Prosecutor quits
trooper sex assault case
By BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI,
AP from thnt.com Online, December 21, 2007
TRENTON — Mercer County
Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini Jr. has withdrawn from the probe into allegations
that New Jersey state troopers sexually assaulted a college student, and the
case has been reassigned to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.
The decision, announced Thursday night by state Attorney General Anne Milgram,
follows statements Bocchini made about the case in an interview with The
Star-Ledger of Newark published in Thursday's editions.
In the interview, Bocchini describes the case as "a nightmare," involving
multiple accounts of what happened, the presence of alcohol, lacking photos or
tapes, and with medical evidence that might show only that people had sex.
Milgram said she agreed with Bocchini that his comments were "inappropriate."
Middlesex County is next door to Mercer County, and Milgram noted that the
Prosecutor's Office based in New Brunswick has "an experienced sex-crimes unit
to take over the investigation."
In a letter sent to Milgram on Thursday, Bocchini said his comments "could very
well create a public perception that my office should not handle this
investigation."
He added that while he believes his staff could handle the probe in a fair
manner, "I believe that in the best interest of this ongoing investigation that
supersession is appropriate. Consequently, I am requesting that this
investigation be superseded and assigned to another prosecuting authority."
Seven state troopers have been suspended with pay in connection with a woman's
claim that she was sexually assaulted on Dec. 7.
The woman, a 25-year-old college student whose name has not been released,
alleged she was assaulted by a group of men that included one or more off-duty
troopers at the home of one of the troopers in Ewing. She had met the men
at a bar in Trenton.
A lawyer for one of the troopers has called the woman's claim "absurd" and said
that any activities that took place at the home were consensual.
No charges have been filed.
David Wald, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, said any court
proceedings in the case would still take place in Mercer County.
Asked to comment about Bocchini's withdrawal, attorney Charles Sciarra, who has
been acting as spokesman for all the accused troopers, said: "They (the
Mercer County Prosecutor's Office) have been professional and thorough and this
is an unusual procedural move which we will monitor. However, nothing
changes the reality that anywhere this matter is fairly investigated, the result
will be the vindication of our clients."
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