Other Victims

FYI - I have obtained my Private Investigators license and have begun accepting cases. Of course, my favorite is helping victims such as you see posted herein: Victims of malicious prosecution by dirty prosecutors/police. It is becoming an epidemic. Feel free to view my website if interested in my services. And of course, knowing that part of the demented process of being targeted is to drain the finances of the target, I will always be exceptionally reasonable in any service costs for these types of victims. If you wish to inquire about hiring me, email me at CrossfireInvest@AOL.com

Here is the modus operendi or M.O. (An "M.O." is a "distinct pattern or method of operation that indicates or suggests the work of a single criminal in more than one crime") of the Burlington County Prosecutors Office. This method has been almost repeated to the tee in each of the below cases. Reason? Because 1. stupid criminals repeat what work (hence the term "modus operendi" and 2. because this disorganized crime ring has risen to a tangible untouchable level, why change?:

Step 1: Identify targets (police officer or civilian(s) who have given perceived offense or threaten protected police officer(s) or civilian(s)

Step 2: Overwhelm targets(s) with malicious prosecution, i.e., false criminal or departmental complaints, engage one-way smear campaign through the media. Begin false investigation, witness falsification, illegally sieze, and /or tamper with evidence.

Step 3: Isolate target and threaten, intimidate, or bribe coworkers or friends to either have no contact with target or better, provide false testimony or evidence against target

Step 4: Initiate war of attrition - Keep target out of work, overloaded with stress of being victimized, ostracization of family and friends and coworkers.

Step 4: Contact Judges on an as-needed basis to prevent , block, hinder, or obstruct any and all counter -complaints; nullify any negative ramifications against protected or insulated person.

Step 5: Contact Judges to pave way for more frivilous complaints or actions against target and "arrang" necessary convictions or unfavorable judgements against target.

Step 6: Watch as defense lawyer(s) repeatedly make the exact same mistakes. Reason? Ego. Even when given professional advice of what 1. the Prosecutors Office will do and 2. the mistakes they (the lawyers) will make and 3. when same actions come to pass - The lawyers egos kick in an prevent rational thought to prevail and the lawyers begin playing the time-proven Prosecutor game of smoke and mirrors and chasing false fires.

In 1995, Chief of Police L. Nippins' (Burlington Township Police) son, Anthony Nippins, assaulted his girlfriend while at a party (documented). Other partygoers came to her rescue. A fight ensued. Anthony Nippins lost. A Good Samaritan, Zachary Shansey broke up the fight and then rendered first aid to the Chief's son. However, in order to protect this domestic violence abuser and make it look like a "gang" beating, Mr. Shansey was charged with aggravated assault along with half a dozen of the other partygoers! He pled guilty after being erroneously told by his public defender that the County Prosecutor's Office had incriminating statements implicating him. This was an intentional falsehood. Recently the case file was professionally reviewed and it was discovered the statements actually proved his innocence. But this was kept from him and he took the offer of a plea bargain to avoid the threatened sentence of five years in state prison. Instead he received one year of incarceration. One year's worth of his life. Unbelievably, several months later the Chief's son became a law enforcement officer. As you will see he couldn't stop his abusive behavior, nor would the misconduct end (see case #2).

The investigating police department, Willingboro PD and the County Prosecutor's Office collaborated to manufacture the investigation and implicate Mr. Shansey with other partygoers. The professional case report with findings is available. He was forced to forego a promising athletic future. But now knowing that he was set up, he is pursuing legal remedies to have the conviction overturned and to file a civil suit.

