Paper, prosecutor diss dead man's family

A miscarriage of justice was compounded today by a miscarriage of journalism in The Record's report on the long-delayed grand jury probe into the death of Malik Williams.

Why did the editors allow a major error to appear in a headline and in the first paragraph of the lead, front-page story in The Record today?

This whopper exaggerates the actions of Malik Williams, 19, of Garfield -- making him seem a lot more threatening -- before he was shot and killed by two police officers last Dec. 10.

Both the sub-headline on Page 1 and the first paragraph use the word "charging" to describe Williams before he was hit five times by police bullets, suggesting he was running toward the two officers with a hammer and a 16-inch saw.

Misquoting official

The long sub-headline says, "Prosecutor says teen was charging with hammer, saw."

But Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli's statement never uses that word.

Who is responsible for this screw-up, Editor Marty Gottlieb, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes, Deputy Assistant Assignment Editor Dan Sforza or Editor Liz Houlton, supervisor of the news copy desk, where the inaccurate sub-headline was written? 

Doesn't the word "charging" justify the actions of the two police officers, who were cleared by a grand jury on Wednesday? 

Web site is wrong, too

The word appears twice in the paper, as well as on NorthJersey.com, without quotation marks, meaning it didn't come from the statement issued by Molinelli, who said Williams "advanced towards" the officers -- a lot different and a lot less menacing than "charging."

In fact, the word "charging" appears  nowhere in Molinelli's statement -- only "advanced towards" and other variations of the word "advanced."

There is a lot more wrong with today's coverage of the Williams case, especially unanswered questions.

Why didn't Molinelli hold a news conference and answer questions from the media? Why did the investigation take more than six months? 

Editors napping again

Why did it take Malik Williams' mother, Shirley, to seek out and try to question the prosecutor at an unrelated meeting on Wednesday? 

Where were the editors and reporters from The Record -- taking their usual midday nap? Why didn't any of them question the prosecutor?

The local-news editors botched the Williams grand jury story, but the Woodland Park daily salvages something with an editorial asking "why two trained officers needed to use deadly force against a hammer and a handsaw" (A-10)?

That is one of the questions the local-news editors should have been asking Molinelli.   


Christie blame game

Also on Page 1 today, the editors continue to humor Governor Christie, who is back to playing his blame game when he doesn't get his way (A-1, A-3 and A-4).

After Christie's "Jersey Comeback" fizzled, because of the state's stumbling economy, the GOP bully is claiming Democrats are holding his income-tax cut hostage.

Hackensack screwed again

Sykes and Sforza had Hackensack reporter Stephanie Akin helping out on the Malik Williams story, so, of course, there is no Hackensack news today -- or anything from Englewood, Teaneck and many other towns.

For the seventh day in a row, Staff Writer John Brennan has a story about the lawsuit against the American Dream entertainment and retail complex, which is eagerly awaited by the state's shopaholics (L-1).

You'd think Brennan, a former sports reporter, is being slipped large quantities of money by the Giants and Jets, who filed the frivolous action.

Buried on L-7 today is a report on a cushy job for another Christie crony, former Bergen County Freeholder Todd Caliguire, a Republican lawyer.