Troopers to Avoid Prison Time

NEWARK, NJ: Two New Jersey state troopers charged in a 1998 shooting on the New Jersey Turnpike are close to reaching a plea deal that would spare them a prison term, according to a published report. James Kenna and John Hogan are both scheduled to stand trial Nov. 13 on aggravated assault charges, while Kenna also faces an attempted murder charge. Both men are also accused of lying to hide the race of motorists they stopped and tampering with records related to the searches. The Star-Ledger of Newark, citing unidentified sources it said was familiar with the negotiations, reported Wednesday that progress was being made in the plea talks. The deal now under consideration requires the two men to plead guilty to misconduct and making false statements to law enforcement officers, the paper said. They also would forfeit their jobs and admit they engaged in racial profiling.

In exchange, state prosecutors would drop the attempted murder charge against Kenna and the assault charges against both troopers, who have been suspended without pay since being indicted in May 1999. They also would recommend that both men receive probation instead of jail time.

The report said the only issue still unresolved involved getting assurances from federal prosecutors that they would not bring new charges against the troopers once the state charges are settled.

Prosecutor James J. Gerrow and Jack Arseneault, Kenna's lawyer, declined to comment on the report. Hogan's lawyer, Robert Galantucci, could not be reached for comment.

The troopers have claimed they were acting in self-defense when they fired 11 shots at a van they had stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike on April 23, 1998. They maintain they thought the driver was trying to run them over.

Three of the four men inside, all minorities, were injured. None was armed. In February, the state agreed to pay $12.95 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the four men, but admitted no wrongdoing.

The shooting was the flashpoint for a bitter controversy over allegations of racial profiling, the deliberate targeting of minority motorists by state troopers.

Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News