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Ex-Judge Sasso Banned From Bench for Life for Intemperate Conduct
New Jersey Law Journal
June 03, 2009
Richard Sasso
The New Jersey state Supreme Court on Tuesday permanently disqualified former municipal court judge Richard Sasso from holding judicial office, citing a voluminous record of unjudgelike behavior that included presiding in court after ingesting drugs and alcohol.
The Court adopted findings by the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct that Sasso, who resigned his judgeships in four Somerset County, N.J., towns more than a year ago amid ethics charges, had mistreated litigants and lawyers, presided over court while under the influence of alcohol and medication, played fast and loose with court contempt rules and acted disorderly in public -- notably in an altercation at a strip club.
"Far from representing aberrational behavior or episodic events, Respondent's misconduct was repetitive, egregious and pronounced," wrote ACJC chairman Alan Handler, in a presentment that the Court adopted Monday in In the Matter of Richard M. Sasso, D-97-08.
"By his actions, Respondent has demonstrated a consistent lack of proper judicial temperament and fitness, poor judgment and unsuitable demeanor. Such repeated and blatant misconduct impugns the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, gravely undermines public confidence in the justice system, and seriously prejudices the administration of justice," Handler concluded.
The ACJC based its conclusion on testimony, adduced in two days of hearings last November, about incidents in which he abused his judicial office in court or in public. Among them:
He appeared on the bench in Bridgewater, N.J., on Dec. 6, 2006, while under the influence of pain medication and alcohol. Sasso admitted that he took three or four Vicodin early in the day and then drank two or three glasses of wine at lunch. Officials canceled the session because his speech was slurred and they could smell alcohol on his breath.
Sasso was under the influence again when he sat in Warren Township, N.J., on April 17, 2007. He had taken four Vicodin tablets and drank two or three glasses of wine. The prosecutor, Michelle D'Onofrio, filed an ethics complaint against him because of his condition.
On Nov. 29, 2007, while drinking with a friend at Torpedo's Go-Go Bar in Bound Brook, N.J., one of the town's in which he sat, Sasso got into an argument with a bartender over his request to run a tab, becoming irate when the bartender said it was the house policy to require anyone running a tab to produce a driver's license and a credit card.
"Do you know who I am? I'm the Bound Brook judge," he said loudly. "I've left you guys alone for, oh, three years and I -- I'm not -- this is bullshit."
The argument continued with Sasso shouting, "Do you know who I am? I can make problems for you." The bar manager eventually called the police, who took Sasso to the station house. It was Chief of Police Russell Leffert, a friend of Sasso, who was summoned to drive him home, which the ACJC saw as intercession by a public official in a purely private matter because of Sasso's judicial status office.
The ACJC said Sasso's conduct -- including the implicit threat that he would use his judicial power to the detriment of the bar -- "undermines the integrity, impugns the impartiality and detracts from the competence of the judiciary; it weakens the public confidence in the judiciary."
Handler cited other episodes that indicated Sasso's "demeanor on the bench was often abrasive, immoderate and impatient."
On May 9, 2006, in Warren Township, he held defendant Tina Sears in contempt and ordered her jailed for 10 days for allegedly swearing at him. He released her the next day after she apologized.
On July 12, 2007, while sitting in Watchung, N.J., Sasso issued a bench warrant for a defendant, Lisa Brown, when she did not respond to the initial call of her case. After the call list, Brown told Sasso she was present and Sasso held her in contempt and ordered her incarcerated in the county jail.
The ACJC found that in both the Sears and Brown cases, Sasso misused his contempt power under Rule 1:10-1.
On Aug. 8, 2007, in Bound Brook, he accused attorney Patricia Bombelyn of making threatening statements to the municipal court staff, and fined her $500. A Superior Court judge later threw out the fine and admonished Sasso for intemperate conduct.
On Sept. 24, 2007, Sasso was disrespectful to a Watchung municipal court defendant, Mike Roberson, who had returned to court after Sasso fined him based on a guilty plea. Sasso told Roberson he had already explained the fines "in English" and that "judges aren't asked to explain their conduct to defendants on the rebound after they leave the violations bureau." The ACJC called the comments "sarcastic, discourteous and intemperate."
Sasso acted as a legal consultant to the Watchung Chemical Engine Company, a local firefighting squad, and consulted with the company from time to time without compensation. However, he was listed on company documents as its attorney. The ACJC found the relationship in violation of Rule 1:15-1(b), which prohibits a municipal judge from acting as attorney for any agency or officer of the same municipality.
In all, the Court found Sasso violated Canon 1 (a judge should uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary), Canon 2A (a judge should respect and comply with the law and should act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary), Canon 2B (a judge should not use the judicial office to advance a private or personal interest), Canon 3A(1) (a judge should be faithful to the law and maintain professional competence in it), Canon 3A(3) (a judge should be patient, dignified and courteous to all those with whom the judge deals in an official capacity), Canon 5A(2) (a judge should conduct all extra-judicial activities in a manner that does not demean the judicial office), and Rules 2:15(8) (a) (1) and (6), for committing misconduct in office and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute.
Sasso says he is disappointed by the ACJC's findings and recommendations and by the Court's action.
"It's a shame that in New Jersey no one recognizes the medical problems a person can have during one's lifetime," says Sasso, a Warren, N.J., solo. "When someone who gives a decade of good service and gets into a problem, it's clear they're not going to help you out. It seems they couldn't care less."
