Christie appeals Bridgegate ruling

Governor Christie has taken the first steps to appeal a court ruling that said he may have broken state law during the George Washington Bridge lane closures.

Judge Roy F. McGeady, who oversees all municipal courts in Bergen County, last month found probable cause that Christie engaged in official misconduct during the 2013 lane closures.

Christie had been scheduled to appear in municipal court Nov. 23, but that was delayed after his private attorney took the case to the state Superior Court for an appeal.

Assignment Judge Bonnie Mizdol of the Superior Court on Monday signed orders postponing Christie’s appearance until next year at the earliest. But the case also could be dismissed entirely on appeal.

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Mizdol scheduled a Jan. 11 hearing on Christie’s motion for leave to appeal. She also ruled that Christie’s first appearance be delayed until state officials decide whether to appoint a special prosecutor.

Christie is not facing charges, and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office has not said that it will pursue an indictment against the governor. Without action from the prosecutor’s office, the case against Christie cannot proceed.

Representatives for the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal, a Christie appointee, recused himself from the case. It was handed to John L. Higgins, a high-ranking prosecutor who was not appointed by the governor.

The case began last month when a retired firefighter from Teaneck, Bill Brennan, filed a complaint against Christie in municipal court based on bombshell testimony from David Wildstein, a former political operative for the governor who plotted the lane-closure scheme.

Wildstein testified in the Bridgegate trial that he discussed the lane closures with Christie while they were happening, during a Sept. 11 memorial event in 2013.

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Brennan argues that Christie engaged in official misconduct because he should have reversed the lane closures once he became aware of them. Under state law, official misconduct is punishable by five to 10 years in prison.

Christie has denied Wildstein’s account and has said for years he had no advance knowledge of the plot to close the bridge's Fort Lee access lanes. But lawyers for the prosecution and the defense in the federal trial cast doubt on his assertions.

Aside from Wildstein, some of the governor’s closest aides and associates over the years also contradicted some of his statements about the traffic scandal. So did Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly, the two defendants who were convicted at the trial.

Christie said after the trial that “no believable evidence” linked him to the plot. But U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said he was confident Wildstein told the truth on the witness stand.

Probable cause is a relatively low bar in the legal system that allows law enforcement agencies to search, charge or arrest individuals suspected of wrongdoing, but it is not enough to prove guilt.

Christie’s attorney, Craig Carpenito of the firm Alston and Bird, declined to comment Tuesday. Christie spokesman Brian Murray declined to comment but previously called Brennan’s complaint “dishonorable” and baseless.

Brennan predicted that Christie will lose his appeal because Baroni, Kelly and Wildstein all testified that Christie was aware of the lane closures while they were happening.

"All that needs to be proven to convict Chris Christie is that he knew that the lanes were closed," Brennan said. He added that "there’s nothing dishonorable about doing your civic duty as a citizen."

Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, D-Secaucus, said Tuesday that officials will review the record from Baroni and Kelly's trial and from a previous investigation by the Legislature into the traffic scandal. Some critics have called for Christie to be impeached, a process that under the state constitution must begin in the Assembly. Prieto said he will also monitor "the court proceedings in Bergen County."

"If anyone is convicted of a crime from that or any other proceeding that may arise, I will be prepared to invoke the full powers given to the Assembly," Prieto said in a statement.