Source: http://nj.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.19820616_0040233.NJ.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2017-04-25 16:42:47
Document Index: 214032309

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1951', '§ 1962', '§ 1341', '§ 1343', '§ 1951', '§ 1952', '§ 1341', '§ 1343', '§ 2']

| State v. Musto
STATE OF NEW JERSEY, PLAINTIFF,v.WILLIAM V. MUSTO, NEW JERSEY STATE SENATE, CITY OF UNION CITY, BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF UNION CITY, DEFENDANTS. WILLIAM V. MUSTO, SENATOR FROM THE 33RD DISTRICT, STATE OF NEW JERSEY, PLAINTIFF, V. CARMEN A. ORECHIO, PRESIDENT OF THE NEW JERSEY SENATE, AND THE NEW JERSEY STATE SENATE, DEFENDANTS
[187 NJSuper Page 269]
On May 11, 1982 the Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2(a), instituted suit on behalf of the State seeking a judgment declaring that Musto had forfeited his public offices as senator and as member of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Union City and mayor, by reason of his convictions in the United States District Court. [187 NJSuper Page 270]
On May 13, 1982 Musto filed suit as senator from the 33rd District against the New Jersey State Senate and Carmen A. Orechio, president thereof, seeking to restrain the operation of N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2(a) and (b) and to stay the New Jersey Senate from issuing a writ of election pursuant to N.J.Const. (1947), Art. IV, § IV, par. 1 and N.J.S.A. 19:3-28, as amended by L. 1981, c. 429. This court denied the application for preliminary relief. That denial was affirmed by the Appellate Division on May 14, 1982 and by the Supreme Court on May 17, 1982.
The relief sought by William V. Musto as plaintiff, as well as his defense to the declaratory judgment sought by the Attorney General, is twofold: (1) the statute is not applicable to him and (2) if applicable, it is unconstitutional. Since he is both a plaintiff and a defendant, he will be referred to hereinafter as "Musto." If he is incorrect, then the statute in question is self-executing. The forfeitures would result as a matter of law so that it would appear that there would be no need for a declaratory judgment from the court on that issue, as sought by [187 NJSuper Page 271]
the Attorney General. However, the suit by Musto only deals with the office of senator, and the court will take judicial notice that Musto has continued to physically occupy and proclaim his role as commissioner and mayor of the City of Union City. Therefore, it appears necessary for the court to address the issue as articulated by the Attorney General in his complaint for declaratory judgment.
The following is a list of the crimes of which Musto was convicted: [187 NJSuper Page 272]
At issue in this litigation is the effect of a federal conviction on the applicability of the forfeiture statute of New Jersey. This issue has been considered by courts of various jurisdictions throughout the United States on a number of occasions. Mysteriously, Musto contends that the forfeiture provision has no application to him, without preenting any law in support of that position. Despite his unsupported contentions, the available case law indicates that
The case quoted, State ex inf. Peach v. Goins, 575 S.W.2d 175, 180 (Mo.Sup.Ct.1978), was an action seeking a declaration that the city sheriff had forfeited his office because he had been found guilty of felony offenses against the United States, although he had not been convicted under the state law. Similarly, in People ex rel. Ryan v. Coles, 64 Ill.App.3d 807, 21 Ill.Dec. 543, 381 N.E.2d 990 (1978), the question presented to the court was whether a public official who had been convicted of extortion, in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 1951, was eligible to hold the office of township supervisor.
In both of these cases the courts decided that a federal conviction triggered the operation of their state forfeiture statutes. Both courts chose to look beyond a cursory analysis of the elements of the federal crimes as compared with the state counterpart. For example, the court in Coles looked to the "essence" or "gist" of the federal crimes in determining whether they would have also been crimes under the state system. The court held:
The Oklahoma Supreme Court, in Hughes v. Oklahoma State Election Board, 413 P.2d 543 (Okl.Sup.Ct.1966), searched for the "gravamen" of the federal charge in its determination of whether a federal conviction of embezzlement of postal funds constituted a felony under the state statutes. The court found that:
In light of these decisions, it is apparent that a comparison of federal offenses with state statutory offenses muist proceed beyond an element-by-element breakdown. Paramount importance must be placed upon a determination of the "essence" or "gist" of the federal conviction. This court would be remiss in concluding that the forfeiture statute was inapplicable merely because the elements of the federal crime did not exactly correspond to the elements of the state crime. Therefore, it will adhere to the theory expounded by the Coles and Goins decisions, which apply the forfeiture provision if the "gist" or "essence" of the federal crime is an offense under state law. Of course, the additional requirements of dishonesty and an offense which involves or touches public office, which are peculiar to this State, will also be considered.
Discrepancies between federal crimes and state crimes are often due to the language in the federal law involving interstate commerce. All references to the elements of obstruction of interstate commerce and the like should be separated from the other elements of the crime for purposes of comparison. The decisions previously mentioned imply that this type of jurisdictional element does not affect the determination that a federal crime can also be considered criminal under state law. A convicted felon is not being punished for the underlying fraudulent act. Therefore, the underlying element of a federal crime overrides the jurisdictional element in importance in a determination of the applicability of the State forfeiture statute. The absence of a jurisdictional element in a state statute does not mean that the federal offense is not also a state crime.
