BORDENTOWN CITY: Court to allow tapes as evidence in chief’s trial

By Geoffrey Wertime, Staff Writer
   The state Appellate Division of Superior Court has reversed the decision of a lower judge in the trial of former Bordentown City Police Chief Phil Castagna, thereby allowing the admission of the prosecution’s audio tapes as evidence in Mr. Castagna’s attempted murder trial, according to court documents.
   Mr. Castagna, 48, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and arson in an alleged plot to kill his ex-wife, Joyce Leopold, in a 2003 fire that damaged the back of the couple’s house in Burlington. Ms. Leopold, who was separated from her husband when the fire occurred, was not injured in the blaze.
   The Appellate Division ruling, dated Jan. 12, came after the prosecutor’s office appealed the ruling of Superior Court Judge Thomas Smith Jr. He had decided Jan. 6 not to change his Nov. 7 ruling that the tapes, which require the authentication of prosecutorial witness Gary Hall, could not be part of the trial because the state had not provided the proper immunity to allow him to testify, an official confirmed.
   The Appellate Court ruled that the state had intended to provide Mr. Hall with immunity since 2004 and that the state believed it had done so. It also called Judge Smith’s Nov. 7 decision “a mistaken exercise of discretion,” and his latest rulings “excessive.”
   Prosecutors have stated that Mr. Hall — whose identity was kept under wraps until Mr. Castagna’s attorney, Robin Lord of Trenton, learned it last year — made electronic recordings of himself speaking with Mr. Castagna about a plot to have Ms. Leopold killed.
   Mr. Hall, who is serving a five-year prison sentence in Florida on a robbery conviction, requested a stronger type of immunity in November after Judge Smith appointed him a lawyer, said First Assistant Prosecutor Raymond Milavsky Tuesday.
   Ms. Lord said before the Appellate Division’s ruling she had “no clue” what Mr. Hall is going to do, but that the ruling was “irrelevant.”
   ”They have absolutely no case against (Mr. Castagna) whether (Mr. Hall) testifies or not,” she said. “Even if he testified he wouldn’t be able to convince anyone (Mr. Castagna)’s guilty.”
   She could not be reached for comment after the Appellate Division’s ruling was released.
   From the beginning, Mr. Castagna has maintained that the Burlington County prosecutor’s office paid Mr. Hall about $40,000 to set him up.
   In 2004, Mr. Castagna was found guilty of harassment, a petty disorderly persons offense, and contempt of a judicial order in connection with the violation of a restraining order obtained by Ms. Leopold. The convictions caused Mr. Castagna to lose his position as police chief in May 2004. The disorderly persons conviction was reversed in 2006 on grounds that “the evidence was insufficient for a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” according to court papers.