Senate Votes 25-12 for Taylor Reappointment

TRENTON — Some members of the Senate Judiciary Committee grilled Cape May County Prosecutor Robert Taylor about several high-profile cases during a Thur., Dec. 9 reappointment hearing in the Capitol.
On Mon., Dec. 13, despite a motion by Sen. Gerald Cardinale to table the vote, which was defeated 23-15, for more examination of the nominee, Taylor was reappointed by a vote of 25-12.
On Thursday, Taylor, of Stone Harbor, stood his ground, explaining, point-by-point, why he took specific actions on questioned cases, including the vehicular homicide case of New Jersey State Trooper Robert Higbee, over his time in office.
Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-1st), who had supported Taylor’s nomination from the outset, and exercised senatorial courtesy to stall the appointment of James Plousis to the state Parole Board, spoke at the hearing.
“I am proud to support him, and also proud that he sits before us today. He is worthy, capable and up to the job as we will hear all that in a few minutes,” Van Drew told peers.
Taylor’s perennial opponent, Teresa H. Downey of Sea Isle City, had earlier and unsuccessfully urged that the hearing be held in Cape May County, appeared to reiterate opposition to Taylor’s five-year reappointment. Her opposition was based on unsolved murders of women since 1970, before Taylor assumed office.
Wildwood residential property owner Michael DellaVella opposed Taylor’s reappointment because, he said, “The City of Wildwood is a political battlefield. I believe the (county) Prosecutor’s Office is being used as a weapon against residential taxpayers.”
DellaVella cited the year-and-a-half-old voter fraud case against Kathleen McCullough, and stated, “The Prosecutor’s Office is attempting to silence the voice of Kathleen McCullough…”
In a letter, copies of which were provided to the committee, DellaVella cited other alleged cases of voter fraud.
He said Taylor’s office had “ignored it (Wildwood voter fraud).”
Continued DellaVella, “I find it hard to believe this is a coincidence.”
There is a huge voter (fraud) problem in Wildwood, and the Prosecutor’s Office has ignored it. They only selected one person to be put through the torture and expense of prosecution, he said.
The reason, DellaVella said was because McCullough was “opposed to people in office at the time…”
Pressed on prosecuting voter fraud, Sen. Gerald Cardinale asked Taylor, “Do you believe it is part of the function of your office to protect the public from those who would commit voter fraud action?”
“Yes,” replied Taylor, “It is the job of my office to look for any crime or prosecute any crime. The Attorney General’s office has done most of the investigation of voter fraud in Cape May County and other places.
“Voter fraud is a tragedy that needs to be prosecuted where it’s found,” added Taylor.
After Cardinale read a list of names who allegedly lived in Florida and voted in Wildwood, or who voted from empty lots or commercial establishments, Van Drew interjected, “So the committee is aware, Cape May County has about 100,000 people year round, and a million in the summer. A lot declare residency. Folks are clearly summer folks yet want to vote in Cape May County. It’s been an ongoing problem that occurs. This is a debate that goes on endlessly in Cape May County,” said the senator.
Van Drew said many of those voter questions have gone before Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten. He said, “We must be careful not to disenfranchise voters.”
Van Drew added, “Where the Prosecutor’s Office is concerned, historically Republicans and Democrats appointed prosecutors have been very careful and circumspect dealing with political issues so as not to look to disenfranchise voters.”
While Cardinale had the floor, he said, “We have gotten a lot of mail that seems to indicate there are a lot of crimes against women, rape, gang rape, which have been downgraded dramatically to much lesser offenses by your office.
“Can you tell us, I get the impression there’s a regular process in your office to downgrade which seem to be as very serious crimes, downgraded to crimes that have little import,” said Cardinale.
“That is not accurate,” Taylor replied. “They don’t have accurate information.”
He noted that Capt. Lynn Frame heads his office’s Major Crime Unit, and prior to her, Capt. Marie Hayes was in charge of investigating major crimes.
“I have senior assistant prosecutors who are women who review crimes very carefully. They review charges very carefully and consult with victims with any sexual crime or any abuse,” Taylor said.
“I have never. I repeat, never, if there was an objection by a woman who was abused or sexually assaulted, downgraded the charge. I take crimes against women very serious. I have four daughters, three granddaughters and a lovely wife. I would never let a crime against women get short shifted,” Taylor added.
Cardinale also asked Taylor about the 124-count indictment against Dr. John Costino.
Taylor replied that Batten “wanted more specificity. What we did, we went back and tightened up the indictment of multiple charges of insurance fraud.”
Instead of 120 counts, Taylor said those were “consolidated into an omnibus 30 counts.”
Drilled again by Cardinale on preparation, Taylor replied, “I don’t want to quibble with you, senator. Judge Batten wanted more specificity. We do over 1,000 indictments in any year. Only two were dismissed by judges, and they were reindicted.”
Although he did not appear, but sent a letter, David Jones, president of the State Troopers Fraternal Association of New Jersey also opposed Taylor’s reappointment.
Earlier in the hearing, the Trooper Higbee vehicular homicide trial was examined in detail. Taylor noted the discrepancies in Higbee’s initial statements to investigators. He also said that his action, to press the case against the trooper, was reviewed with then Attorney General Stuart Rabner, and later with Attorney General Anne Milgrim.
Local attorney Joseph C. Grassi supported Taylor’s reappointment.
He told the committee he had practiced law in Cape May County for over 28 years, many of them in criminal cases.
He said he served on the Criminal Practice Committee for a number of years.
“We are a sleepy committee, and it only became active at the encouraging of Robert Taylor,” said Grassi.
He said he listened to those who opposed Taylor’s reappointment, “for one reason or another, the way Robert Taylor handled their case or hasn’t fixed what happened before.
“I will tell you, from my standpoint, as a practitioner, I owe nothing to Robert Taylor, I have no close relationship. He is a man of impeccable character and intelligence, and he is fair. He is criticized for going after police officers, but for many years, that office was criticized for keeping hands off police officers.
“You will do a disservice to Cape May County and New Jersey if you do not vote in favor,” said Grassi.
During his opening statement, Taylor thanked Van Drew, Gov. Christie and Attorney General Paula T. Dow for their “same objective review of my work.”
“I believe I have served the citizens of Cape May County well over six year,” Taylor said.
He cited “progressive initiatives” in his office which include:
• Anti-bullying initiatives, taken before the issue was widely acclaimed.
• Domestic violence awareness and seminars.
• Support of the SANE/SART within the office to give quick, caring and effective response to victims of sexual abuse.
• Drop in the county crime rate, as reported by the New Jersey State Police Uniform Crime Report.
• Almost a 97 percent clearance rate in homicides, compared to the national average of 66 percent.
• Entering a DNA profile in the Susan Negersmith homicide case into the FBI and Interpol databases.
Prior to the final vote to forward Taylor’s nomination to the full Senate, vice-chair John A. Girgenti said, “I was impressed with your information. There were a lot of serious questions. I looked at your overview, which was dominated by Republicans. There was a vetting process, a strong process, and you were certainly looked at. Beyond that, documents we did receive from the Attorney General said you were not reprimanded for decisions and they are in agreement with them. I will vote yes.”
Contact Campbell at (609) 886-8600 Ext 28 or at: al.c@cmcherald.com