Counts one and two of the indictment upon which Musto was convicted involve a violation of the RICO statute (18 U.S.C.A § 1962(c)) as the substantive offense and conspiracy to violate that statute.
A review of the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice, N.J.S.A. 2C:1-1 et seq., reveals that no comparable RICO statute exists in New Jersey. However, the violation of the RICO statute consists of an involvement "in the conduct of an enterprise's affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity . . . ." Therefore, it appears that the "gist" or underlying element in a violation of this statute is the involvement with racketeering activity. The indictment defines acts of racketeering here to include mail fraud (18 U.S.C.A. § 1341), wire fraud (18 U.S.C.A. § 1343), extortion (18 U.S.C.A. § 1951), interstate travel to promote bribery (18 U.S.C.A. § 1952), and bribery (under New Jersey statutes 2A:93-6 and 2C:27-2). Although there is no New Jersey RICO statute, the underlying elements of this statute, i.e., bribery and extortion, are crimes in New Jersey.
It is well settled that where the intent to defraud is an essential element of a crime, that crime is one of moral turpitude. Jordan v. DeGeorge, 341 U.S. 223, 227, 71 S. Ct. 703, 705, 95 L. Ed. 886 (1950); O'Halloran v. DeCarlo, 156 N.J. Super. 249 (Law Div.1978), aff'd 162 N.J. Super. 174 (App.Div.1978). Prior to the current language of the forfeiture statute, which states that the offense or crime must be an offense "involving dishonesty," its predecessorm N.J.S.A. 2A:135-9, provided that the crime must involve "moral turpitude." The change from "moral turpitude" to "dishonesty" appears to be a broadening of the language of the statute. Therefore, crimes involving the intent to defraud would be considered as offenses involving dishonesty.
A person is guilty of conspiracy * * * to commit a crime if with the purpose of promoting or facilitating its commission he: (1) Agrees with such person * * * that they will engage in conduct which constitutes such crime * * *
Preceding N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2 was the language of N.J.S.A. 2A:98-1, which defined the crime of conspiracy as any 2 or more persons who conspire (a) to commit a crime * * * .
A comparison of the elements of conspiracy on both the state and federal level show that the "essence of the crime of conspiracy is the unlawful agreement between the parties to commit an offense * * * ." (jury charges of Judge Sarokin, U.S.D.C.) In State v. LaFera, 35 N.J. 75, 86 (1961), rev'd on other grounds, 42 N.J. 97 (1964), the court held that "The gist of the offense is the criminal agreement." As a result, it appears that the underlying element of this crime is the same in both forums, and a federal conspiracy to violate the RICO statute would also be a crime of conspiracy under New Jersey law.
Musto was also convicted of the crimes of mail fraud (18 U.S.C.A. § 1341) and wire fraud (18 U.S.C.A. § 1343). A discussion of the elements of these crimes demonstrates that it is the underlying elements of a crime, and not the specific elements thereof, which are important to a determination of whether a federal crime would also be a crime or offense under New Jersey law.
Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses * * * for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice or attempting so to do, places in any post office * * * or knowingly causes to be delivered by mail * * * shall be guilty * * * .
Of course, there exists no comparable mail or wire fraud statutes in New Jersey -- the elements of the use of United States mail or wire are of purely federal design. However, an analysis of both statutes reveals that the felon is not being punished for using the mails or the wires as much as he is being punished for his attempt to deceive or obtain money or property by false pretenses. The element of the use of mails and wires is purely jurisdictional. The underlying offense is the attempt to scheme or defraud or take money or property under false pretenses. The New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice provides for theft crimes of this nature under N.J.S.A. 2A:111-1 and N.J.S.A. 2C:20-4. The latter statute, which is the current law in this State, provides:
A person is guilty of theft if he purposely obtains property of another by deception * * * .
Any person who, knowingly or designedly, with intent to cheat or defraud any other person, obtains any money, property, security, gain, benefit, advantage, or any other thing of value by means of false promises, statements * * * is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(a) Whoever in any way or degree obstructs, delays or affects commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce, by * * * extortion or attempts or conspires so to do, or commits or threatens physical violence to any person or property in furtherance of a plan or purpose to do anything in violation of this section shall be guilty of an offense.
