CAMDEN – Lawyers for indicted Democratic political boss George E. Norcross III responded to the New Jersey Attorney General’s charges against him with the dismissive attitude of a movie critic who had just sat through a stinker of a film.
“Whatever its merit for the silver screen, this indictment has no business in a court of law,” Norcross’ legal team wrote in a motion to dismiss the case on Monday in state Superior Court in Mercer County.
The motion was 55 pages – almost one-half of the 111-page indictment charging Norcross and several others in the “Norcross Enterprise” in June, when Norcross sat front-row center at Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin’s press conference announcing the move.
Court filings in criminal cases and lawsuits rarely are written in the style of the millionaire’s response to alleged wrongdoing in the development of the city’s waterfront:
“The State’s 111-page Indictment reads less like a legal document and more like a screenplay for a putative summer blockbuster. Except the script is missing some critical plot lines. This is supposedly a story of extortion — but there’s no violence or unlawful threats; only ordinary economic bargaining among sophisticated businessmen. It is pitched as a tale of official misconduct — but there are no bribes, kickbacks, or even conflicts of interest; only routine politics. We are promised racketeering — but no organized criminal elements ever appear; only respected, proven civic leaders and lawyers trying to revive a long-suffering city. Plus, the storyline is stale, with nothing of consequence happening in almost a decade. No wonder other studios — including U.S. Attorney’s Offices in New Jersey and Philadelphia — chose to pass on this story years ago, even when it was fresher. Simply put, this is a crime thriller with no crime.”
While the creative writing from lawyers Yaakov Roth and Harry Graver of Jones Day in Washington, D.C., and Michael Critchley, Michael Critchley Jr. and Amy Luria of Critchley & Luria LLC in Roseland, New Jersey, was clever in parts, much of the motion to dismiss seeks to crumble any legal foundation in the attorney general’s charges.
Five pages in the table of contents list 67 court cases cited in making the argument against the indictment charges.
“The indictment palpably fails to state an offense,” the motion states in its conclusion. “Because there is no crime alleged here, it is this court’s role to dismiss the indictment, which it can and should do with confidence in the outcome. The rule of law demands it — because of, not merely in spite of, the high-profile nature of this novel prosecution,” it concludes.
Actors in this drama are:
Norcross, 68, of Palm Beach, Florida. He is chairman of the board of trustees for Cooper Health, which operates Cooper University Hospital and its associated offices. Norcross also is executive chairman of the insurance firm of Conner, Strong & Buckelew.
Dana L. Redd, 56, of Sicklerville. She was mayor of Camden from 2010 to 2018 and “she is alleged to have abused that position to benefit herself and the Norcross Enterprise,” according to Platkin’s announcement.
Philip A. Norcross, 61, of Philadelphia, who is Norcross’ brother. He serves on the board of Cooper Health, is managing shareholder and CEO of the Parker McCay law firm and “the registered agent for the groups that own buildings in Camden that are the subject of the criminal allegations,” according to the announcement.
William M. Tambussi, 66, of Brigantine. He is a lawyer and partner at the Haddon Township law firm of Brown and Connery and the longtime personal attorney for George Norcross. Tambussi has served as outside counsel to Cooper Health, the City of Camden, the Camden Redevelopment Agency and Conner Strong.
Sidney R. Brown, 67, of Philadelphia. He is the CEO of NFI, a trucking and logistics company, and also serves on the board of Cooper Health. He is a partner in the groups that own several of the Camden buildings in the allegations, according to the announcement.
John J. O’Donnell, 61, of Newtown, Pennsylvania. He is CEO of The Michaels Organization, a residential development company that is overseeing the new Ablett Village construction and other major affordable housing projects in Camden. He also is a partner in several of the Camden buildings.
(Ages were at the time of the indictment in June.)
Norcross lawyers contend the indictment “spends over 200 paragraphs telling a tendentious story, but then uses only conclusory boilerplate language to describe the 13 alleged crimes, never even attempting to identify how their elements match up to the narrative that precedes them.”
It is a “fatally flawed” indictment that “asserts over a dozen counts (and) still fails to properly allege a single crime.”
The motion asserts the state has made a weak case for criminal threats and official misconduct.
Norcross’ harsh language and threats to a developer quoted in the indictment are “everyday economic ones,” the motion states.
“If it’s a crime to warn of ‘consequences’ if a deal is not reached, or to use expletives in doing so, New Jersey needs to build more prisons,” the lawyers write.
Alleged official misconduct by then-Mayor Redd was “normal conduct well within the discretion of an elected officials.”
“If there were a trial, defendants would prove that they did not cross a single legal or ethical line as they worked to facilitate Camden’s budding renaissance. But none of that is necessary, because the Indictment itself makes clear as a matter of law that defendants did not commit any crime,” the Norcross lawyers wrote.
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