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Sugar Cookie

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A family court judge in New Jersey has been roundly admonished by the state’s appeals court for ruling that a teenager accused of raping an intoxicated girl and then sharing a video of the assault with friends deserved leniency because he came from a “good family,” was an Eagle Scout and attended “an excellent school.”

“He is clearly a candidate for not just college but probably for a good college,” Judge James Troiano of Superior Court wrote of the 16-year-old defendant, identified only as G.M.C. in court documents. Troiano went on to question whether the rape victim and her family had understood “the devastating effect” that pressing charges would have “on G.M.C.’s life.”

The judge also argued that rape “tradition[ally]” involved two or more males using a weapon to threaten a victim in an “abandon[ed] house,” “shed” or “shack” — circumstances not matching G.M.C.’s alleged crime.

Prosecutors say the boy filmed himself penetrating a 16-year-old girl from behind at a dark basement party in New Jersey. The victim was allegedly so intoxicated at the time that she staggered as she walked.

The defendant allegedly shared the cellphone video with his friends with a text message that read, “When your first time having sex was rape.”
Prosecutors say the boy continued to circulate the video months after the alleged assault but denied it when confronted by the victim.

The Monmouth County prosecutor’s office recommended in September 2017 that G.M.C. be tried as an adult because his actions at the party were “both sophisticated and predatory.”

“Filming a cellphone video while committing the assault was a deliberate act of debasement,” the prosecutor wrote. “And, in the months that followed, he lied to [the victim] while simultaneously disseminating the video and unabashedly sharing the nature of his conduct therein. This was neither a childish misinterpretation of the situation, nor was it a misunderstanding. G.M.C.’s behavior was calculated and cruel.”
Judge Troiano, however, denied the waiver to try the defendant as an adult.

G.M.C. is an Eagle Scout and “comes from a good family who put him in an excellent school where he was doing extremely well,” the judge wrote in his decision.
As for the sexually explicit messages about the alleged assault that the teen had penned, Troiano said it was “just a 16-year-old kid saying stupid crap to his friends.”

But the state’s appellate court disagreed with Troiano’s assessment.

In a blistering decision last month, the court reversed Troiano’s ruling.

“That the juvenile came from a good family and had good test scores we assume would not condemn the juveniles who do not come from good families and do not have good test scores from withstanding waiver application,” the panel wrote.

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He needs to be thrown off the bench.
19898
 
A good family has no bearing on the criminal leniency to a member who has broken the law.
You get judged by your own actions. Clearly the judge doesn't grasp that.

I give zero fucks if a boy comes from a good fam. He was a criminal and his actions have negatively impacted upon another. Time to pay the piper.

Judge needs to be bounced off the bench pronto and have previous decisions reviewed.
 
[....]Now the judge has been sharply rebuked by an appeals court in a scathing 14-page ruling that warned the judge against showing bias toward privileged teenagers. In doing so, the appeals court cleared the way for the case to be moved from family court to a grand jury, where the teenager, identified only as G.M.C. in court documents, will be treated as an adult. New Jersey law allows juveniles as young as 15 to be tried as adults when accused of serious crimes, and the grand jury will weigh whether to indict him on the sexual assault accusation.
[....]
Judge Troiano, who is roughly 70, was one of two family court judges whom appeals courts in New Jersey have criticized in recent weeks.
[....]
A spokeswoman for the administrative office of the courts said the judges had no comment on the case. She said Mr. Troiano, a veteran judge who retired several years ago, was asked to occasionally fill vacancies on the bench.

Family court cases are typically closed to the public, but the judges’ comments surfaced in June when the appeals court decisions were made public, joining a series of contentious sexual assault cases that have ignited outrage over a legal system that advocates for victims say is warped by bias and privilege.

In the first case, heard by Judge Troiano, it is unclear from court documents when and specifically where in New Jersey the incident involving the two 16-year-olds took place.
[....]
In September 2017, the Monmouth County prosecutor’s office recommended that the case be tried in adult criminal court in part because the boy’s actions were “sophisticated and predatory.”

“At the time he led Mary into the basement gym, she was visibly intoxicated and unable to walk without stumbling,” the prosecutor wrote. “For the duration of the assault, the lights in the gym remained off and the door was barred by a foosball table. Filming a cellphone video while committing the assault was a deliberate act of debasement.”

The prosecutor said that the boy lied to Mary in the following months, while simultaneously sharing the video.

“This was neither a childish misinterpretation of the situation, nor was it a misunderstanding,” the prosecutor wrote. “G.M.C.’s behavior was calculated and cruel.”

In an interview, Christopher J. Gramiccioni, the county prosecutor said, “This is conduct that should be punished in adult court.”

“We subscribe to the idea that the juvenile system is supposed to be rehabilitative,” he said. “But when you’re dealing with charges as serious as these, it’s a whole different ball of wax.”

Mitchell J. Ansell, a lawyer for the teenage boy, did not return requests for comment.

Mr. Gramiccioni said New Jersey has a progressive juvenile system: Juvenile cases are not shown to juries, juvenile records are kept from public view and sentences are typically more lenient than when a person is tried as an adult.

