Dear Moonachie Borough,

This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please acknowledge receipt of this message. Records requested:

I request Complaint Summonses 0237-S-2022-000027, 0237-S-2022-000038 & 0237-S-2023 000016 against Joseph E. Leverock.

All incidents occurred at 100 Redneck Avenue in Moonachie, NJ 07074.

Regards,

Mr. William R. Capers

Dear Supriya,

The copy of Complaint Summons 0237-S-2022-000027 provided does not have the original language on the summons.

The provided Complaint Summons 0237-S-2022-000027 is altered because the original complaint had five (5) charges against Joseph E. Leverock, not three (3) charges.

The two charges missing from complaint 0237-S-2022-000027 are fourth-degree cyber harassment N.J.S.A. 2C:33-4.1(a)(2) and third-degree forgery N.J.SA. 2C:21-1(a)(1). The forgery charge is the basis of the date 6/27/22, which is on the complaint you provided. If I'm not mistaken, the language of the harassment charges is not the original language of the original complaint.

Other Municipal Courts in the past have provided me in the mail copies of the original Complaint Summons with the Judge's signature stating their finding. It's alarming that Moonachie Municipal Court refuses to give me the same.

Moonachie's Certified Municipal Court Administrator Brittany De Oliveira claimed last month that the original Complaint Summons 0237-S-2022-000038, which suppose to have Judge Boggia's signature, can not be found. Was the complaint lost or destroyed?

Since Judge Boggia's name is not printed and the date of signing the finding is not on Complaint Summons 0237-S-2022-000038 as complaint 0237-S-2022-000027, the Complaint Summons 0237-S-2022-000038 provided is questionable because no evidence has been provided that Judge Philip N. Boggia signed and date the complaint that I autograph on 12/20/22. By there is no date of the issuance of the finding by Judge Boggia provided on Complaint Summons 0237-S-2022-000038, which makes that complaint provided possibly invalid.

Can you provide me the complaint summons for 0237-S-2022-000027 with the five (5) original charges and the Complaint Summons 0237-S-2022-000038 showing Judge Philip N. Boggia's name printed and the date when Judge Boggia signed the complaint?

I would appreciate receiving a response to this matter by 8/17/23, and if I do not receive a response, I will proceed with a complaint to the GRC.

Yours sincerely,

William Capers

This OPRA request was created due to Moonachie's Certified Municipal Court Administrator Brittany De Oliveira's claiming on 8/3/23 that I had to file an OPRA request regarding court records which was Judge Boggia's written finding about complaint Summons 0237-S-2023 000016. The same Court Administrator stated on 11/18/22 that Judge Boggia's written findings could not be released because they are not public records. Still, the same court staff then mailed me Judge Boggia's written finding for Complaint Summons 0237-S-2022-000038 on 2/2/23 without filling out a request form, and I can support my claims.

The Court Administrator's statements became conflicting and contradicting, which had all parties take time out of their day to respond to a request that should have been appropriately addressed by the Court Administrator before my OPRA request was made on 8/3/23.

If the Court Administrator's statement from 8/16/23 on this forum is accurate, it will mean the Moonachie Police Department did not have to produce altered court records when they did not have to under OPRA.

Moonachie Chief of Police Richard Behrens stated on 8/16/23, "The police department does not have the original documents, they were forwarded to the Court." I appreciate Mr. Behrens reply because it gave me clarification of this matter.

According to the JUDICIARY- STATE OF NEW JERSEY SCHEDULE: RECORDS RETENTION SCHEDULE DIRECTIVE #03-01. The Directive states that NJ Courts supposes to retain records between 5-20 years.

The Court Administrator stated to me on 7/26/23 that the original Complaint Summons 0237-S-2022-000038 can not be found, which will explain why Judge Boggia's name is not on the complaint provided. It stated, "Complaint was signed," and the date of the finding is not on the altered Complaint Summons. Based upon Mr. Behrens's statement, the only person who could have witnessed Judge Boggia's signed original complaint would be the Court Administrator or another Court employee. When it comes to Complaint Summons 0237-S-2022-000027, Judge Boggia's name is printed, and the date of the finding is present.

Based upon reviewing this matter, there is a possibility a Moonachie Court employee altered both complaints and made them accessible for the Moonachie Police Department to give to me for this OPRA request.

Suppose my observation of this matter needs to be corrected. In that case, any party who replied to this request can inform me of the full name and job title of the person who claimed that they witnessed Judge Boggia's signed original Complaint Summons 0237-S-2022-000038 and typed the words on the altered complaint, "Complaint Manually Signed."

I will e-mail the Court Administrator for all original documents using the proper forms, and she may find the original Complaint Summonse 0237-S-2022-000038 and the other records that I will be requesting.

I will provide an update on this matter, and I appreciate Supriya for providing me with the altered court documents on 8/14/23 & the same on 8/17/23.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. William R. Capers