Late 1997: While case #2 was still unfolding, Chief of Police L. Nippins' son, Anthony Nippins, now a police officer, was again accused by his girlfriend of more domestic violence. She reported it to a co-worker/police officer, Ptl. R. Rufo. After conferring with his sergeant, Officer Rufo filed the appropriate report. However, it was not the Chief's son who was investigated, it was Officer Rufo. Officer Rufo had an impeccable record. His police department (Lumberton Township) and the County Prosecutor's Office collaborated and concocted a manufactured investigation against an innocent party for his lawful actions. Ultimately they threatened him into resigning. The officer resigned and went on to Federal law enforcement career. He filed a lawsuit against the County Prosecutor's Office and his police department for civil conspiracy. Even when Officer Nippin's was arrested for trying to assault Officer Rufo and for DWI, no action was forthcoming. To compound matters, the investigation inadvertently revealed that Officer Nippins had pulled his weapon on another officer in a drunken rage. However, everything was buried. The Lumberton Police Department and the County Prosecutor's Office committed illegal searches and seizures, witness tampering, falsifying reports, and perjury.

Here is the legal brief filed by Rufo after Judge Sweeny protected the Burlington County Prosecutors Office, and obvioulsy Mr. Gerrow, public enemy number 1 as they say.

(You may need to cut and paste the above link into your address bar of your browser if it doesn't load right away)

Update: Officer Rufo filed a State civil suit only to have it terminated by longstanding friend of the County Prosecutor’s Office, top County Judge Sweeney. An appellate court overturned that decision with prejudice and in an unheard of recommendation, suggested that the accused officer, Officer Nippins, face criminal charging. They go so far as to confirm that he has some serious problems. What does the Burlington County Times do? They print an article in thier paper about him having twins! I guess two new lives for the two lives he almost destroyed? Remember Shansey and Rufo....No complaints from anywhere, even Lumberton PD where he is still employed...have been forthcoming:

After thier marriage fell on hard times and irronciable differences, one half of a married couple decided the abuse was too much and that they could not take the strain of the constant instability of the spouse as well as the constant fear for safety. So one night during a weekend while the spouse was away this domestic victim packed a suitcase and left the home.

I am sure this introduction has been told countless times by thousands of victims of domestic violence who finally hit a wall and realize that they chose to be a victim no longer. They are the few who are able to break the cycle of being the victim and choose to leave rather than suffer further. Unfortunately, the abuser had made an entry in her journal that would prove to be chillingly self-prophesizing. The entry stated in regards to what would happen if the victim ever left the relationship; "If you ever leave me, I will be furious." Not I will be sad, or I won't be able to live without you, "furious!"

Perhaps you are wondering what happened to this woman who left her home rather than endure any more abuse? Did she survive, did her abuser find her?

Well, for one, SHE is not woman. This victim is a HE. Or rather, Chief Phil Castagna of Bordentown City Police. She is the former wife, Joyce Castagna (now known by her maiden name as Leopold).

Suprised? Well you shouldn't be. More and more men are becoming victims of domestic abuse. Men are raised to never hit a woman no matter what the circumstances. But as we all know, women are not raised to withhold their emotions, or even their violence. Phil's actions in leaving their domicile was exactly what would be expected, and encouraged of any victim of domestic violence. Indeed, it is what all teachings recommend - LEAVE. The fact that he did so while his wife was away clearly demonstrates that he wished for there to be no confrontation, an amiable if not self-serving act - he didn't want to be abused anymore.

So, since Phil did the right thing and left in the middle of the night, did he go on to live a happy life? No. What happened instead is that just as Joyce had written in her journal, which was read in open court, she targeted Phil. How did she do this you may ask? In possibly one of the most sadistic ways possible, through the legal system!

See, as mention before, men are not allowed to be victims and woman are not allowed to the abusers. This sadly is more evident in the one place that is supposed to be blind to such stereo-types; the Courts.

So true to Gerrow and co-criminals method of operation, and just like he or his agency did in every other case, the ante was upped when Castagna chose to fight back and had appealed the unlawful conviction. He has now been charged with ATTEMPTED MURDER! When they went to his residence to lock Mr. Castagna up, they literally kidnapped his girlfreind and moved her from her home to the Franklin Police Station. They placed her in a seperate room and then told her that Castagna's ex-wife was dead, that Castagna had arranged or conspired to have her killed! When she failed to provide any incriminating outbursts, they let her call for a ride...is this the United States still? US Attorney Chris Chirtie's Office was advised by me of this kidnapping. I got a terse phone message back to go to the FBI basically telling me that they didn't care! Here is the victim's actual official statement obtained directly from her civil tort claim, since once again, the FBI and USAO refuse to protect our citizens!

