North Bergen Town Hall and the Municipal Court opened their doors to high school seniors last week so that they could understand the judicial process and hopefully never find themselves in the defendant’s seat.
On Tuesday, May 5, students followed around city employees like the municipal judge, mayor, and town clerk. Before taking part in a mock trial, Hon. Joseph Roman explained the court system to the students.
It was all part of the city’s annual nod to “Law Day,” a day celebrated each year on May 1 dedicated to appreciating the role of the law in American society. Pres. Dwight Eisenhower proposed the day in 1958 and Congress passed a law declaring it in 1961.
Police on trial
While Roman explained the inner workings of the court to students on Tuesday, Commander of the Detective Bureau Lt. Frank Cannella burst into the courtroom pretending to be an irate person who had been subpoenaed to go to court.
When the court officer tried to escort Cannella out, he claimed his life was threatened by a police officer.
The mock trial centered on Cannella filing mock complaints of assault and terroristic threats against the officer.
Alyssa Sorto, who played the role of the prosecutor, asked Cannella if he had been injured in the incident.
“He had placed his hand on his weapon and I immediately felt like I was threatened,” said Cannella. “He put me in fear for my life.”
The student public defendant, Camila Tambornini, asked the defendant if he had arrived at court at the correct time.
“So technically you were not here on time,” said Tambornini.
Students were picked out of the court room as witnesses to the event. Some students characterized Cannella as looking “very mean” and wearing all black, and weren’t sure if the supposed threat had occurred.
In the end, student judge Alejandro Peralta ruled in favor of Cannella and found the police officer guilty.
However, when Roman asked the students in the courtroom if they felt the same way, only two raised their hands in agreement.
Drunk driving
After the mock trial was complete, Prosecutor Marc Macri asked students to take out their driver’s licenses. He reminded them that the yellow line at the top indicated that they were on probation for a year and that if they got a ticket in that year, the judge and prosecutor would not be legally able to lower the fine.
Roman told students that their prom was coming up and reminded them that drunk driving was not only dangerous, but “not worth it.”
Student Michael Gutierrez attended two meetings with the mayor.
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Mayor Nicholas Sacco reminded students that last month, NBHS graduate Tyla Colilla’s life was taken in a drunk driving accident. He asked students to please call for help if there friends were under the influence and placing themselves in danger.
11th busiest court
The students also learned from Roman that the North Bergen Municipal Court is the 11th busiest in the state, and that they have to process more than 88,000 tickets each year. 2,500 are criminal complaints, while other tickets are related to traffic, parking, and housing violations.
Roman said that the court received $4.8 million in fines each year, and that the town receives $3.2 million of the funds received. The money goes to the town budget.
Roman told students that 10 full-time employees and two part-timers were responsible for filing tickets, keeping track of fines, keeping track of bail, and “balancing the bank account” every single day.
“The easiest job in this court is the judge,” said Roman. “He sits up there and simply accepts guilty pleas, holds trials, and fines people. They do all of the legwork after all that’s done.”
On the job
For the rest of the day, students held a mock commissioner’s meeting. They learned how the mayor and other town officials pass ordinances and discuss town business.
The students also shadowed various town employees.
Chirag Shah, who will attend Rutgers University next year, expressed interest in becoming a civil engineer, so he was placed with Department of Public Works employees.
“The snow plow was pretty cool because you could turn the back wheel 90 degrees, so you can slide horizontally” said Shah.
Michael Gutierrez, who will attend the University of Pennsylvania in September, followed Mayor Sacco and went to a financial meeting and visited the rent control office.
“I got to see the little aspects that no one ever really sees,” said Gutierrez.
Tricia Tirella may be reached at TriciaT@hudsonreporter.com.