Fatal accident case moved to Raritan court

Former West Amwell mayor Edward Hawley is facng charges in the death of a township woman killed at the trash dropoff site.

By: Linda Seida
   WEST AMWELL — Former Mayor Edward Hawley went to Municipal Court April 30 to defend himself against charges stemming from the accidental death of a township woman two years ago, but his attorney surprised everyone by asking for the case to be moved to another municipal court.
   Judge Richard P. Cushing granted the request and ruled the trial be moved to Raritan Township Municipal Court. No date has been set yet for the case to go to trial.
   The judge’s decision surprised and pleased the prosecution and the family of Greta Schmidt, the woman struck and killed accidentally by Mr. Hawley’s pickup truck May 12, 2001. Ms. Schmidt’s family unsuccessfully had sought such a move on several different grounds before the case began in early April, according to the family’s attorney, Daniel R. Danzi of Lebanon.
   Mr. Hawley’s attorney, Albert J. Cepparulo of the firm Baldi, Cepparulo and Williams of New Hope and Flemington, made the request to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Judge Cushing’s law firm, Gebhardt & Kiefer of Clinton, represents New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Co., which insures Mr. Hawley.
   Mr. Hawley is charged with careless driving and the operation of a motor vehicle while the operator’s view was obstructed.
   Ms. Schmidt was killed while disposing of her trash at the West Amwell garbage transfer station behind the municipal building on Lambertville-Rocktown Road. The township provides no garbage pickup for its residents, who must dispose of their own refuse at the transfer station. Mr. Hawley, who was then 69, backed up his pickup truck to the same garbage truck where Ms. Schmidt was unloading her garbage. His vehicle crushed Ms. Schmidt to death.
   Ms. Schmidt, 31, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her 6-year-old daughter, Emily Marshall, had accompanied her mother to the transfer station and witnessed the accident.
   "It makes complete sense for me to recuse myself," Judge Cushing said of his decision, because both sides requested the move.
   He cautioned, however, Mr. Hawley be made aware of the principle of double jeopardy.
   "Once a case is started and a defendant put at risk, he can’t be put at risk again," Judge Cushing said.
   Mr. Hawley was aware of the issue of double jeopardy, Mr. Cepparulo said, and he "waived any claim to double jeopardy in this matter."
   Mr. Hawley had no comment when court was adjourned.
   Ms. Schmidt’s husband, John Marshall, and her mother-in-law, father and sister, who attended the court session, were pleased and relieved.
   "In a roundabout way, it’s what we wanted. We feel we’ll get a fair day in court in another municipality, especially one as far removed as Raritan," said Mr. Marshall, an engineer with New Jersey Transit.
   Ms. Schmidt’s family believed a fair trial would not be possible in West Amwell, according to Mr. Marshall, and they tried unsuccessfully to have the case moved out of West Amwell on a number of grounds. One of the main reasons is the fact Mr. Marshall has civil suits pending in Hunterdon County state Superior Court not only against Mr. Hawley and the trash hauler, Raritan Valley Disposal, but also against the township. State and federal case law said the court must recuse itself, according to Mr. Marshall, who said he felt he had to educate himself on the law in the 23 months he has waited for the case to go to court.
   "Prior to the trial, the family of Greta Schmidt requested the West Amwell Municipal Court judge, Richard P. Cushing, grant permission to obtain private counsel to prosecute the case. Judge Cushing refused the family’s request," Mr. Danzi said.
   West Amwell’s prosecutor, Philip Faherty III, is a longtime acquaintance of Mr. Hawley. He also had performed legal work for the Marshall and Schmidt family.
   Mr. Faherty recused himself, and the court appointed its alternate prosecutor, Stephanie Tettemer, to the case. Ms. Tettemer also asked for the court to recuse itself.
   "The family then asked that Judge Cushing recuse himself and send the matter to another town on the grounds that the defendant is a former mayor, the family has a pending civil case against the town that employs the judge, and the court clerk is related to one of the fact witnesses," Mr. Danzi said. "Despite this clear conflict and apparent impropriety, the West Amwell judge rejected the family’s requests and refused to provide the family with an opportunity to appeal this decision."
   Despite the case finally being relocated to another municipality, the delays have placed a strain on Ms. Schmidt’s family.
   "The grief and anguish suffered by Greta’s family has only been exacerbated by what appears to be an unfair and unjust hearing in West Amwell Municipal Court and the failure of the court to protect Greta’s rights and their rights," Mr. Danzi said.
   To add insult to injury, Ms. Schmidt’s husband and other family members had to view the site where Ms. Schmidt died as they entered and exited the West Amwell court. The courtroom is located within the municipal building, whose parking lot is adjacent to the trash drop-off site.
   As they left court, they paused to talk about the woman whose absence has left an obvious hole in their lives. They remembered dates and poignant details readily.
   Mr. Marshall noted his wife was among the first recipients of an art scholarship sponsored by Lambertville’s Chamber of Commerce during the annual Shad Festival. She used the money to help pay for her studies at Moore College of Art, where she studied two-dimensional fine art and graduated magna cum laude in 1993.
   In 2002, Mr. Marshall and Ms. Schmidt’s family established the Greta Schmidt Memorial Foundation to aid struggling art students at Moore. The first recipient, Jan Rockwell, is from the West Coast and was entering her senior year when she found out about the award from the foundation.
   "It’s what kept her in school," Mr. Marshall said. "When Greta was in school, she got help from her parents, other family members and loans. We cleaned out our savings."
   His wife was extremely artistic, and she loved to read about science.
   "She was very into earth science," he said. "She read everything she could on it. The last time I saw her, she was reading a book."
   Ms. Schmidt’s mother, Joan Cifelli Schmidt of Lambertville, is a woman in her early 70s who had never had heart trouble before her daughter’s passing. She was unable to attend her daughter’s viewing after suffering a heart attack the previous day.
   "The stress was too much for her," Mr. Marshall said.
   Now there’s a bench placed next to Ms. Schmidt’s grave, where her mother can sit when she visits her daughter.
   "It’s the only one with a bench in front of it," Mr. Marshall said of his wife’s grave in a Titusville cemetery.
   He recalls the loving details he had engraved on the tombstone. For the woman who embodied all that was artistic about Lambertville, he said, the stone is carved with an etching of a violin, taken from a photo of her own violin that she took herself. The stone also sports a pen and scroll — she was a writer as well as an artist — and an apple and ruler.
   Ms. Schmidt was a teacher’s assistant at Grover Middle School in Plainsboro and was previously a corporate trainer with Bristol-Myers Squibb in Plainsboro.