The case against Castagna is already falling apart. The State's main and ONLY witness has been kicked out of the witness protection program! And they withheld this from the Judge AND the Grand Jury! Here is the actual letter from the infamous NJ Attorney General's Office kicking Gary Hall out for drug and alcohol problems as well as more criminal activity...this is what is being used to lock up a police chief on $350,000.00 bail! And Judge Smith of the Burlington County knows this! But note, they still gave him the rest of his payoff, I mean, program money of $42,000.00!! And they got his suspended license restored, paid off a crime victim here in NJ that had criminal complaints for theft pending against this Gary Hall.

MOUNT HOLLY--The witness that testified to the Burlington County grand jury about alleged crimes that the former Bordentown City police chief Phil Castagna committed was kicked out of the witness protection program.

That juicy tidbit was unveiled yesterday as Castagna’s defense attorney, Robin Lord, asked a Burlington County Superior Court judge to have the case thrown out of court.

Castagna, 43, of Bordentown, was indicted by a grand jury on October 7, 2004 and charged with conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated arson and two counts of contempt in connection with a fire that allegedly occurred at his ex-wife’s former Bordentown City home, among other allegations, said Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi.

The arrest was the culmination of a three-month investigation by Bernardi’s Major Crimes Unit into charges he allegedly threatened to murder his ex-wife, Joyce Leopold, who had testified against him at a previous trial.

In August 2004 informant and grand jury witness Gary J. Hall, 42, the man to whom Lord said the prosecutor paid $40,000 for his information and to collect more evidence against Castagna through taped conversations, contacted the prosecutor’s office and told investigators that he was aware of threats being made against Leopold by Castagna, said Jack Smith, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.

Castagna was convicted of harassment and contempt in connection with an incident in July 2003 during which he threatened Leopold, then his wife, in violation of a protection from abuse court order. He was sentenced to a year’s probation, ordered to pay $1,000 fine, andattend an anger management course.

Superior Court Judge James J. Morley also stripped Castagna of his job as police chief and permanently barred him from holding public employment.

Hall was placed in the witness protection program by the state attorney general’s office, but was kicked out on April 15, 2005 because he violated the terms of his agreement with the state, according to documents filed with the court yesterday.

The witness, while in the program, allegedly refused to get help for his drug and alcohol problems, illegally taped conversations with officials and others against Florida law, according to court documents.

"The fact of Hall’s termination from the witness agreement, as well as Hall’s misconduct and illegal activities, was not revealed to the grand jury at the ...hearing," Lord said in her motion to dismiss.

"Instead, the prosecutor deliberately presented fake information to the grand jury through the testimony of (a detective) concerning Hall’s participation in the witness agreement even though it had already been terminated. No mention was made that this agreement was no longer in effect."

She went on to say that by not sharing the information with the grand jury it "had the power to affect the grand jury’s ability to make an informed decision whether to indict."

Hall supposedly testified to the grand jury that he was aware of threats being made against Leopold by Castagna, Smith said, and that the defendant allegedly showed Hall a handgun.

That information was corroborated through a series of taped conversation between Hall and Castagna and was related to the grand jury.

"I am appalled that that the Burlington County prosecutor’s office didn’t present this information to the grand jury," Lord said yesterday after the hearing.

Judge Thomas S. Smith didn’t make a decision on the motion yesterday but scheduled another hearing on the matter for November 9 at 1:30 p.m.

NOTE: I sat in on the last Motion to Dismiss in December 2006. Again Judge Smith was informed of the misconduct by the Burlington County Prosecutors Office and again, even after admitting to having seen the evidence first hand, refused to toss the bogus criminal charges against Chief Castagna. Enough was enough and regardless of the knowledge that my efforts would be blocked, I filed the below letter with the proper and lawful probable cause forms to Judge Smith. The letter demands that the criminal acts of the Prosecutor Kim Lua and her cohorts in the Defective (oops, its Detective Division, but both work) like Edward Zubryzcki.

