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As reported by Observer.com, a bill that would have the New Jersey state Attorney General’s office investigate all civilian deaths at the hands of police advanced in a legislative committee Monday. Against misgivings from a representative of the Attorney General’s office, the Assembly Judiciary Committee released the bill following a 4-2 vote.

Currently, civilian deaths that occur in police custody or during interaction with police are investigated by the county prosecutor in the county where the incident occured—the new law would have the Attorney General investigate instead, and move any subsequent trials to a different county to avoid conflicts of interest.

Assembly sponsor Sheila Oliver (D-34) called the bill an attempt to restore public trust at a time when violence by and against police is making more headlines than ever before.

“The failure of grand juries to indict police officers in the deaths of unarmed African-American victims across the nation has led to widespread concern for many, many reasons, including a stark lack of confidence by some in the criminal justice system,” Oliver wrote in a statement.

“These high-profile cases are sensitive enough without local communities having to wonder whether the collaborative relationship between the local prosecutor’s office and local law enforcement gives rise to a conflict of interest that would influence the proceedings.”

Stephan Finkel of the Attorney General’s office believes the Attorney General’s existing authority to intervene in cases is sufficient when there is a clear conflict of interest between a county prosecutor and a police department.

“I understand the concern of the public: ‘Who’s watching the watchmen,’ especially when they’re involved,” he said in his testimony. “We believe that what we need to do is help the public understand better what this system is and how it works to improve public confidence.”

Co-sponsor Shavonda Sumter (D-35) said in a statement after the vote that she supports the bill as a way to eliminate both real conflicts of interest and perceived partiality toward police departments on the part of county prosecutors.

“The simplest way to remove the appearance of a conflict created by putting prosecutors in charge of investigating police officers they regularly work directly with is, in fact, to no longer have them be in charge of prosecuting those police officers,” Sumter wrote. “For grieving families this may help provide a measure of closure, rather than living the rest of their lives with the sense that justice was never served.”

The bill will now go on to a vote in the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee.

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Michael DeRose

Michael P. DeRose is a shareholder at the firm and primarily focuses his practice in labor/ employment law and other aspects of civil litigation, such as contract disputes. He has litigated and tried hundreds of matters before the Superior Court of New Jersey…

Michael P. DeRose is a shareholder at the firm and primarily focuses his practice in labor/ employment law and other aspects of civil litigation, such as contract disputes. He has litigated and tried hundreds of matters before the Superior Court of New Jersey, the Office of Administrative Law and the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission on behalf of various labor unions and their members. Michael has extensive experience defending and fighting for members of law enforcement and other public employees facing adverse disciplinary action, such as termination or suspension from employment. He also frequently argues before New Jersey’s Appellate Division on behalf of his clients. A large portion of his practice is also devoted to contract negotiations on behalf of union clients, representing such clients in grievance arbitration/ contract disputes, and otherwise advising union leaders on labor and employment matters.  Michael also has significant experience in the realm of interest arbitration on behalf of the firm’s law enforcement and firefighter unions. As a result of the firm’s robust labor and employment practice, Michael regularly appears before various state agencies, such as the New Jersey Civil Service Commission, the New Jersey Division of Pensions and Benefits, the State Health Benefits Commission, and NJ PERC. In addition to representing labor unions and active employees, Michael also represents retirees before the Division of Pensions in disability retirement applications, both ordinary and accidental disability retirement, in pension forfeiture actions, and in other miscellaneous pension disputes. He also counsels private business and their principals in contract and employment law, in addition to representing their interests in civil litigation. Michael has a track record of obtaining favorable outcomes for his clients and treats each everyone of them on an individual and particularized basis in accordance with their needs.

Before joining the firm in August of 2015, Michael was an associate counsel at a civil litigation firm out in Trenton, New Jersey, where he principally focused his practice around employment law and tort claims litigation. Prior to that, he served as a law clerk in the Superior Court of New Jersey for the Honorable F. Patrick McManimon, Mercer County Vicinage, from September of 2012 to August of 2013, where he attained significant experience in the realm of alternative dispute resolution having mediated well-over one-hundred cases, primarily related to commercial and residential landlord/ tenant disputes and contract/ business litigation. He earned his Juris Doctorate in 2012 after graduating from the Western Michigan University-Thomas M. Cooley School of Law. In 2007, he earned his Bachelor of the Arts in Criminal Justice and Public Administration from Kean University where he was a member of the Kean University baseball team and vice president of the Alpha Phi Sigma chapter of the National Criminal Justice Honor Society.

Michael is admitted to the New Jersey State Bar, the United States Federal Court for the District of New Jersey, and is a member of the Mercer County Bar Association.