N.J. Judge Charged With Misuse of Office in Dispute Over Vandalizing of Son's Car

An ethics complaint made public on Thursday alleges that Phillipsburg, N.J., Municipal Judge Dennis Baptista used the power of his office to gain an advantage in a private dispute with another parent over damage to his son's car.

New Jersey's Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct charges that after the car was vandalized by another student at Phillipsburg High School, Baptista improperly enlisted the help of the town's police department, whose officers regularly appear before him, to make contact with the parent of the other student, whom he chastised verbally and then sued.

Baptista, Phillipsburg's sole municipal court judge since 2007, calls the complaint "a gross distortion of the truth" and says he never sought to benefit from his judicial office.

But the case arises while echoes still ring of Supreme Court Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto's 2007 brush with ethics authorities for similarly intervening in a police investigation and municipal court proceeding over a complaint that another student was bullying his son. Rivera-Soto was censured for his conduct.


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