Not suprisingly, repeated calls to Smith's chambers finally revealed he passed the buck to Assignment Judge Sweeney, public enemy number three. There the complaints sit to this day.

In typical fashion, the Prosecutors MAIN and ONLY witness is clearly the real criminal, aside from the Prosecutor himself, or his Office agents:

MOUNT HOLLY - The state's star witness in the conspiracy case against a suspended Bordentown City police chief has been sentenced to five years in a Florida prison for assaulting his ex-girlfriend and stealing $500 from her.

Gary Hall, 43, formerly of Florence pleaded no contest Feb. 14 to charges of burglary and assault stemming from a May 2005 incident at the womans home in Broward County, Fla., said Ron Ishoy, spokesman for the State Attorneys Office in Broward County. Hall was sentenced to five years in prison, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.

In March 2004, Hall was sentenced to 364 days in Burlington County Jail and three years of probation after pleading guilty to a charge of making a threat to kill, according to court records. Hall was released from jail three months later, court records state.

Philip Castagna, the suspended Bordentown City police chief, and Michael Luciano, the assistant Burlington County prosecutor handling the case against Castagna, declined to comment on Halls case. Castagna maintains the case is an attempt by the Burlington County Prosecutors Office and Bordentown City officials to oust him from his job and destroy his reputation.

The defense contends the Prosecutors Office agreed to pay Hall $40,000 and terminate his probation in an unrelated Burlington County case in exchange for framing Castagna.

Castagna, 45, of Plainsboro is charged with arson, contempt and conspiracy to commit murder in an alleged plot to have his estranged wife, Joyce Leopold- Castagna, killed. Leopold-Castagna was not hurt.

Now, in case you still have doubts as to what a travesty this is? Let the NJ State Police tell you how they warned the Burlington County Prosecutors Office to not rely soley on Gary Hall as he is nutts and unreliable! This BEFORE the Grand Jury abuse and information which was withheld from the Grand Jury. Now you can see why they refused to have Hall appear before the Grand Jury and instread lied, and told the Grand Jury that Hall was still in the witness protection program!

And there is an almost identical case involving Sergeant Patrick Vacanti of the Riverside Police force. He has been indicted an a whole host of charges and sits waiting, suspended without pay. He has been alleged to have used excessive force and filed false reports, blah blah...the same rhetoric by Gerrow. But where is this witness? In a hospital? At work somewhere? No, he too is sitting in a Philadelphia jail. On what charge you may ponder? How is this? Attempted murder!

Sergeant Vacanti in the Riverside Police Department yesterday was acquitted of charges he beat a man during a traffic stop and then falsified reports and court documents in an attempt to cover up the incident.

He was found not guilty of simple assault and disorderly persons charges during a non-jury trial. Vacanti, who lives in Medford, would have faced fines and the loss of his job if he had been convicted.

Vacanti blasted Burlington County Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi and James J. Gerrow, the county's executive assistant prosecutor, for pursuing the case against him.

“I am very sad and disheartened that Bob Bernardi and Jim Gerrow would prosecute an exemplary police officer of this county with such weak facts and poor evidence,” Vacanti said. “Mr. Gerrow was right when he said in his closing that this case was about abuse of power, but the abuse was committed by him and Mr. Bernardi, not by me or the police community. The system worked today, and the good guys won.”

Here is a letter I have sent to Chief Tursi, the Riverside Mayor and Committee and the Riverside Police Association:

First, let me commend you on your staunch support of Sergeant Vacanti in what was surely a test of loyalty and commitment to believe in innocent until proven guilty. Unfortunately, the County Prosecutors Office believes in a completely different ideology of being guilty as framed via malicious prosecution. I confidently make this charge as one well acquainted with the long history of the Burlington County Prosecutors Office and its repeated targeting of innocent police officers and civilians. I will not subject you to the details of my intimate knowledge, but suffice it to say that I am arguably the most well versed in matters of the corruption with the Burlington County Prosecutors Office that dates back to 1995. You may avail yourself of my website if you wish to familiarize yourselves with my qualifications: www.southjerseyjustice.com

