NJ Judge is Challenged

A judge is being challenged in New Jersey in connection with a courtroom outburst.

The case involves Kenneth Powell, the south Jersey man charged with letting a drunken friend get behind the wheel of a car. That friend crashed his car, killing both himself and another driver. Now, Powell's attorney has accused the judge of criminal misbehavior on the bench.

The recent trial of Powell set a precedent in New Jersey -- not just because of the unusual charges lodged against him, but also because of criminal misdeeds allegedly committed by the judge in the courtroom.

Powell's attorney, Carl Roeder, maintains that Judge William Forrester is guilty of judicial misconduct, destruction of evidence and violating Powell's civil rights.

"That's outrageous. That's hideous. That's obnoxious and repugnant to the constitution of United States of America," Roeder said.

He points to the state's videotape recording of the case as evidence. In the court proceeding of Oct. 4, Forrester allegedly says that Powell must agree to a plea bargain or he will go to trial again on vehicular homicide and assault charges.

"You don't plead guilty to something you didn't do. It's just that simple," Powell told NBC 10 News.

After Powell resisted agreeing to the plea bargain, he claims the judge pressured him to sign a confession. The videotape showed that the judge grabbed a legal pad, wrote something down and then handed it to Powell's attorney, allegedly for Powell to read and sign.

Powell told NBC 10 that the judge's note said, "You knew that Michael Pangle was too drunk to drive ... You were not the whole cause of the reason for the accident, but you part of it."

"I refused to (sign the confession) because that's not what happened," Powell explained. "I didn't know my friend was drunk. I was never told he was arrested for DUI."

"New Jersey state law specifically bars judges from participating in plea negotiations," Roeder said.

The videotape shows Forrester ripping up the reported rejection handed back to him by Powell's attorney.

"We believe it was an intentional act by the court to keep everybody in the dark about what he was doing," Roeder said.

On Friday, Powell and Roeder delivered their complaint to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Camden, N.J. It urges authorities to investigate the trial, along with Forrester's conduct during it.

"We review them. We make a threshold determination and, if warranted, we refer to the appropriate federal agency," Deputy U.S. Attorney, Lee Solomon said.

Forrester is presiding over Powell's second trial in Salem County on Monday.

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