Dillon J. McGuire Quoted in NorthJersey.com Article, “Paterson Pol's Lawyer Seeks Fraud Case Dismissal, Alleges State Errors”

Dillon McGuire, partner in the firm’s Criminal Defense practice, was recently quoted in a NorthJersey.com article titled, “Paterson Pol's Lawyer Seeks Fraud Case Dismissal, Alleges State Errors”. McGuire, who serves as counsel for Paterson Councilman Michael Jackson, has moved to dismiss the indictment in the state’s long-running election fraud case, arguing that it is fundamentally undermined by flawed grand jury presentations and unreliable witness accounts.

In an April 9 motion, McGuire alleged that a state investigator provided “inaccurate information” to the grand jury regarding key witness statements, contending that the prosecution is built on “minor technical violations” of state law tied to mail-in ballots from Paterson’s 2020 all-vote-by-mail election. McGuire said that “the state’s case rests entirely on the testimony of five witnesses who it claims implicated Mr. Jackson in the alleged offenses,” but argued that those same witnesses later walked back or clarified their accounts.

“The state’s proofs have fallen apart at the seams, leaving it with a case it cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt,” McGuire said.

The Attorney General’s Office did not immediately provide a response when Paterson Press asked about the assertions by McGuire.

“According to the state, each of these individuals provided statements that implicated Mr. Jackson in collecting and delivering ballots on behalf of these five voters in Paterson’s First Ward,” said McGuire’s motion. “The state claims that each of these witnesses confirmed that Mr. Jackson himself had picked up and delivered their ballots for them.”

But none of the witnesses said their votes had been changed or ballots altered, Jackson’s lawyer said.

“Following their initial statements, each of the state’s witnesses have now clarified that it was not Mr. Jackson himself, but his campaign team and other community members, who collected and delivered their ballots,” McGuire wrote.

None of the state detective interviews with the witnesses were recorded by law enforcement body-worn cameras, McGuire said.

To read the article on NorthJersey.com, click here.

To read the article on PressReader.com, click here.