The pertinent term in that statute applied to the indictment of Musto is "extortion." During the period covered by counts 29 and 30 extortion was both a common law and statutory crime. N.J.S.A. 2A:105-1. There is a distinction between the crime of extortion and that of bribery. Bribery consists in offering a present or receiving one, while extortion consists in demanding an illegal fee or present by color of office. 31 Am.Jur.2d § 2 at 902, State v. Begyn, 34 N.J. 35, pp. 45-48 (1980). The purpose of our extortion statute was simply to punish the officer who illegally took the fee. In bribery both the officer and the recipient are guilty of the offense. State v. Seaman, 114 N.J. Super. 19 (App.Div.1971). The essence of the offense of extortion is the receiving or taking by any public officer by color of his office of any fee or reward not allowed by law for performing his duties. State v. Begyn, supra, 34 N.J. at 46. The three essential elements which must be proved to establish extortion under the federal offense are that (1) defendant induced the victim to part with his property; (2) defendant did so knowingly and willfully by means of extortion, that is, with the person's or business' consent having been induced under color of official right, and (3) the extortionate transaction delayed, interrupted or adversely affected interstate commerce.
Naturally, the third element is purely jurisdictional and there is no comparable requirement in the State of New Jersey. However, it would not be necessary to prove that element in order to convict a defendant of extortion in the State of New Jersey, either at common law or under the statute, which appears on its face to have been originally intended to be iterative of the common law. State v. Goodman, 9 N.J. 569, 584; State v. Begyn, supra. Therefore, with regard to counts 29 and 30, there can be no doubt that these crimes are offenses which if committed in the State of New Jersey would involve dishonesty or be a crime of the third degree.
Counts 37 and 38 charge Musto with a violation of 26 U.S.C.A. 2706(1), which reads as follows:
(1) -- Willfully makes and subscribes any return, statement, or other document, which contains or is verified by a written declaration that it is made under the penalties of perjury, and which he does not believe to be true and correct as to every material matter; . . . shall be guilty . . . . [187 NJSuper Page 281]
If any person shall willfully and corruptly swear, affirm or declare falsely, in or by any oath, affirmation, declaration or affidavit, required to be made or taken by any statute of this state, or necessary or proper to be made, taken or used in any court of this state, or for any lawful purpose whatever, such person shall be deemed guilty of perjury . . . . (Emphasis supplied)
Since a violation of 26 U.S.C.A. 7206(1) encompasses an act of perjury or false swearing, that federal offense would be a violation of the New Jersey perjury statute. Perjury and false swearing are offenses under the Code, N.J.S.A. 2C:28-1 et seq., although false swearing is an offense of the fourth degree, N.J.S.A. 2C:28-2(a). However, these clearly involve dishonesty since the offense reveals an attempt to defraud the Federal Government. In similar fashion, the state offenses of perjury and false swearing are offenses involving dishonesty.
As revealed by this crime-to-crime analysis and comparison, there is no basis for Musto's contention that the forfeiture statute (N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2) is inapplicable to him. The underlying [187 NJSuper Page 282]
elements of the federal crimes for which he was convicted are all offenses under New Jersey law. The comparable state offenses of bribery, extortion, conspiracy, perjury and false swearing all constitute offenses involving dishonesty since they reveal an intent to defraud or deceive. Therefore, it appears that the requirements of N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2 have been fulfilled. Thus the forfeiture statute applies to Musto, if it is constitutional.
A legislative enactment is presumptively constitutional. Every intendment is to be made in favor of the validity of the statute. Stothers v. Martini, 6 N.J. 560, 567 (1951); State v. Thermoid Co., 16 N.J. 274, 279 (1954). The legislature is presumed to have intended its enactments to meet constitutional requirements. State v. Profaci, 56 N.J. 346 (1970). The cardinal principle of statutory construction must be to save and not to destroy.
The duty of the court is to strain, if necessary, to save the act, not to nullify it. New Jersey Sports & Expo. Auth. v. McCrane, 119 N.J. Super. 457, 476 (Law Div.1971), mod. on other grounds, 61 N.J. 1 (1972), app. dism. 409 U.S. 943, 93 S. Ct. 270, 34 L. Ed. 2d 215 (1973), appeal after remand In re Sports Complex Hackensack Meadowlands, 62 N.J. 248 (1973), cert. den. 414 U.S. 989, 94 S. Ct. 291, 38 L. Ed. 2d 228 (1974). This comment by Judge (now Justice) Pashman was cited with approval in Vreeland v. Byrne, 72 N.J. 292, 325 (1977).
When a state statute is challenged on state constitutional grounds, the nature of state government and the distribution of sovereign power within it make a plaintiff's burden a heavy one. Smith v. Penta, 81 N.J. 65, 74 (1979).
The right to hold public office is a valuable one and its exercise should not be declared prohibited or curtailed except by plain provisions of law. In re Ray, 26 N.J.Misc. 56, 59 (Circ.Ct. 1947), cited in Stothers v. Martini, supra 6 N.J. at 565. At the [187 NJSuper Page 283]
time of his conviction and sentencing Musto held two public offices ---- that of state senator and municipal commissioner and mayor. The office of senator is a constitutional office, whereas that of commissioner is a statutory office. N.J.S.A. 2C:51-2(a) applies to persons "holding any public office, position or employment, elective or appointive, under the government of this State or any agency or political sub-division thereof . . . ." Thus, the statute applies to both offices. Since the effect of this statute on persons holding ...