Judge upholds suspension in Moriarty traffic stop

A judge in Gloucester County on Thursday upheld the suspension without pay of a Washington Township police officer who made a controversial traffic stop and arrest of an assemblyman in 2012.

But the judge also ruled that Joseph DiBuonaventura should have received pay for the several weeks between his acquittal on criminal charges in March and the filing of administrative charges last week, the officer's attorney said.

DiBuonaventura has been at the center of disputes surrounding the arrest of Assemblyman Paul D. Moriarty (D., Gloucester) for alleged drunk driving during an afternoon traffic stop that July, after asking him to perform several field sobriety tests. Moriarty, who maintained that the stop was unwarranted and that he had nothing to drink, later declined to take a breath test and was charged with DUI and other offenses.

The charges were eventually dismissed and the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office charged DiBuonaventura with 14 counts, including falsifying records and official misconduct, saying police cruiser footage refuted the officer's story. A jury found the officer not guilty on all charges March 3.

DiBuonaventura's attorney, Jacqueline Vigilante, sought to overturn the continued suspension without pay as the police department's internal disciplinary process unfolds. The officer has also requested back pay from the township dating to November 2012, when he was suspended.

"He's been trying to make ends meet," Vigilante said in an interview. "He doesn't have any permanent employment."

Vigilante has also argued that the department has a conflict in handling the internal probe, in part because Chief Rafael Muniz was appointed to the post when Moriarty was mayor of Washington Township.

"I think the judge's decision, while it may have been sound on parts of the law in the state of New Jersey, it didn't realize the clear conflict of interest with allowing this department to move forward with any charges against this officer," Vigilante said.

In an earlier ruling, Superior Court Judge David Morgan found that the department could conduct the internal investigation but said one particular lieutenant could not lead it, following objections by DiBuonaventura and his attorney.

Patrick Madden, who represented the township in the most recent challenge, declined to comment Thursday.