Posted on Tue, Nov. 10, 2009
Former State Sen. Wayne Bryant's fight to use his campaign account to pay for his criminal defense went to the New Jersey Supreme Court yesterday.
Bryant, convicted last year on corruption charges, should be allowed to use his political war chest to pay lawyers who have defended him, said Angelo Genova, his attorney at yesterday's hearing.
Genova said the state's Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) previously let another senator use campaign cash to defend himself against ethics complaints brought to a legislative panel.
He said the commission, which governs the use of campaign money, used a "tortured" reading of the law to prevent Bryant from using his account to pay for his defense in the federal criminal trial. The case against Bryant centered on charges that he boosted his pension with "no-show" public jobs, and that he landed work at the University of Medicine and Dentistry in exchange for his influence as chair of the Senate budget committee.
"There was a desired outcome here, and ELEC wanted to find a way to get to that desired outcome," Genova said.
The commission ruled that defending against a criminal indictment is not an "ordinary and necessary" expense of being a public official. Campaign funds are supposed to be limited to such uses. An appellate court upheld the commission's ruling.
James Wyse, an ELEC attorney, argued that the commission drew a line, saying there was a difference between defending against noncriminal ethics charges brought by private interest groups and defending against criminal accusations leveled by state or federal law enforcement agencies.
"The context of an ethics charge is not the same as the context of a criminal charge," Wyse said.
The Supreme Court justices sharply questioned both sides.
Justice Barry Albin asked Genova if it was "ordinary" for an official to face indictment.
"Ordinary means something that is typical, something that would naturally arise. Can one say that defending against an indictable charge, either federal or state, is something ordinary?" he asked. "I would hope not."
Despite being barred for now from using campaign funds for his criminal defense, Bryant has used his war chest to pay to challenge that ruling. His latest campaign finance report shows an additional $1,997.40 spent toward challenging the ELEC rule, on top of more than $108,000 previously reported.
Bryant had about $556,000 left in his campaign account as of Oct. 15.
There was no decision yesterday.
Chief Justice Stuart Rabner and Justices John E. Wallace Jr. and Roberto Rivera-Soto recused themselves from the case.
Contact staff writer Jonathan Tamari at 609-989-9016 or jtamari@phillynews.com.
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