No decision was made on whether to dismiss charges against four Edison police officers after a recent Superior Court hearing on the matter.
The charges stem from an alleged plan on the part of the officers to retaliate against a North Brunswick police officer because of a drunken-driving charge.
In October 2014, a Middlesex County grand jury handed down an 11-count indictment against Michael A. Dotro of Manalapan, Brian Favretto of Brick, and Victor E. Aravena, 42, and William H. Gesell, 46, both of Edison, charging them with conspiracy and official misconduct.
Dotro, Aravena and Gesell were charged in March 2014 with fourth-degree counts of conspiracy and official misconduct.
Attorneys for the officers argued June 30 before Judge Alberto Rivas that no criminal actions were taken, and that a proper remedy would be disciplinary action taken by the Edison Police Department, they said.
Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Russell Curley said the state considered all the text messages sent among the officers, which prompted the conspiracy charges.
The officers allegedly planned between Jan. 18, 2012, and May 1, 2012, to retaliate against the North Brunswick officer by improperly accessing information about him and surveilling him and his travel habits, according to the prosecutor.
In addition, Gesell was charged with unlawfully accessing a police computer system, along with a related count of official misconduct, for seeking information on the officer.
An investigation determined that the retaliation was planned after the North Brunswick officer arrested an associate of Dotro on a DWI charge. No actual retaliation was undertaken, however.
The indictment further charges Dotro with unlawfully accessing a police computer on Aug. 1, 2012, and accuses him of a related count of official misconduct for obtaining information from a license plate at the request of a friend. Dotro was also accused of engaging in a pattern of official misconduct.
Dotro’s Westfield-based attorney Robert Norton argued that the state has no basis for charging his client with a pattern of official misconduct.
“These are unrelated acts,” he said.
Along with the other allegations, Aravena was charged with witness tampering, obstructing justice and official misconduct for allegedly attempting to get another Edison police officer to alter a police report in an unrelated investigation in May 2013. Aravena also faces a count of engaging in a pattern of official misconduct.
In a 100-page brief, Joe Tacopina, Aravena’s New York-based attorney, took issue with the conspiracy instructions given to the grand jury and said the evidence against his client is hearsay.
Rivas asked about the text allegedly sent by Aravena that said he watched [the North Brunswick police officer] for a while and had “nailed him.”
Tacopina said Aravena’s text to Dotro relating to the whereabouts of the North Brunswick officer, who lives in Edison, doesn’t prove Aravena was part of a plan.
Tacopina said the witness-tampering charge against Aravena is baseless, due to a lack of evidence. The charge involves the arrest of a woman at a massage parlor.
According to Tacopina, the state argued that Aravena tampered with a woman’s arrest, telling the reporting officer that she was a huge contributor to the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) Local No. 75, and to “try best as possible” with the report.
He said the state’s witness, Detective Donald Heck, an investigator with the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, testified that what transpired was similar to how PBA cards help out with tickets.
Gesell’s attorney Darren Gelber said of all the defendants, Gelber has the least evidence against him.
“There are zero text messages found made by [Gesell] or to him,” he said. “The only hook the state has is [that] he ran the name of the North Brunswick police officer through the computer.”
Gelber said Heck testified that he found no reason why Gesell ran the officer’s name.
“The state took a leap of faith,” he said. “There’s no proof that [Gesell] joined a conspiracy.”
According to Gelber, Gesell has been grouped in with other incidents, including the massage parlor arrest and getting back at an ex-girlfriend, in which he took no part.
Curley said more telling was what was not found in the charges against Gelber.
“[Detective] Heck found no lawful purpose for [Gelber] to run [the North Brunswick officer’s] name through the system,” he said, adding that the investigator searched whether the officer was involved in a recent incident, such as a motor vehicle accident. “The absence [of an incident] and the timing are compelling.”
The running of the North Brunswick officer’s name and the alleged text message between Aravena and Dotro coincided.
Favretto’s attorney, Nutley-based Anthony Iacullo, said the three text messages between Favretto and Dotro were “purely talk.”
Iacullo said after a DWI stop involving the North Brunswick officer and Dotro’s friend, Dotro allegedly sent a text message to Favretto, asking him if he knows the officer. Favretto responded to Dotro that he grew up with the officer’s brother.
“This predates any conspiracy,” said Iac- ullo, who added that Favretto told Dotro that he would talk to the officer’s brother as a friend, not in the capacity of an Edison police officer.
On April 11, 2012, Favretto reached out to Dotro asking what happened to his friend. Dotro told Favretto that he was not happy with the penalty his friend received, which was six months with an ignition-interlock device, Iacullo said.
Favretto allegedly answered, “That stinks,” adding that the North Brunswick officer is married, and writing, “Maybe his wife drinks.” Dotro answered, “Rather do him,” according to court documents.
“[Favretto] made a suggestion … he didn’t join a conspiracy,” Iacullo said, adding that Dotro rejected Favretto’s suggestion. “The [North Brunswick police officer’s] wife was never stopped. No agreement was made.”
Curley said Iacullo failed to mention a text from Favretto to Dotro saying he was angry, and that if the North Brunswick officer was stopped for a crime, it was “on.”
“The text messages were building to a crescendo,” Curley said.
The defense attorneys also took issue with the search warrant that allowed the search of texts dating back 15 months.
The text messages not only led to the charges of conspiracy and misconduct, but also to the additional charges against Aravena and Dotro on separate incidents.
Gelber said once another crime is found, investigators must stop and request another search warrant to further investigate the additional crime. He said this was not done in this case.
A separate 12-count indictment, handed up on Oct. 23, 2014, charges Dotro and his wife, Alycia Dotro, with official misconduct, conspiracy and criminal mischief for allegedly slashing the tires of a car owned by an Edison woman on March 17, 2013.
Michael Dotro is also charged in the 12- count indictment with unlawful access to a computer system and unlawful disclosure of computer data between March 17, 2013, and March 20, 2013. He is also accused of checking police records and notifying his wife of any reports on the slashing.
Dotro is also charged in that indictment with two counts of having prohibited devices, possession of an imitation firearm and official misconduct for allegedly carrying brass knuckles, an imitation weapon, a small club known as a “blackjack,” a small quantity of marijuana and a device used to smoke marijuana, all of which were discovered in his police duty bag on May 23, 2013, the prosecutor said.
In May 2013, Dotro was charged with five counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated arson for allegedly setting fire to the Monroe home of his superior officer, Mark Anderko, who is now the department’s deputy chief.
Dotro was indicted on those charges in June along with his wife, who was charged with giving false information to protect her husband.
Dotro is also charged in the Oct. 23 indictment with official misconduct and conspiracy for allegedly buying less than one ounce of marijuana on various occasions between Sept. 1, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2012.
Rivas said he would decide at a later date whether to dismiss the charges. The next court date is set for Aug. 31.