Carlia Brady.
An appeals court has upheld the dismissal of an official misconduct charge in the case of a Superior Court judge who failed to turn in her boyfriend when she knew an arrest warrant was issued in his name. But the panel also affirmed the trial judge in declining to toss two counts of hindering prosecution against the judge, Carlia Brady.
Brady was indicted over her failure to turn in Jason Prontnicki, who was wanted for the armed robbery of an Old Bridge pharmacy. Prosecutors said Prontnicki visited Brady’s home twice after she learned that authorities were looking for him. Brady became a Superior Court judge in Middlesex County on April 5, 2013, and authorities said Prontnicki attempted to hold up the pharmacy on April 29, 2013. Two years later, in May 2015, Brady was indicted on the official misconduct charge and two counts of hindering, and she has been suspended from the bench ever since.
Brady’s motion to dismiss the official misconduct count was granted by Superior Court Judge Julie Marino of Somerset County in March 2016. Marino refused to dismiss the hindering counts. The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office appealed the dismissal of the official misconduct count and Brady appealed the ruling concerning the hindering counts. The case was moved to Somerset County because Brady was a sitting judge in Middlesex County at the time of her arrest.
Prosecutors contended that, as a Superior Court judge, Brady was obliged to notify authorities when Prontnicki came to her home. But the extent of the duty of a judge in such circumstances is unclear, the appeals court said.
The prosecution cited no authority to support “the contention that a judge has a nondiscretionary duty to enforce the order of another court, and it certainly has failed to demonstrate such a duty is ever present, obligating the judge to perform the duty wherever he or she may be, 24 hours a day, 365 days per year,” Judges Carmen Messano, Marianne Espinosa and Karen Suter ruled. Instead, the prosecution invited the grand jury to decide whether a Superior Court judge’s duties include enforcing an arrest warrant, the appeals court said. But the grand jury is “an accusatory and not an adjudicative body,” the panel said, and “the prosecutor must clearly and accurately explain the
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