A recent law made it illegal to try defendants younger than 15 as adults.

On July 30, 2018, Judge Troiano denied the waiver to try the teenager as an adult, arguing that prosecutors had abused their discretion.

Judge Troiano said there was a “distinction” between “a sexual assault and a rape.”

He said “the traditional case of rape” generally involved two or more males using a gun or weapon to corner a victim into an abandoned house, shed or shack, “and just simply taking advantage of the person as well as beating the person, threatening the person.”

It was under those egregious circumstances, he said, that the state would try a juvenile in adult court.
He delved into the facts of the case, questioning “whether or not this young lady was intoxicated to the point that she didn’t understand what was going on.”

He said the boy’s actions were not sophisticated or predatory, and dismissed G.M.C.’s text messages as “just a 16-year-old kid saying stupid crap to his friends.”
[....]
The appellate decision criticized the judge, writing that rather than focusing on whether prosecutors met the necessary standards for a waiver, “the judge decided the case for himself.”

The judge overstepped in deconstructing the circumstances of the case, making his own assessment of the boy’s culpability and considering the defendant’s prior good character, the appellate panel said.

“His consideration of these elements, however, sounded as if he had conducted a bench trial on the charges rather than neutrally reviewed the State’s application,” the panel said.
[....]

 
Good thing both of these judges' rulings were overturned. They are despicable and I'm more appalled about the female judge who "...denied a motion to try the teenager as an adult and said that “beyond losing her virginity, the State did not claim that the victim suffered any further injuries, either physical, mental or emotional.” The victim was 12 years old, FFS! It's not rocket science to assume she suffered in all those aspects! Throw her off the bench and into a sewer plant. :(
 
A good family has no bearing on the criminal leniency to a member who has broken the law.
You get judged by your own actions. Clearly the judge doesn't grasp that.

I give zero fucks if a boy comes from a good fam. He was a criminal and his actions have negatively impacted upon another. Time to pay the piper.

Judge needs to be bounced off the bench pronto and have previous decisions reviewed.

Conversely, I'm now forced to wonder how many teenagers has he thrown the full force of the law at for first offence nonviolent crimes because they come from what he perceives as "a bad family"?
The only bench this "judge" fit for occupying is one at a bus stop.
 
Troiano went on to question whether the rape victim and her family had understood “the devastating effect” that pressing charges would have “on G.M.C.’s life.”

Did the judge question the devastating effect the rape had on the victim.

He is blaming her consciously or subconsciously for getting raped.

I do not know the operations of the judge's mind but he sure makes it seem like G.M.C. had no agency over his penis.
 
This "he comes from a good family" horseshit pisses me off. Doesn't that sorta indicate that this turdbucket had a far better shot at knowing how wrong he was? Rather than being given a break for "coming from a good family" shouldn't the penalties be harsher? :shifty:
 
The judges and the perpetrator AND his scumbag family are all disgusting trash and i firmly believe they all have either done things or viewed things online that should land them on a sex offender registry. This can not be argued.
 
@Satanica
The New Jersey judge who refused to try a 16-year-old boy who was accused of rape as an adult — because he comes from a “good family” — has decided to step down, according to officials.

The state Supreme Court granted Judge James Troiano’s request to resign on Wednesday and terminated his services effective immediately.

The longtime family court judge reportedly retired in 2012, but was still hearing cases on a part-time basis in Monmouth County Superior Court.

He had been assigned to a case last year involving a 16-year-old boy who allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl while she was intoxicated — and sent a video of the assault to his friends — when Troiano made his controversial comments.

“This young man comes from a good family who put him into an excellent school where he was doing extremely well,” the judge said at the time. “He is clearly a candidate for not just college but probably for a good college.”

Troiano got bombarded with death threats after word got out about the proceeding, with some reportedly calling him “a bigot” and “detriment to this country.” He is one of two judges to be removed from the bench this week.

The state’s court system on Wednesday announced the launch of a sex crime training program for all judges.

“The program will focus on an enhancement of existing training for judges in the areas of sexual assault, domestic violence, implicit bias, and diversity,” said Judge Glenn A. Grant, acting administrative director of the New Jersey Courts, in a press release. “Superior Court judges (including all recall judges), Tax Court judges, Appellate Division judges, and Supreme Court justices will participate in this training session. A similar mandatory training will be scheduled for all Municipal Court judges.”

State officials hope the education conferences “will serve to enhance understanding of the complexities and nuances associated with sexual assault, sex offenses, and domestic violence matters and to raise awareness of the impact of implicit bias on decision-making, while providing skills for judges to recognize and respond to their preconceptions.”

“The programs also will train judges in effective communication skills that will aid them in delivering clear decisions that are rooted in the law, respectful of victims, and understandable to the public while protecting the rights of the accused,” Grant said. In addition to the statewide education conferences, within six months, and annually thereafter, each vicinage will hold local training sessions for judges to ensure that local court environments reflect and support our Judiciary-wide values. This annual training, developed in partnership with local subject matter experts, also will be mandatory for all judges. Judiciary staff will receive similar mandatory training.”
 
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