Secondly, after attending what can only be described as a farce of a trial against Sergeant Vacanti, and happily seeing the only outcome available to Judge Smith, JSC, I read of your potential financial impact in the reimbursement of certain monetary obligations, such as Sergeant Vacanti’s legal fees, etc. I am also aware that there will be other legal/financial considerations in the way of pending lawsuits, which have been bolstered by the grandstanding of the Burlington County Prosecutors Office and Executive Assistant J. Gerrow. While no ramifications haunt Mr. Gerrow or the County Prosecutors Office for this instigation, obviously Riverside and its taxpayers now have to bear the weight of these civil complaints.

1. Aside from releasing Sergeant Vacanti’s past pay and related employment monies, that any and all financial obligations that can be attributed to the actions of a malicious prosecution be charged against the County Prosecutors Office. In State v. Wright, the courts determined that any costs for liable nature against a County Prosecutors Office are to be born by the State, and not the County wherein the Prosecutors Office conducts business as it is a State agency, not County originated.

2. That you make a public appeal to US Attorney Chris Christie to investigate the malicious and unsupported targeting of Sergeant Vacanti. That you demand Official Misconduct and related criminal charges be preferred against Mr. Gerrow and whoever assisted in the malicious prosecution.

3. That you make the same appeal to the NJ Attorney General’s Office, for whatever its worth in its current turmoil.

4. That you file a complaint with the Burlington County Freeholders and perhaps also consider seeking reimbursement from that Office as well since they have known of the pattern and practice of the Burlington County Prosecutors Office via the author (also on website). You can also demand that the Freeholders make similar requests for investigation by the US Attorneys Office. Also, there is a provision of statutory law that allows for the County Freeholders to demand that the NJ Attorney Generals Office assume command and control of the Burlington County Prosecutors Office until such time as these charges of misconduct are resolved.

5. That you demand appropriate disciplinary action by County Prosecutor Bernardi, who has been condoning the conduct of Mr. Gerrow since his term in office began.

Lastly, it is a shame that what happened to Sergeant Vacanti. But what makes it worse is that I have been attempting for years, since I first became a victim of identical, and I mean identical, prosecutorial misconduct in 1997 and 1999. Since that time I have freely offered my services to the victim officers as I became aware of them. As Chief Tursi and Sergeant Vacanti will be able to now attest to, I accurately predicted the criminal actions that Mr. Gerrow and the County Prosecutors Office would undertake. This is the first that I have offered my insight and suggestions to an elected body, but again, I was inspired by the unity of the Riverside Police Department, of which I am sure there was great pressure being applied against, especially if Mr. Gerrow’s threats of retaliation are to be believed, and they should be, and this support is to be commended. Unity when faced with such forces has hopefully been a demonstration of how a police department should respond when one of its own is being falsely accused, as was the case in the instant matter.

Also for the first time, I am offering to make myself available to discuss this letter in person if you so deem my input worthy.

I thank you for your time and consideration on my hopefully thought provoking ideas and suggestions. After all, it is the taxpayer that would again be penalized for the sadistic and long-standing efforts of the Burlington County Prosecutors Office.

Do you see the similarity? Its the same old routine and its only getting worse...good cops charged by dirty scum upon who Gerrow and company heap false credibility!

In one case, an honorable police sergeant (Vacanti) was targeted and charged with a slew of serious allegations by the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office. Now the "witness/complainant" is sitting in a Philadelphia jail on attempted murder charges and can't be used, so where is the case? Yet, a cop is on trial with this being the State's one and only witness? Why were they still targeting a good cop? Because that is what they do.

