NJ Supreme Court rejects Michael Jackson's appeal in Paterson election fraud case.

PATERSON — The New Jersey Supreme Court has decided not to intervene in city Councilman Michael Jackson’s attempt to keep criminal investigators from getting the passcode for his cellphone.

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office seized Jackson’s phone last spring as part of a probe into allegations of witness tampering in the long-pending election fraud case against him.

But Jackson refused to give authorities the code that would give them access to his text messages and call log. After state Superior Court and Appellate Division judges ordered Jackson to turn over the code, he asked the Supreme Court to hear the case.

The Supreme Court issued an order on March 5 — a document made public Tuesday — that said it had denied Jackson’s request for an appeal.

What happens next?

What happens next remains unclear. The Attorney General’s Office did not respond when Paterson Press asked Tuesday whether Jackson had turned over the passcode and what measures state authorities would take if he had not.

Jackson — who repeatedly has asserted his innocence — said he had not been notified of the Supreme Court decision.

“Corruption reaches high places. That’s all I can say,” the councilman replied when asked for his reaction to the decision.

Jackson said the Attorney General’s Office has not yet gotten his passcode. He said he assumes the state will demand that information during a virtual court session scheduled for Monday. The election fraud charges were originally filed against him in June 2020.

Jackson — the most consistent critic of Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh — has continued to serve on the council while those charges have been pending and now is running for reelection in May. Sayegh is supporting Fannia Santana, one of five challengers trying to oust Jackson, in Paterson’s 1st Ward race.

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Months after the Attorney General’s Office filed the original criminal complaints against Jackson, a state grand jury in February 2021 indicted the councilman on five charges involving election fraud. The most serious accusation is that he allegedly submitted a completed mail-in vote on behalf of someone whom he knew had not filled out the ballot.

The case has stalled since 2021. Authorities last year got a subpoena for Jackson’s phone in the witness-tampering probe. But the councilman said he feared that investigators would “plant” incriminating evidence on the phone and refused to give up the passcode.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Michael Jackson appeal in Paterson election fraud case rejected