Why hasn't report on Bridgewater police response to mall fight been released?

The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office has gone to court to quash a subpoena from a Bridgewater police officer who is the subject of a disciplinary hearing, in connection with the police response to a scuffle between two teens at the Bridgewater Commons mall last year that drew national attention after footage of it went viral.

Police Officer Adam Giurlando has subpoenaed two documents from the Prosecutor's Office's review of the incident that he claims, "contain exculpatory evidence and must be disclosed," according to court papers.

The disciplinary charges that Giurlando is facing have not been disclosed, and it's not known if the other officer involved in the incident, Brittany MacDonald is facing any charges.

Court papers say Giurlando faces the disciplinary charges based on a recommendation from the Attorney General's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.

One document sought by the officer is a preliminary use of force report, and the other is a draft memo containing a legal analysis of the incident and the internal affairs investigation by the Prosecutor's Office.

The subpoena was prepared by Giurlando’s attorney, Charles J. Sciarra, and issued by the disciplinary hearing officer, Raymond Hayducka, chief of the South Brunswick Police Department, on April 12.

The Prosecutor's Office asked Hayducka to quash the subpoena on April 20, but on June 6, Hayducka denied the request, saying the documents were relevant.

The Prosecutor's Office then filed a lawsuit in Superior Court to quash the subpoena on July 11.

In its lawsuit, the Prosecutor's Office argues that the two documents are privileged because they are "attorney work product."

Column: Bridgewater mall incident raises questions about policing and race

The legal fight over the subpoena, before Superior Court Judge Robert Ballard, is likely to delay the release of a final report by the Attorney General’s Office on the incident at the mall last winter.

The Attorney General’s Office completed its report in September and gave it to the Bridgewater Police Department to take any appropriate action.

Bridgewater residents and Township Council members have expressed frustration over the lack of information about the status of any action the police department may be taking.

In February, Attorney General Matthew Platkin also expressed frustration, saying Bridgewater has "taken an inordinate amount of time and further delay only frustrates and frays the legal trust between the public and the law enforcement community."

At that time, Platkin said his office would reassess whether to release its report before Bridgewater completes its actions.

The preliminary use of force report was prepared by Richard Celeste, the director of the Somerset County Police Academy who began his law enforcement career as a Bridgewater police officer.

The memo written by then-First Assistant Prosecutor Brian Stack, dated May 18, 2022, is a draft analysis of the evidence gathered in the Prosecutor's Office’s investigation of the incident and contains the opinions and conclusions of Stack and other members of the Prosecutor's Office.

"The report, as forwarded to the (Office of Public Integrity and Accountability), was never intended to represent the final conclusions of the Prosecutor's Office but, rather, was intended to be a sharing of ideas with another investigative body that was about the undertake and continue the investigation and reach its own conclusion," Raymond Stine, the attorney representing the Prosecutor's Office, wrote in a brief supporting the lawsuit.

No final report was ever made by the Prosecutor's Office. The office's investigative materials were forwarded to the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability for its investigation and analysis which then issued a recommendation to the Bridgewater Police Department.

The controversy began when two teens, one a 15-year-old Black male and the other a 15-year-old male of Colombian and Pakistani heritage and who was perceived to be white, became involved in a scuffle near Bloomingdale's in the mall in February 2022.

Police responded to the scene and one officer forced the Black teen to the floor and handcuffed him while the other was placed on a chair and was not handcuffed.

Both teens were released to their parents and no charges were filed.

The incident was recorded by bystanders and posted to social media. More than 1,000 complaints were received by the police department and the prosecutor's office.

In the following weeks, Bridgewater was roiled with protests against the police and an anti-Black Lives Matter banner was hung on a pedestrian bridge over the ramp from Route 22 to Route 202-206, near Bridgewater Commons.

Prominent civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, hired to represent the Black teen, came to the municipal complex to hold a press conference.

But, almost 18 months later, no litigation has been filed.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Bridgewater NJ police response to Commons mall fight: Where is report?