Just some more of the same 'ole, same 'ole...
Lawsuit expanded against a judge who admitted DWI
BY LESLIE KWOH AND LAWRENCE RAGONESE
Star-Ledger Staff
When a Morris County municipal court judge was stopped by police, he tried to avoid arrest for drunken driving by revealing he sided with police in his courtroom, even when a case "could have gone either way," a letter recounted, according to an amended lawsuit filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Newark.
The letter to Superior Court Judge Theodore Bozonelis is dated Nov. 16, 2007. In it, Roxbury Patrolman Jonathan Edmunds recalls what George Korpita told him on the night he was arrested for DWI.
"When the cops beat the ... out of a guy, I do the right thing. I'll never take care of cops again ... My whole ... life, I've taken care of cops, my whole life ... never again," Korpita said according to the lawsuit.
Korpita -- who served as a judge for Dover, Victory Gardens and Rockaway Borough -- also told the patrolman that when cops came into his courtroom, where the cases could have "gone either way," that he "always ruled for the cops." He added that he had "helped out" Jefferson and Roxbury township police in the past, the letter to Bozonelis said.
Sgt. Kevin Carroll, who was also present during the DWI arrest on Nov. 6, wrote a letter to Roxbury Police Chief Mark Noll recounting similar comments, the lawsuit said. Korpita told the officer during the arrest that "all he is asking for is professional courtesy," Carroll wrote to Noll, according to the lawsuit.
The letters were used as evidence to amend a lawsuit involving a dispute between Korpita and Dover securities broker Warren Hartzman.
Last August, Hartzman sued Korpita, claiming the judge abused his power to imprison him overnight for scratching the judge's Maserati in a Rockaway parking lot. Hartzman claims Korpita called police and had him arrested.
Hartzman is suing the police department for false arrest and imprisonment and malicious prosecution. He claims the matter has damaged his reputation, causing him to suffer severe mental anguish, stress, humiliation and pain. In a separate legal filing with the municipality, Hartzman is seeking $5 million.
As a result of the two letters, the lawsuit has been expanded to include Rockaway Borough, alleging there was a "regular practice of violating individual civil rights" in the Korpita-run court in Rockaway Borough.
"It is now clear that Rockaway had a regular practice of violating individual civil rights," according to legal filings.
Hartzman's attorney William Pinilis declined comment yesterday.
Woodbridge attorney Blair Zwillman, who represented Korpita in the 2007 drunken-driving incident in Roxbury, yesterday questioned the importance of the judge's alleged comments made to Roxbury police.
"I think it's much ado about nothing," Zwillman said. "This man had a .22 blood-alcohol level and pled guilty to drunken driving. The statements, if he made them, should be taken in the context of his state of mind at that time."
Neither Korpita, nor Rockaway Borough Mayor Kathyann Snyder could be reached for comment last night.
Since Hartzman first filed his lawsuit, Korpita, 48, has been embroiled in legal troubles.
In December, Korpita pleaded guilty to DWI and to threatening a public servant. Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi lauded the officers for following through with the arrest and noted Korpita made similar threats to Dover police officers regarding his DWI arrest.
In February, a Superior Court judge found Korpita guilty of using his official position to avoid a drunken driving arrest in Roxbury. Korpita was ordered to never serve in a public office again.
In February, Korpita was charged with a second DWI in Sparta. That case is still pending.
Leslie Kwoh may be reached at lkwoh@starledger.com or (973) 539-7910.
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