Paterson election fraud case delayed again as state waits to use high-tech crime lab

PATERSON — After more than six weeks, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General has made no progress reviewing Councilman Michael Jackson’s cellphone as part of its election fraud case against the city official.

In a virtual court session on Monday afternoon, deputy attorney general Frank Valdinoto said state investigators are still waiting to use a high-tech crime lab so they can check Jackson’s phone “in a controlled environment.”

Valdinoto told Superior Court Judge Sohail Mohammed that there’s a long queue for use of the lab and said he would ask to have this review moved ahead in line. It’s not clear why state officials had not already made the high-profile election case a priority.

Tuesday marks the four-year anniversary of when the AG’s Office filed its original election fraud charges against Jackson and Paterson’s current City Council President Alex Mendez in separate criminal complaints.

Jackson wasn’t happy about the latest delay and expressed his frustration to the judge at the end of Monday’s proceeding.

“This is my case you’re talking about,” Jackson stated. “This has been going on for four years now, four years and I’m still waiting.”

Mohammed told Jackson that his lawyer, Scott Finckenauer, already agreed to holding the next court session on Aug. 19 and suggested the councilman speak with his attorney.

“This is crazy,” Jackson said in a subsequent phone interview with Paterson Press. “This keeps dragging on and on and on and on.”

Jackson is Mayor Andre Sayegh’s most outspoken critic on the City Council.

Seized Jackson's cellphone in 2023

Court records say the AG’s Office seized Jackson’s cellphone in the spring of 2023 as part of an investigation into possible witness tampering involving the original 2020 criminal charges filed against the councilman.

Jackson had refused to surrender the passcode that would provide investigators access to the contents of his phone but lost a court battle on that issue that involved multiple appeals.

During a May 15 court proceeding, Mohammed confirmed that Jackson had given the state three possible passcodes. Jackson told Paterson Press at that time that he had handed over the passcodes several weeks earlier.

The state filed criminal charges against Jackson over Paterson’s May 2020 elections — an all vote-by-mail contest in the early days of the COVID pandemic. The Attorney General’s Office accused Jackson of submitting mail-in ballots for voters who had not filled out the ballots themselves and for breaking a law that bans candidates from handling mail-in ballots.

Jackson now stands to finish serving the entire disputed four-year council term, which ends on June 30. Jackson won re-election in May despite Sayegh’s unsuccessful efforts to help one of his allies win the 1st Ward council seat.

Meanwhile, Mendez’ next court session in the election fraud case is scheduled for Aug. 5.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson election fraud case drags as state waits to use lab