBuonaventura's request to have the investigative division interview the
managers at the Nissan dealership, as well as get supplementary reports from
Det. Lisa Frattali and then-Det. Martin Calvello on their involvement with the
case.
Frattali had overheard Calvello
on the phone with his cousin Ernie Calvello, an employee at Nissan, and parts
of the conversation regarding Moriarty being "drunk at Nissan." She
then relayed that comment to DiBuonaventura in a conversation about an
unrelated topic before he pursued and arrest Moriarty.
That investigation, including
filing the supplemental reports, took place in September of 2012 and was
completed in October.
Borkowski has yet to be
cross-examined by the defense, and will remain on the stand for the afternoon portion
of the trial. Ernie Calvello, of the Nissan dealership, as well as another
Patrolman who witnessed Moriarty in the processing room, are expected to take
the stand soon after.
