Candidate’s 2004 arrest focus of inquiry

An internal inquiry concerning the arrest and prosecution for alleged drunken driving of a Washington Township mayoral candidate is being conducted.

By: Lauren Burgoon
   WASHINGTON — With just 12 days to go before voters pick a new mayor, candidate Steve McPhillips finds himself the focus of an internal inquiry in a neighboring municipality concerned that "something might not be right" with the way his arrest and prosecution for alleged drunken driving there was handled last fall.
   West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh confirmed Tuesday that he asked the township’s attorney, Michael Herbert Sr., to look into the matter.
   "I spoke with the township attorney last week and asked him to look into this on the administration’s behalf," said Mayor Hsueh, who is himself up for re-election as West Windsor’s mayor May 10. "The reason is because I was told by people in Washington Township that something might have happened, something might not be right."
   Mayor Hsueh said the information came from a person in Washington, whom he declined to name, in a recent phone call.
   "I don’t know all of the details. That’s why I asked the township attorney to look into it," the mayor said. "I feel that if it’s related to West Windsor, I have a responsibility to ask the attorney to look into it."
   The attorney is not focusing on any specific person or department, Mayor Hsueh said, but rather doing a preliminary review to make sure the charges and prosecution were handled correctly from beginning to end. Mr. Herbert did not return phone calls seeking comment.
   West Windsor municipal court documents, obtained Monday, confirm that Mr. McPhillips, 56, was charged Oct. 7, 2004, with three offenses in West Windsor — driving while intoxicated, reckless driving and improper use of multibeam headlights. West Windsor Lt. Dave Mansue would not release any more information, such as whether Mr. McPhillips took breath and balance tests and any test results, because the information is part of an investigative report that he said is not available to the public. Lt. Mansue said he could not release the information without approval from the attorney general’s office, which had not happened by press time.
   Mr. McPhillips’ case was heard in West Windsor Municipal Court on Nov. 23. The drunken driving charge was dismissed and the reckless driving charge was downgraded to careless, which Mr. McPhillips then pleaded guilty to, according to the court documents. Mr. McPhillips also pleaded guilty to the headlight charge, paid $139 in fines and court fees and received two points on his driver’s license.
   It is not uncommon for charges to be dismissed or downgraded during court, but rumors have been circulating in Washington recently that someone helped prompt the lesser charges on Mr. McPhillips’ behalf. When asked about those allegations, Mr. McPhillips said, "I don’t know anything about that. I was convicted of careless driving."
   He repeated the statement when asked why he thought the drunken driving charge had been dismissed and the reckless driving downgraded. His defense attorney for the original charges, Lawrence Popp, refused to answer any questions Tuesday.
   Mr. McPhillips accused political rivals of dredging up the arrest report.
   "They are just trying to sling mud and trying to get the first shot in," he said Monday. "They are trying to discredit me."
   Mr. McPhillips was running for election to the Washington Township Committee at the time of his October arrest and information about the drunken driving charge was not publicly known during that campaign. He won the committee seat on Nov. 4, took office in January and is now running for mayor of Washington Township on May 10.
   His opponent in the November election, Vince Calcagno, refused to speculate if he would have won the election had the charges surfaced earlier.
   "If this information had been known prior to the election, I don’t believe the margin of votes (between the candidates) would have been wider," he said. "I’ll just say I don’t think it would have worked against me."
   There is no time frame for Mr. Herbert to report back to the mayor about his exploration into the case. As administrative head of the town, Mayor Hsueh did not need to consult the council when requesting that the attorney check into the case. But Alison Miller, vice president of West Windsor’s Township Council, is welcoming the inquiry into Mr. McPhillips’ case, if only to ultimately prove that nothing was handled incorrectly.
   "I think all politicians have to be absolutely clean. If I were in Mr. McPhillips’ place I would want an investigation done as quickly as possible. There is no other way for people to know whether this is all terribly unfair and nothing happened or whether something did happen," she said Tuesday, adding that she does not know Mr. McPhillips personally. "He can’t clear his name without an investigation."