Morris County Stops Paying Ex-Prosecutor

Administrator John Bonnani notified Robert Bianchi of the policy change this week, report says.

Morris County Administrator John Bonnani notified former Prosecutor Robert Bianchi this week he no longer will receive a county paycheck, according to the Daily Record. Bonnani told the newspaper the Attorney General's office advised in an email on Friday that Bianchi, a resident of Morris Plains, was not necessarily entitled to pay even though his successor has not yet been approved by the New Jersey Senate, contrary to the county's initial interpretation of the law. Bianchi was earning around $3,100 a week, the newspaper reported. Bianchi was on the payroll for about a month after the Attorney General's office took over the Morris County Prosecutor's Office on Dec. 14 at Gov. Chris Christie's request. The "supersession" effectively …

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The Stig

7:02 pm on Friday, February 8, 2013

Bianchi finally throws in the towel - http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2013/02/bianchi_formally_resigns_as_pr.html#incart_river_default Now will the Dems in the legislature finally do the right thing and give the man a proper and fair hearing? Doubtful.   more ›

Acting County Prosecutor Voted Down in NJ Senate

Governor's press secretary says Thursday's vote was 'partisan theater' and Fredric Knapp will remain in place as Morris County's acting prosecutor.

Acting Morris County Prosecutor Fredric Knapp got a thumbs down vote in the New Jersey Senate on Thursday, but the governor's office said the vote was "partisan theater" and Knapp will remain in place as Morris County's acting prosecutor and will be renominated by Gov. Chris Christie next year. Knapp was nominated by Christie in June to be the next Morris County prosecutor, but he never was considered by the Democratic-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee. That led Christie to order what Democrats said was a shocking Attorney General's Office takeover of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office last week, removing former Prosecutor Robert Bianchi, whose term technically ended on June 22, and having Knapp sworn in as the acting prosecutor in …

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Ex-County Prosecutor Sues to Be Reinstated

Complaint claims law that allowed Attorney General to take over Morris County Prosecutor's Office at Gov. Chris Christie's request is unconstitutional.

Former Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi is suing to try to have the courts overturn a law that allowed the Attorney General to take over the Morris County Prosecutor's Office on Friday at Gov. Chris Christie's request, according to The Star-Ledger. Bianchi's father filed the lawsuit Monday on his son's behalf, claiming the law that allowed the Attorney General's Office "supersession" on Friday is unconstitutional because it conflicts with another state law that says a governor can only remove a county prosecutor after showing cause and holding a public hearing, the report says. Christie said in a news conference Friday uncertainty about the status of the position hurts office morale, according to reports. Christie requested the move…

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Dan Grant

12:06 pm on Monday, December 24, 2012

Mr. Bianchi was himself a political appointment coming from Hudson County. That doesn't mean that he didn't do a good job. He did. I found it odd that there was no Democratic Lawyer in Morris County when he was appointed but that said let's not pretend that all of these appointment are in fact not political including Judges. Fred Knapp has no experience that I am aware of. Christie himself was a …   more ›

Manslaughter Case Assumed by County Prosecutor

Robert Bianchi is handling the prosecution of Vanessa Brown, charged with killing Ralph Politi Jr. in alleged DWI crash in May.

The Morris County prosecutor has announced he is assuming the prosecution of another high-profile case, even though his five-year term was up in June. Vanessa Brown, a Parsippany resident charged with manslaughter for allegedly killing an elected Board of Education official from East Hanover in a DWI crash in May, will be prosecuted by Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi himself, according to a report by The Star-Ledger. Bianchi told a judge Monday he is assuming the prosecution of the case after the assistant prosecutor who had been handling the case left for a job with a private firm. According to the report, Bianchi told the judge he has managed the prosecution from the start, has been in touch with the family of Ralph Politi Jr., …

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Morris County Prosecutor Nominee Not on Agenda

Gov. Chris Christie 'continues to fully support' Fredric Knapp and wants there to be a fair hearing, his deputy press secretary says.

The New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet next Thursday, but Gov. Chris Christie's nominee for the next Morris County prosecutor is nowhere on the agenda. Fredric Knapp, a Randolph resident and founding member of the law firm Knapp, Trimboli & Prusinowski in Florham Park, was nominated in June for the position, but the Senate Judiciary Committee has not yet considered the nomination. "Since the Governor filed his nomination, it continues to languish in the Senate," Sean Conner, Christie's deputy press secretary, said in an email this week. "The Governor continues to fully support Mr. Knapp and hopes he will receive a fair, open hearing and an up or down vote." Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Nicholas Scutari would …

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The Stig

3:32 pm on Friday, December 14, 2012

Guess the Gov got tired of getting D1cked around and has taken bold action - http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20121214/NJNEWS/312140026/In-surprise-move-Gov-Christie-s-nominee-sworn-today-acting-Morris-County-prosecutor Bravo Let the Dem wailing begin.   more ›

Prosecutor Still Active, Successor Remains in Limbo

Judiciary committee has not yet ruled on governor's nomination, Florham Park attorney Fredric Knapp, to replace Robert Bianchi.

Even though Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi's term technically ended more than five months ago, he is prepared to personally handle the prosecution of a man charged with vehicular homicide for allegedly crashing while intoxicated into a Mount Arlington police cruiser on Interstate 80 last October and killing Joseph Wargo, the officer inside. Referring to the fact his five-year appointment officially ended June 22, Bianchi told a judge Monday his status as prosecutor is "tenuous" and he will work to have a contingency plan for if he is replaced near the time of the defendant, Michael Cassella's, trial, according to reports by the Daily Record and The Star-Ledger. Bianchi's involvement in the case comes amid the departure of an …

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Murdered Priest Honored in Crime Victims Ceremony

Morris County Prosecutor's Office holds ceremony to remember Chatham's 'Father Ed.'

Law enforcement officials, elected representatives and family and friends of crime victims gathered in St. Patrick Church in Chatham Borough Monday to honor victims of crimes from Morris County. Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi said each year the Prosecutor's Office chooses one victim, usually a homocide victim from a prominent trial case the year before, to honor in their Recognition and Remembrance Ceremony held each April during Crime Victims' Rights Week.  This year, the Prosecutor's Office chose to honor the Rev. Edward Hinds, the former pastor of St. Patrick Church. Hinds, who was known to his congregation as "Father Ed," was stabbed 44 times by Jose Feliciano, the church custodian. Feliciano was tried in 2011 by Bianchi and …

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Prosecutor: 'It’s Important to Put up or Shut Up'

Touts achievements at Freeholders meeting