Closing arguments in case against officer who stopped Moriarty

Was the officer just doing his job, or did he deliberately target a state lawmaker when he pulled him over that day?

Was Washington Township Police Officer Joseph DiBuonaventura legitimately acting on a tip from a department colleague that July 31, 2012, when he stopped Assemblyman Paul D. Moriarty on suspicion of driving drunk and ended up arresting him after smelling alcohol on his breath?

Or did the officer go after him for unknown reasons, falsely allege traffic violations to justify the stop, and then try to cover up his wrongdoing with a supplemental report?

Two very different scenarios were heard by a Superior Court jury in Woodbury on Wednesday during the closing arguments in DiBuonaventura's trial on 14 charges, including false swearing, falsifying and tampering with public records, and official misconduct.

Judge M. Christine Allen Jackson gave instructions to the jury, which is expected to begin deliberations Thursday.

"I don't understand the state's case," the officer's attorney, Louis Barbone, told the jury. "I don't think the state understands its case. There is no case."

DiBuonaventura "had to perform his function as a police officer, and he did," Barbone said.

The officer's guilt is clear, Prosecutor Audrey Curwin told jurors. "You can see what happened," she said. "It's on the video" footage from the officer's cruiser.

"It's solid evidence" that contradicts the officer's written report, she said as the officer's account was projected on a courtroom wall. "These are his words, typed by his hands."

The 2012 incident began after Moriarty - a former township mayor - had left a Nissan dealership and was traveling north on the Black Horse Pike in Turnersville.

DiBuonaventura stopped Moriarty's Nissan Murano in the parking lot of a Chick-fil-A restaurant, saying he had cut him off - a charge the legislator denied.

The officer also claimed he smelled alcohol. He ordered Moriarty to do field sobriety tests, handcuffed him, and took him to the police station for a breath test, which the legislator refused to take, saying later that he "had no faith in the process at that point."

Moriarty was charged with DWI, refusal to submit to the test, and failure to maintain a lane. Those charges were dismissed after video footage refuted the claims. The officer has since been suspended without pay.

Before his closing remarks, Barbone questioned John J. LaSala, then the general manager of the Nissan dealership, visited by Moriarty before the incident. The lawmaker stopped to investigate lease options on his Nissan Murano.

LaSala, now general manager of a car dealership in Long Island, said Moriarty also had another issue on his mind. "I walked over and shook his hand," he said. "He gives me the death grip in his handshake. . . . He pulled me right to his face."

Moriarty was displeased with the dealership because it had supported another Assembly candidate's nomination, LaSala testified. He was "disrespectful" and "very belligerent," and had "bloodshot eyes" and "alcohol on his breath," LaSala said.

Moriarty's demeanor attracted the attention of other employees and one of them called his cousin, a detective at police headquarters, to report the incident, Barbone said in his closing argument. Another detective overheard the conversation and alerted DiBuonaventura, who was on patrol duty.

Did the officer - after 17 years of police service - wake up on July 31, 2012, and say, "It's time to get Moriarty?" asked Barbone. "Where's the benefit?

"There's no money, no consideration," he said. "It turned his life into a miserable hell."

During her closing argument, Curwin told the jurors about the projected statement, "This is why we're here. . . . He said he was cut off at the jughandle, from left to right."

Then she projected the cruiser video of the incident, which, she said, shows that Moriarty did not cut in front of the officer.

"On that particular day, he targeted Paul Moriarty," she said.

When DiBuonaventura first received information on Moriarty, she said, he was "on a mission. . . . He goes up to speeds of 80 miles an hour to catch up with him.

"His report is not credible," she said. "His ticket is not credible."

Curwin told jurors that DiBuonaventura "tried to cover up what he did July 31" when he filed a supplemental report later.

"This case is a very serious matter," she said.