SUPERIOR COURT OE NEW JERSEYLAW DIVISION, BURL]NGTON COUNTYINDICTMENT NO. 1O_08-0866A.D. # a-004052-t2 T4

STATE OE NEW JERSEY )

TRANSCRI PTVS. ) OF

PLEA AND SENTENC]NGEDWARD FORCHION )

Place: Burlington County Courts Facility49 Rancocas RoadMount Ho11y, New uTersey

Date: Tuesday, March 12, 20!3

BEFORE:

THE HONORABLE CHARLES A. DELEHEY, J.S.C., R€tired

TRANSCRIPT ORDERED BY:

CLAIRE DRUGACH, ESQ. (Office of the PubIic Defender)

APPEARANCES:

MICHAEL V. LUCIANO, Assistant Prosecutorfor Burlington CountyAttorney for the State

DONALD M. ACKERMAN, ESQ.(Office of the Publi-c Defender)Attorney for the Defendant

Colleen M. Kisielewski, CCR, CRRLicense No. XI001056Fourth Floor, 49 Rancocas RoadMount Ho11y, New Jersey 08060

SIJPEF. IOR COI.fRT OE- NEW .TERSEYI,AW DIVT S ION, BIJF.I, INGTON COTJNT:TINDICTMENT NO. 1O-OA_O466A.D. #

STATE OE' NEI^7 JER.SE:' )TRANSCF. I PT

VS- ) OE-PT,EA AND SENTENCI\IG

EDWARD FORCHION )

Paace: Br1 rJ-ingrton Col.rntlz Cor-arEs FaciaiElz49 Rancocas R.oadMount Hol--l-1z, New. Jerse)z

Da..tre: Tu.esdaY, MarcLr a2, 2O1-3

BEFOR.E:

T!HE HONOR-ABI,E CHAII'I,ES A. DEI,EHEY, J.S.C., REtiTECI

TR-ANSCF.T PT ORDEB.ED B:':

cLAIRE DR-LIGACH, ESQ - (Of f ice of ttre Pub.aie Def en<ler )

APPEARANCES:

MICHAEL V - LIJCIANO, Assistant Prosectatorf or Br-rr-l- ingrton Cor-r.ntlzAEtorne}/ for the Sta.tre

DONAI,D M . ACKER.MAN, ESQ .(Office of Lfle Pr-rb-Iic Defencler)

Attornefz f or tfre De f endant

Coaf een M - Kisieaewsl<i, CCR, CR.Rr.icerr.se No - xIoo1056E-oL1 rEh E-f oor '

49 R.ancocas R.oaclMoL]'nE IIoaalz, New Jerse], oa o 6o

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EXIdent

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31 THE COURT: This is the matter of State2 versus Edward R. Forchion. It is Indictment.3 2010-08-0866, prosecutor's file 20L0-1082.4 Mr. Luciano appears for the State.5 Mr. Forchion appears pro se with the assistance of6 Mr. Ackerman of the public defender's office.7 Sentence was imposed on this matter on8 January L6, 2000, it says !2 but should have been 73,9 January L6, 2073. The defendant having been placed on

10 probation, it is alleged that he failed to report to11 the probation department as directed and he is charged12 with a violati-on of probation.13 Mr. Forchj-on or Mr. Ackerman, how do you14 plead to this matter?15 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, Your Honor, I did not16 report.L7 THE COURT: I didn't ask whether you didn't18 report, I asked how you pled, guilty or not guilty?19 THE DEEENDANT: Guilty.20 THE COURT: The plea of guilty is accepted.27 You may be seated, Mr. Eorchion.22 Mr. Luciano, do you wish to be heard for any23 reason?24 MR. LUCIANO: Judge, Do, I'II l-eave it in the25 Court's discretion as to the sentence.

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1 Just when you sentence Mr. Forchion, I2 Lhought you made the point he seems to get involved in3 these nickel and dime confrontations for no reason.4 The only reason we're here is the defendant had to go5 across the street and simply fill out some paperwork6 pri-or to his going back to hls home state. There7 weren't even conditions, he was allowed to smoke8 marijuana on his probation. So certainly no onerous9 conditions. I would urge that there be some period of

10 i-ncarceration, Judge, j-mposed on Mr. Forchion.11 THE COURT: Mr. Ackerman.t2 MR. ACKERMAN: Judge, it would be my request13 that you suspend any sentence as of today.1"4 Judge, I have a letter from his treating15 physician, now this was December 20, 2072 which16 lndj-cated that he had begun treatments on August 20,Ll 20L2, he had been compliant with all of his treatments.18 That was obviously up unt11 the end of January when he19 got incarcerated. It indicates that the treatment he's20 getting can be effective has proven to be effective27 i-n this rare condition and that treatment would be22 anywhere from 6 to 12 months, whlch means it would be23 completed by August 20L3.24 So I would ask that Your Honor suspend his25 sentence today, whatever sentence you impose until

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August and set a date maybe in early September. He

shoul-d be done with hopefully with his treatments.If for any reason I get a letter from the doctorindicating that the treatments have to be extended, Iwould, of course, immediately present it to the Courtprior to that date.

Thank you, Your Honor.THE COURT: Mr. Forchion, do you wish to be

heard before the Court i-mposes sentence?THE DEFENDANT: I'd like to apologize, Your

Honor, for not reporting. I had I guess the wrongassumption. I thought f was going to file a motion forreconsideration and for some reason I thought I had 30days to do that. And it wasn't an attempt to snub theCourt. f've made every single court appearance sinceI've been here, pretty much since this case started. Ifollowed I think every rul-e f was supposed to fo1low.Like I said, it was, I don't know, one of them times Iwas too smart for myself and made a mistake.

