By Philip Sean Curran
Lawmakers from Monmouth County said this week they want a Superior Court judge sitting in Freehold off the bench after his “despicable” comments during a rape case that left critics demanding he resign.
State Sens. Vin Gopal (D-11) and Declan J. O’Scanlon Jr. (R-13) issued separate statements July 8 criticizing Judge James G. Troiano, who serves in the family division, about his remarks last year.
In July 2018, Troiano ruled against the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, which wanted to waive up to adult court a then 16-year- old boy to face charges that he raped a 16-year-old girl at a party in 2017.
In his remarks, the judge noted the boy, identified as G.M.C. in court documents, “comes from a good family who put him into an excellent school where he was doing extremely well.”
“He is clearly a candidate for not just college but probably for a good college,” the judge said. “His scores for college entry were very high.”
At another point, the judge said, “I still in my mind…distinguish between a sexual assault and a rape… [I]n my mind there is a distinction.”
Those and other comments were included in a 14-page decision by a two-judge state appeals court which reversed Troiano’s ruling June 14 and remanded the case to Monmouth County. But Troiano’s remarks have prompted a backlash.
“Judge Troiano must resign, effective immediately, from any judicial posts he still holds – just based on his commentary and word-for-word thought process by his direct quotes,” Gopal said in a statement. “Situations like these destabilize the public’s trust in our judicial institutions. His comments regarding the accused ‘coming from a good family’ are disgraceful.”
O’Scanlon issued a similar call for the judge to step down, also noting that the state’s highest court can take action.
“Judge Troiano’s comments are truly abhorrent and clearly highlight the fact that he needs to be re- moved immediately by the Supreme Court,” O’Scanlon said. “The Supreme Court has the ability to remove a judge for misconduct in office, or conduct evidencing unfitness for judicial office.
Judge Troiano’s disturbing and biased comments from the bench are a glaringly obvious display of his unfitness for judicial office.”
On Tuesday, Assembly members Joann Downey (D-11) and Eric Houghtaling (D-11) also called for Troiano to immediately and permanently resign his position.
Troiano could not be reached for comment July 9. No one answered the phone in his chambers in the Freehold courthouse.
A spokeswoman for the state judiciary declined to say whether Troiano might be reassigned. “We’re not commenting at this time,” spokeswoman MaryAnn Spoto said in an email.
Troiano, a former mayor of Cedar Grove in Es- sex County, was appointed to the bench in 1992. He earned tenure, retired and was subsequently brought back to the bench on recall. Now 69, he is serving his latest two-year stint on recall, according to a record at the state judiciary website.
In an interview about the Troiano matter, J.C. Lore, a Rutgers Law School professor, spoke of the importance of judiciary independence, even as he criticized the “ill-informed” comments Troiano made. Judges are living in a different era, he said, amid a “greater awareness and recognition” of rape and sexual assault and social media’s ability to “bring to light a situation like this pretty quickly.”
Published reports this week said Troiano has been facing threats in the wake of news accounts about his remarks. But the prosecutor’s office, asked if it was investigating threats against the judge, said that as a practice it does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations.
Likewise, Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden declined this week to say if his office would be adding more officers to Troiano’s courtroom.
“The Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office does not discuss security issues regarding Superior Court judges at the Monmouth County courthouse,” he said in a statement July 9. “However, we take any threat against a judge seriously and address and coordinate with the New Jersey State Police and the Administrative Office of the Courts, accordingly.”
As for the case against G.M.C., the prosecutor’s office gave no indication this week when it might present the matter to a grand jury.
“As with all cases, we are assessing our next steps, which will include discussions with the victim and her family,” said Christopher Swendeman, the prosecutor’s office spokesman, in an email. “He (the accused) can be tried as an adult,” he said.
G.M.C.’s attorney, Mitchell J. Ansell, could not be reached for comment July 9.
