New Jersey Judge Accused of Allowing Police Officer to Serve As Prosecutor And Denying Counsel to Defendant

Linden Municipal Court Judge Louis DiLeo has been accused of an extraordinary act of misconduct in New Jersey. Wendell Kirkland alleges that DiLeo convicted him of burglary without the use of a prosecutor and even allowed a police officer to question him as if he were the prosecutor.

DiLeo is also accused of refusing a public defense attorney to one of the men after he requested it in court. DiLeo reportedly ruled that the defendant had already waived that right by earlier claiming to have private counsel.

It is not clear where Nicholas Scutari, the local prosecutor, was at the time.

If true, that would be an extraordinary denial of due process for the defendants and a series allegation of judicial misconduct for the judge.

Source: ABA Journal