In another, the same Prosecutors Office has charged a distinguished police chief (Castagna) with attempted murder based upon one witness and one witness only. Where is that witness? After putting him in the "witness protection program" for no verifiable reason, after granting him immunity from his admission to trying to set fire to a house where he thought his girlfriend, who had sent him to jail for violating his domestic restraint was staying, after dismissing a pending theft charge against him, and after moving him and setting him up in another State and giving him $40,000.00, he is kicked out of the witness protection program because he is alleged to be illegally taping people, including the Florida State police, this Prosecutors Office, his new girlfriend, and has a drug and drinking problem. Yet, a cop is on trial with this being the State's one and only witness? A witness the Prosecutor can't locate? I am also including a copy of Chief Castagna's girlfriend's statement as contained in her civil Complaint filed against this Prosecutor's Office. Apparently, its ok to snatch people from their homes at night, take them against their will to police interrogation rooms and terrorize them for hours by telling them that their boyfriend KILLED and MURDERED his ex-wife in hopes to get her to say something, anything, to help their framed case. This is called Kidnapping, no two ways about it and good old USAO Chris Christie is challenging my efforts to bring this to the attention of a Federal Grand Jury via my Complaint pending in Federal Court? Here is her statement: http://southjerseyjustice.com.previewyoursite.com/kidnapped.doc

Here is the Judge's decision who originally threw out the charges against these two Troopers because, can you guess? yep, Gerrow! Apparently the Judge caught that Gerrow was tampering with the Grand Jury and abused it. Did he get in trouble? No, the State, after giving FIVE MILLION to the accused individuals in the van, WHO ADMITTED that they were trying to switch driver and passenger seats because the DRIVER was SUSPENDED and as a result hit the gear shift in reverse, causing the van to head TOWARDS the troopers just like they said all along! The end result? Two good troopers are out, Gerrow and crew still in...

But you can research more about them on your own. Trooper Hogan has published a book on what happened to him including Gerrow planting evidence at the scene...

And to show another officer's plight, and committment to doing right, even without the aid of his "fellow comrades" or Union, take a look at Cassidy's website which shows its a WHOLE NJ thing since he is from North NJ.

Now here is a man who, when the FOP and the PBA chose to leave him to the wolves for thier own personal bennies, took up the gauntlet and fought ALONE with just his family for a support group and finally proved not only was he innocent, but that the fast-track restraining order search warrant was ILLEGAL and that the Prosecutors were not adhering to the strict requirements under the Fourth Amendment! Why there is not a class action suit now against what was so clearly illegal is beyond me...

And yes, this is exactly what I had begged the NJ FOP to take on years ago but they were too busy holding hands and slapping each other on the back regalling times of old that probably never happened...

After he spent 17 years in prison, DNA evidence proved Larry Peterson's innocence and the willingness of the Burlington County Prosecutors Office to target the innocent

Nothing ties Larry Peterson to the rape and murder of Jacqueline Harrison but the stubborn say-so of the Burlington County prosecutor's office. Their obstinance makes sense when you consider that Peterson is planning a civil suit and demanding an investigation into those responsible for his wrongful conviction and 17 years in prison.

“They took one lie after another and just built a case on that,” said Peterson. “Being a poor black man, or anyone that’s poor, and can’t defend himself because you don’t have money to obtain a good attorney -- you up the creek. So I got jacked up.”

On Aug. 24, 1987 Harrison was found strangled on a dirt road in Burlington County. Harrison’s best friend and ex-boyfriend told prosecutors Peterson had scratches on his arms.

After learning he was a suspect, Peterson went to police to declare his innocence. He was charged with capital murder and sexual assault -- in March 1989 he was convicted.

In July 2005 his conviction was vacated based on DNA evidence that proved his innocence. The semen found on Harrison, as well as the blood underneath her fingernails, did not belong to Peterson – that person’s identity is still unknown.

Even so, the Burlington County prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi announced he would re-try Peterson. In August 2005, Peterson was finally released – after borrowing thousands of dollars for his $200,000 bail.

In May of this year the prosecution finally agreed to drop all charges.

The Burlington County prosecutor’s office has yet to admit Peterson’s innocence. The prosecutor actually opposed testing the DNA that ultimately exonerated him.

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office did not respond to requests for comment about if they planned to investigate the Burlington County prosecutor’s office and the detectives on Peterson’s case.

