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Suspended Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa is on trial in the imposing Bergen County Courthouse, across the street from the Church on The Green, above.
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By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR
Readers who know anything about criminal trials may be puzzled by how much ink The Record is giving to the defense case of suspended Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa in Superior Court.
Since opening arguments on April 3, the so-called Hackensack reporter -- under the guidance of head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes -- has been writing story after story on defense attorney Patricia Prezioso's strategy and her cross-examination of prosecution witnesses.
And the state is still presenting its case, as today's story on L-3 reports.
Zisa defense
"Ms. Prezioso has called every [prosecution] witness a liar," Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Daniel Keitel said on Wednesday, out of the presence of jurors.
"She's living on a different planet," Keitel advised Judge Joseph S. Conte.
With her annoyingly high voice, Prezioso may be an alien, but she also is a member of a prestigious law firm with a named partner who has strong ties to The Record of Woodland Park and Chairman Malcolm A. "Mac" Borg.
Is there a link?
Could that be why Sykes is giving Prezioso all the column inches she needs as she tries to put Zisa in the best light possible in front of the jury?
Prezioso is a member of McCusker, Anselmi, Rosen & Carvelli of Florham Park.
The Rosen in the firm's name is Bruce S. Rosen, a former Record reporter who was one of Mac's favorites when he was publisher and the daily was in Hackensack.
Borg mortgage
Borg liked Rosen so much he gave him at least one mortgage to buy a home.
Rosen has argued First Amendment cases for North Jersey Media Group, and also represented Borg and his neighbors on Walnut Street in Englewood when they opposed the expansion of an Orthodox synagogue on their block.
Can you imagine the hourly rate charged by Prezioso and Rosen? Will the Borg family be asking for a break in the future, citing the favorable coverage of Prezioso at the Zisa trial?
Did he do it?
None of the Zisa trial stories have explained whether Prezioso has any proof of the police chief's innocence.
Nor have I seen her quoted telling the jury, "He didn't do it."
Here are links to profiles with photos of Prezioso, a former prosecutor, and Rosen on their firm's Web site, as well as to a previous Eye on The Record post on a potential conflict.
Law firm's potential conflict
Giving it some gas
Editor Marty Gottlieb leads today's front page with a story on a natural-gas pipeline that winds through six towns, including Harrington Park, where Sykes lives with her husband, Kevin O'Neil, the paper's former graphics director (A-1).
I didn't see any mention of adding a pipeline extension to Woodland Park in an effort to capture the considerable amount of gas generated by certain editors' well-known flatulence.
Two of the best-read stories in today's paper are likely to be local obituaries -- reluctant war hero John McGrath of Elmwood Park (A-1) and family farmer John Kroner of Upper Saddle River (L-1).
Also on Sykes' Local front, readers find the latest installment of utility pole news in the form of a large photo from Secaucus.
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The Borgs have a monopoly when it comes to the media in North Jersey.They also have a monopoly when it comes to law firms. They have cases in the top 10 law firms in NJ. Dont they even own a publication called NJ Cops? Do the Borgs personally know Zisa Mr. Sasson?
ReplyDeleteNot sure, but Mac Borg knows Superior Court Judge Joseph S. Conte, who is presiding at the Zisa trial.
ReplyDelete