Latest news with #HudsonCountyProsecutor'sOffice
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Yahoo
Jersey City man's conviction overturned in alleged Facebook revenge killing
A New Jersey man's conviction for allegedly killing another man in revenge over a Facebook video was overturned Thursday by an appeals court. Darius Bolden, now 39, had been sentenced to 45 years behind bars for the murder of Jason Dunbar on Aug. 27, 2019, in Jersey City. Dunbar, 35, was killed shortly after a video of him fighting Bolden and knocking him down circulated on Facebook, according to prosecutors. Investigators said Bolden killed Dunbar in retaliation. However, a state appeals court determined police interrogation footage was improperly used at Bolden's trial. The judges additionally ruled the trial included improper remarks from the prosecutor and unauthenticated video evidence. The appeal centered around police officers' statements in recorded interrogations of Bolden, in which they spoke authoritatively about disputed information. 'Although the disputed statements may be viewed as proper interrogation techniques, they are not proper statements for presentation to the jury in an unredacted statement,' the appeals judges wrote. The court reversed Bolden's convictions on first-degree murder and two second-degree weapons charges. However, a separate conviction for a third-degree drug charge remains in place, and was not part of the appeal, according to While prosecutors could decide to retry the case, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office has not publicly commented on the court's decision.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
Jersey City man's conviction overturned in alleged Facebook revenge killing
A New Jersey man's conviction for allegedly killing another man in revenge over a Facebook video was overturned Thursday by an appeals court. Darius Bolden, now 39, had been sentenced to 45 years behind bars for the murder of Jason Dunbar on Aug. 27, 2019, in Jersey City. Dunbar, 35, was killed shortly after a video of him fighting Bolden and knocking him down circulated on Facebook, according to prosecutors. Investigators said Bolden killed Dunbar in retaliation. However, a state appeals court determined police interrogation footage was improperly used at Bolden's trial. The judges additionally ruled the trial included improper remarks from the prosecutor and unauthenticated video evidence. The appeal centered around police officers' statements in recorded interrogations of Bolden, in which they spoke authoritatively about disputed information. 'Although the disputed statements may be viewed as proper interrogation techniques, they are not proper statements for presentation to the jury in an unredacted statement,' the appeals judges wrote. The court reversed Bolden's convictions on first-degree murder and two second-degree weapons charges. However, a separate conviction for a third-degree drug charge remains in place, and was not part of the appeal, according to While prosecutors could decide to retry the case, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office has not publicly commented on the court's decision.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Yahoo
1 person killed in Jersey City fire: Officials
JERSEY CITY (PIX11) – One person was killed in a fire that broke out in Jersey City Thursday morning, according to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office. The fire started around 3:30 a.m. in a mixed-use building on Summit Avenue that has apartments and Toms Tub Laundromat, residents told PIX11 News. More Local News Two adults and two children were seriously injured in the blaze, officials said. Identifying information about the person who died was not immediately available. The fire broke out on the second floor of the building, in the unit where the two children and adults were, officials said. Some 18 people were displaced. Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter who has covered New York City since 2023 after reporting in Los Angeles for years. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
31-03-2025
- New York Times
New Jersey Police Chief Accused of Violent and Vulgar Harassment at Work
Police officers in northern New Jersey have accused their chief of engaging in a campaign of strange and violent harassment, including stabbing his assistant with a hypodermic needle, shaving his body hair onto workers' desks, pouring prescription drugs into the office coffee pot and defecating repeatedly on the floor of police headquarters. Descriptions of angry and occasionally revolting behavior by Robert Farley, chief of the police department in North Bergen, N.J., were included in court filings by five officers giving notice of their intent to sue the township. The notices were first reported by Under state law, the municipality has six months to investigate the claims, or possibly settle them, before the officers can file a lawsuit. 'I've never seen anything this bizarre in all my life,' said Patrick Toscano, the lawyer representing the police officers. In a statement, Philip Swibinski, a spokesman for the township, said that Chief Farley 'denies the allegations and looks forward to continuing to serve the people of North Bergen as he has his entire career in law enforcement.' In a biographical statement on the police department's website, Chief Farley described himself as a lifelong resident of North Bergen whose father and grandfather served as deputy police chiefs there. 'I am proud to serve this diverse community, and look forward to continued collaboration with our community to deliver proactive, efficient and professional services to prioritize public safety and quality of life,' he said. The allegations of abuse were sent to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office and the New Jersey attorney general for investigation, said Sofia Quintanar, a spokeswoman for the township. By longstanding practice, the attorney general's office does not confirm or deny the existence of pending investigations, said Michael Symons, a spokesman for the office. Chief Farley and all five officers remain employed by the police department, Mr. Toscano said. In a statement, Ms. Quintanar urged people not to rush to judgment, saying that the township would respect the outcome of any investigation, but that 'at this point none of these allegations have been proven to be true.' Ms. Quintanar said that the dispute in North Bergen arose after Chief Farley changed the department's overtime policies in ways that reduced several officers' extra pay. 'It's highly suspicious that these allegations have only come to light after Chief Farley instituted these reforms,' she said. In their filings, none of the officers mentioned lost overtime pay. 'None of the five officer claims has anything whatsoever to do with overtime,' Mr. Toscano said. All five accused the chief of retaliating against them after they complained about other issues. Officer Rasheed Siyam, who is Palestinian, said in his notice that he was the victim of retaliation after he reported that superiors had called him a 'terrorist' and had said that people of his racial background were responsible for 9/11. Officer Michael F. Derin said in his notice that after an argument with a superior, he drove to the state attorney general's office to file a complaint in person. As he waited to speak with a member of the attorney general's staff, Officer Derin said, he received a phone call from a superior notifying him that he had been fired. 'The retaliation for reporting this blatant corruption within the department could not have been more obvious,' Officer Derin said. He said in the notice that he and Chief Farley had been 'best friends.' In December 2023, he said, they vacationed together with two other members of the police department in the Caribbean. When Chief Farley was named to the department's top job, in February 2024, he promoted Officer Derin to become one of his administrative aides, the officer said. Months later, Chief Farley cornered Officer Derin in the office. The chief stabbed him in the genitals with a hypodermic needle, which pierced his jeans and drew blood, Officer Derin wrote in his notice. When he complained, Officer Derin said, the chief 'told me that I didn't know how to take a joke.' On several occasions Chief Farley shaved his body hair and dropped the hair onto desks in the office, three of the officers said. He also defecated on the floor and in a trash can, three officers said. Officer Derin's son Michael C. Derin is also a North Bergen police officer. In their complaints, Lieutenant Alex Guzman and the younger Officer Derin said that Chief Farley had spiked the office coffee pot with Adderall and Viagra. He also repeatedly placed hot peppers and hot sauce in the microwave, three officers said, causing such intense fumes that in one case a lieutenant was taken to a hospital for treatment and the fire department was called to ventilate the building. When he became angry, several officers said, Chief Farley was especially vicious. He threw eggs and staplers, broke picture frames and pulled a television off the wall and smashed it, officers said.
