Judge calls for new hearing on Christie Bridgegate complaint

The official misconduct complaint filed against Gov. Chris Christie for his alleged role in the political retribution scheme known as Bridgegate will get a new probable cause hearing, according to a Superior Court judge's ruling Thursday.

Judge Bonnie J. Mizdol, in a seven-page opinion where she declined to dismiss the complaint, said that the matter should go back to municipal court for a new probable cause hearing at which Christie “is afforded the constitutional protection of his right to counsel.”

William J. Brennan, a retired Teaneck firefighter and outspoken critic of government officials, filed a citizen’s complaint alleging second-degree official misconduct against Christie in Fort Lee municipal court on Sept. 28. The documents say that on or about Sept. 11, 2013, the governor failed to order his subordinates to reopen access lanes to the George Washington Bridge that were closed for a purported traffic study. The complaint was sent to Central Municipal Court in Hackensack, where Judge Roy McGeady found probable cause on Oct. 13, moving the case to state Superior Court.

Christie's attorney, Craig Carpenito, of Alston & Bird, LLP, filed motions asking for time to fight the probable cause finding and seek a reversal of the finding and dismissal of the complaint.

Mizdol's decision on Thursday came one day after she heard arguments from Carpenito and Senior Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Annmarie Cozzi – both in favor of dismissing the probable cause finding.

Carpenito argued that the lower court denied Christie his right to counsel because Central Municpal Court Judge McGeady did not let the governor’s attorney, who was present, participate in the probable cause hearing. McGeady said that there was no defendant prior to the finding of probable cause.

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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.

Carpenito also argued that there was insufficient evidence to find probable cause for Brennan’s complaint. The attorney said the municipal court relied upon excerpts of testimony from former high-ranking Port Authority official David Wildstein, who accepted a plea deal for his role in the scheme. The excerpts consisted of eight pages of Wildstein's 1,168 pages of testimony from the federal trial of former Port Authority Executive Director Bill Baroni and Christie’s former deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, for their roles in the Bridgegate scandal. Kelly and Baroni were found guilty of seven charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and civil rights violations.

Cozzi told Mizdol on Wednesday that the state agrees that Christie’s right to counsel was violated, but she said the state would not delve into the debate about the merits of the evidence for the finding of probable cause.

“We believe from the outset due to this procedural violation that the finding of probable cause cannot stand,” Cozzi said.

Mizdol said in her ruling that the "failure to allow defendant's counsel to participate or to cross-examine the testimony delivered by Brennan ... at the probable cause hearing was a violation of fundamental constitutional safeguards" and that it "mandates reversal of the probable cause finding."

Wildstein said, according to Carpenito, that he was present for a conversation where Baroni said there was heavy traffic in Fort Lee and the borough's mayor, Mark Sokolich, was not getting his phone calls returned.

Carpenito said Christie was walking into a 9/11 ceremony where he was going to speak and that it would have taken great “mental gymnastics” for the governor to realize there was a plot.

The lanes were reopened within 48 hours of that conversation, Carpenito said.

Mizdol, in her refusal to throw out the complaint entirely, said that Carpenito, in his argument that there is insufficient probable cause, relied on a legal case that is "factually and legally dissimilar ... and cannot guide this court's decision."

A new probable cause hearing is scheduled for Feb. 2 at 9 a.m. before McGeady.

Brennan called the reliance on the dissimilar case a "strategic blunder" for the defense and a "huge victory" for him.

"I don't even have to resubmit my complaint," he said, adding that he can also supplement the record with new evidence that came to light after the September filing. That evidence includes testimony from Kelly that she told Christie that Sokolich was complaining about political retribution involving the traffic and that Christie said to let David "the Wolf" Wildstein handle it, Brennan said.

"I'm looking forward to another day in court," he said.

A spokeswoman for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office declined to comment on the ruling.

Carpenito, who was traveling on business, did not return a call for comment.