Prosecution of former Garwood Police Officer Gennaro J. Mirabella???
By Tina Renna | February 8, 2010Hon. Andy Skibitsky and members of the
Westfield Town Council
425 E. Broad Street
Westfield, NJ 07090
RE: Prosecution of former Garwood Police Officer Gennaro J. Mirabella
Dear Mayor Skibitsky and Council Members:
We write to learn the reason the Westfield Municipal Prosecutor declined to prosecute Gennaro J. Mirabella on October 14, 2009. This matter is of public interest because Mirabella, until October 5, 2009 (1) , was a seventeen-year veteran of the Garwood Borough Police Department and is also the brother of Union County Freeholder Alexander Mirabella. Since the Municipal Prosecutor is an appointee of the Mayor and Council, we are directing our question to you.
Attached to this letter are six numbered pages of exhibits that reveal the following:
1. On September 3, 2009, Captain Leonard DiStefano of the Garwood Police Department filed two disorderly persons charges against Mirabella. One alleged that Mirabella was caught on video “purposely tampering with” two currency-to-coin changers at the Jumbo Wash laundry facility (Exhibit 1). The other charged that Mirabella was caught on video opening the drawers of Garwood Borough’s Chief Financial Officer (Exhibit 3).
2. On September 14, 2009, the matters were transferred from the Garwood Municipal Court to the Westfield Municipal Court due to a “judge conflict.” (Exhibit 5).
3. On October 14, 2009, both charges were dismissed against Mirabella because the “State elected not to prosecute in the interest of justice.” (Exhibit 6).
Upon this record, we believe that some members of the public might suspect that Mirabella was spared prosecution due to his status as a police officer and a Freeholder’s brother. A belief that justice was subverted is specially easy to embrace given that Mirabella’s guilt apparently would not have been difficult to prove since both of the offenses were reportedly caught on tape.
Under the circumstances, we believe that the public would benefit by having answers to the following questions:
1. What is the name and title of the person who decided on October 14, 2009 that it would not serve the “interest of justice” for Mirabella to be prosecuted for charged offenses?
2. Upon what factors was the decision not to prosecute based? Please be specific.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to your response.
Very truly yours,
Tina Renna
President Union County Watchdog Association
John Paff
Chair Libertarian Party Open Government Task Force
(1) The Garwood Borough Council, at its September 22, 2009 meeting, passed Resolution 09-265 which accepted “the resignation of Police Officer Gennaro Mirabella effective October 5, 2009.”