Ocean County judge reprimanded for remarks to defendants
The state Supreme Court's disciplinary committee has publicly reprimanded an Ocean County Superior Court judge for remarks deemed inappropriate during two sentencings. Judge James Citta was scolded for disparaging a Mexican immigrant's inability to speak English after six years in the United States and for comparing a man being sentenced for attempted murder to O.J. Simpson. The committee's report found the remarks inappropriate and excessive despite Citta's reputation as an effective and hard-working judge. Citta declined comment, but in a letter to the court he wrote that the stress of presiding over emotionally charged criminal trials had sometimes caused him to "say things better left unsaid."
Sue Linfante