The prosecutor’s office still refuses to even apologize to Peterson. In an e-mail to City Belt Ray Milavsky, First Assistant in the Burlington office, wrote:

“You have asked: Do we plan to issue an apology to Larry Peterson. My question to you is why would we? … It is apparent from your questions that you are of the impression that the DNA evidence in this case completely exonerates Mr. Peterson. This just simply is not the case when one studies the entire proofs of the trial and the investigation.”

Milavsky said they are looking for the person whose DNA was found on Harrison, but do not necessarily believe this person is the killer.

“The defense would argue that this mystery donor is in fact the killer. Certainly it is a theory that could be advanced to a jury and create the reasonable doubt that would result in a finding of not guilty,” he wrote to City Belt. “It is for this reason that we have dismissed the prosecution, as we have an ethical responsibility not to prosecute cases where there is a reasonable doubt. Reasonable doubt does not mean that Mr. Peterson is innocent.”

Milavsky then went on to offer the “evidence” of witnesses who revealed non-public details of the crime -- allegedly learned from Peterson’s confession to them.

Vanessa Potkin, an attorney for the Innocence Project who worked on Peterson’s case, pointed out that the three witnesses only told police about the confession after they were interrogated.

The two men who included key details of the crime, allegedly learned from Peterson’s confession, were interrogated by the same investigators, she added.

One of the witnesses, Robert Elder, has since admitted he lied and incorporated information he heard from investigators about the murder into his statement, according to the New York Times.

“The state hasn’t offered me anything,” said Peterson. “Nothing. Nothing but suck the life out of me and they’re still doing it everyday.”

Tried for capital murder but sentenced to life, he now volunteers with New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. Lorry Post, a member of the group’s executive committee whose daughter was murdered, greeted Peterson outside the jail when he was released.

But proof of his innocence wasn’t the panacea Peterson hoped it would be – or that it should be.

“I had to search and make my way,” he said. “If I hadn’t had anyone I don’t think I would have made it.”

Peterson, 55, now works for $8 per hour as a carpenter’s assistant.

“I can’t get a decent job for the mere fact that I got this on my record,” he said. “I’m out there busting my butt everyday for nothing. What is $8 an hour if you have to take care of yourself?”

He continues: “I go out on speaking engagements but now I have become a very angry person because after I finish speaking to these people, these people -- they can drive, they can go home, they can lay comfortably in their homes, but I don’t have a home. I don’t have a car. I don’t even have a driving license. I don’t have a decent job.”

Upon his release from prison, all he was given was information on where to find clothes and a halfway house.

“I live with my mom,” said Peterson. “It’s not a bad place to be but I want my own.”

He continues: “I used to be independent. I was trying to build my life and everything was going well until this happened. Life was just taken from me.”

Voting Takes a Back Seat

One of the many rights taken from Peterson those 17 years was his right to vote. While he could register after he was released (although he was never told), sheer survival took priority.

“I never even tried to register to vote,” said Peterson. “I’ve just been trying to put my life in order. It’s a struggle every day.”

This week many of those like Peterson, who have been released from prison, won’t be voting. New Jersey disenfranchises people on parole or probation who were convicted of an indictable offense, as well as those who are in prison.

In 1799 the state banned anyone “convicted of blasphemy, treason, murder, piracy, arson, rape, sodomy, or any infamous crime against nature,” among other offenses, from voting. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in 1948 that “this particular category of crimes and its intent was to maintain the purity of our elections by excluding those would be voters whose status was deemed to be inimical thereto,” according to a 2000 New Jersey Policy Perspective report.

Legislative and courtroom efforts to restore the vote have, so far, been unsuccessful.

The governor’s office did not return calls for comment.

“At least two democratic legislators have introduced enfranchisement bills for people on parole and probation with little success and with little support from either party,” explained Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey. “Most likely, rather than a question of fairness, felony enfranchisement seems to correlate with a fear of ‘being he incumbent legislators who tend to resist any change to election reform that will change the status-quo.”

But even after someone is eligible to vote, like Peterson, they may run into trouble. Their names may not be on the rolls on election day or they might never be informed of their rights, said Jacobs. However, some progress has been made, she noted.

“We partnered with the Department of Corrections under the previous administration to provide all inmates completing their sentences with voter registration forms and ‘How-To’ packets,” she said. “The State Parole Board requires that parole staff provide parolees completing parole with a voter registration form.”

But more education, oversight and funding is still needed.

“Our own outreach has shown that there is massive misinformation about voting requirements in New Jersey, including among corrections and election officials as well as the affected citizens themselves,” she said.

Enfranchisement isn’t just about offering someone the technical right to vote – poll taxes, literacy tests and voter intimidation have clearly shown that. Without access and education, the right to vote remains theoretical for many, and for those incarcerated, on parole or probation, impossible.

RAW DOCS: Listen to City Belt's interview with Peterson

This matter was recently discovered but proves what I knew all along, that there are more cases involving blatant criminal targeting of innocent police officers/civilians then just the ones I had listed. Since I am involved in this matter professionally in my role as a Private Investigator, I am limited to what I can offer detail wise at this point pending authorization by the client. I believe I can say that this was a case of "Salem Witch Accusations" as I call these types of incidents. These are the cases where a young person, usually a teen, makes sexual or physical abuse against a parent or other family member, either to avoid pending trouble and deflect, or perhaps out of a mental need to have attention or to cause distress upon others. In this matter, it was the first and this young teenager at the time, made sexual accusations against her Stepfather upon being punished for some minor misbehavior. Her journal revealed that she was unhappy with the "new family (her Mother and her Stepfather gave birth to her half-sister) and instead wanted things back to the way they were, just her, her Mother, and her birth father.

Long story short, despite no physical evidence and highly questionable tactics by members of the Burlington County Prosecutors Office, the Stepfather was the only one targeted. Even when evidence revealed that the accuser had been having sexual relations with young men, AFTER stating the Stepfather was the ONLY one to have done so, not one of those young men were question to refute her statement; not even when DNA matching one was found INSIDE the house located mixed with hers!

The accuser's guilt weighed heavily upon her mind, so much so that finally she broke down and in the middle of the night wrote a two page letter apologizing to the County Detective for having made up the entire story and admitting that her Stepfather was innocent. This was given to her Mother, who also signed a document that her daughter admitted the same to her verbally and then they both signed their names to a second document that the daughter had indeed lied.

However, when the Mother chose to do the right and decent, and lawful thing to do and went to report this information to the County Detective, in short order it was made very clear that if the story was recanted, then serious criminal charges would be pressed against her and her daughter. This is not only illegal, it makes any trial null and void by default.

The Mother and daughter fled to Puerto Rico and planned and on never coming back to NJ. However, after some money and other benefits were provided, somehow both were flown back to NJ to testify at trial, where the admission of the recanting of the letter was revealed as well as the criminal tampering and threatening of criminal charges by the County Prosecutor was exposed in open court!

Did the Judge cry FOUL? Did the Judge order the bailiff to arrest the dirty Prosecutor and County Detective after they admitted on the stand that indeed they did threaten criminal charges if the accuser changed her story and told the truth? No, he did not. Instead he PRAISED them, and then asserted that the accuser gave some of the best testimony he had ever heard! And somehow the entire Jury, one by one, agreed that despite this obvious travesty, and proof of innocence, that the "defendant/true victim" should be found guilty! As the best in my field of law and law enforcement, I can only offer as a rational basis for this aberrant result is that everyday people still have an overwhelming desire, need perhaps? To want to believe the Prosecutor, who must have told them the truth, and to support the poor Prosecutor in his hard fought endeavors against criminals, people who but for some despicable act, were placed there before them at the Defendant's table, where only people who have done something wrong are supposed to sit. Innocent people are being convicted not based upon the facts or evidence, but solely because the PROSECUTOR points a finger and declares so and so person guilty.

It’s obvious that in the future, juries must be charged with sticking to the facts and evidence, etc., and not the slippery words of a Prosecutor, or even a defense lawyer for that matter. I still remain about fairness.

I expect more details and names to update this latest victim in the near future, permission pending.