THE COURT: The Court sentenced Mr. Forchi-onoriginally on January 16, 20t3 by virtue of his plea ofguilty to a viol-ation of probation. The Court todayvacates that sentence.

At the time that it sentenced Mr. Forchionthe Court made these remarks:

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In vj-ewing Mr. Forchion, the Court does notknow whether the defendant is an enigma or a personalparadox, it can't determine. His record, standinga1one, suggests that he's a dyed-in-the-woolrecidivist, yet his record discloses nothing of themore serious crimes which concern the community.

You may be seated, Mr. Forchion.He does not fit among that group of criminal-s

that incl-ude murderers, rapists and gun-wieldingrobbers. He is an intelligent and articulate person.And it is hard to understand why he insists uponunnecessary confrontation over trj-vial matters, such asa failure to have a dog on a leash, twice failing toget a license for the dog and preaching the peace andimproper behavior. His convictions may be the }ack ofa regard for the law or the result of strongly heldbeliefs in the legalization of marijuana. His recordsuggests that he will continue to be involved j-n minorskirmi-shes of the law.

Age may be catching up with him. He's now48. And that factor and his health may bring about a

change. But that's only a question on this judge'spart. He may wetl continue to be an irritant to thecommunity and to law enforcement. None the less, he isnot a hardened, violent crimina1.

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Accordingly, the Court determines thatprobation rather than a prison sentence is theappropriate sanction. The defendant has, in hisarticul-ate and subtle fashion, suggested to this Courtthat if he were in prison, that the State might incurmedical- expenses for surgery whil-e he's in prison. TheCourt ignores that argument.

Mr. Forchion has long suffered from a tumorin the thigh. That tumor is apparently benign butpainful. And he has undergone experimental treatmentand continues to do so in Cal-ifornia. Apparently thattreatment is producing results. And Mr. Forchion, whoat one time could not run or jump because of the painin his l.g, is now apparently abl-e to do that. Thattreatment is to continue from this day forward and itis the Court's hope that it continues to resolve hisproblems.

And with that, the Court placed the defendanton probation.

The defendant having been placed onprobation, he was handed a simple copy of the court'sminutes. Written in the left-hand margin by the clerkwas this note, Go to the fifth floor and to 50 RancocasRoad. And that was handed to him by Ms. Pray, thecourt's clerk. He ignored it. He did not go to 50

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Rancocas, nor did he go to the fifth floor.Today he tells the Court that maybe he got

confused and he was thinking of fiting a motion forreconsi-deration. Reconsideration of what? He wasgiven a probationary sentence, it couldn't get anylighter than that. He was given the opportunity to goto California for treatment and the Court ordered thetransfer of the probationary supervision to Los AngelesCounty. The Court had done everything for him otherthan give him the keys to the city. So the excuse thathe was thinking about filing a motion forreconsideration, this Court considers pure hogwash.

The Court has, since the defendant was placedor charged with a violation of probation, receivedl-etters, all of them will be marked together as oneexhibit, Court Exhibit 1. One l-etter is fromDr. Stephen Feni-che1, F-E-N-I-C-H-E-L, which explainsthat Mr. Forchion's bone pain has now returned and thathe's in need of treatment. It was only a month or sobefore that Dr. Eenichel testified in this court thathe was making great progress and that the pain had beenrelieved.

The Court received, vi-a Mr. Ackerman, aletter from Dr. Sant, S-A-N-T, Chawla, C-H-A-W-L-A, aphysician in Los Angles who has been treating

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Mr. Forchlon in an experimental- giant cel1 tumorprogram. The doctor explains that if Mr- Eorchionmi=se= his next treatment, then he will- no longer be inthe program. The court received from Mr. Eorchion twoIetters, the first one was received on February 18. Itreads as follows:

Unc1e, uncle, okay. I'm done resisting, Ineed care. Mr. Luciano cal-Is me a charlatan. I'm a

legitimate bone cancer patient and this unlustimprisonment is having a disastrous effect on mycondition. The l-etter goes on and the Court won't readall- of it.

On February 22 the Court received a letterfrom Mr. Eorchion: Please, please, I admit I'marrogant sometimes and should just shut up sometimesbut I don't deserve this imprisonment. I was notabsconding, f was going to my cancer treatment and I am

under and I was under the wrong impression that T

had 30 days to file a motion for reconsideration.The bottom of it reads: Sorry, please, allow

me to be released for treatment. Ioption on my heal-th.

A11 of those documents wilsame Court exhibit.

have a very limited

I be part of the

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10(C-1, Packet of l-etters marked as an exhibit

in evidence. )

THE COURT: Mr. Forchion has played hishealth with this Court as if it were a Stradivarius.The Court has repeatedly given him time to go toCalifornia for treatment, it has accommodated him inany way possible. Now the Court is told that he's inpain and that he needs treatment -

The Court recalls that at the time ofsentence he suggested to the Court that if he weren'tallowed to go to California, the State of New Jerseywould incur a l-ot of expenses for his treatment. Thecourt ignored that argument then and it ignores it now.

Mr. Forchion has, as the Court thought mighthappen, continued to ignore all the rul-es. He nowleaves the Court with no choice. He has punched hisown ticket. The time for excuses is al-l over. TheCourt can do nothing more than impose a sentence.

The sentence of January 16, 20L3 having beenvacated, the Court makes the same finding ofaggravating factors, it notes the risk that thedefendant wil_I reoffend as evidenced by 40 arrests andmatters in the familY court.

It notes aggravating factor number six, hiscriminal record, 1,4 municipat court convictions, five

111 upper court convictions. And it noLes the obvious need2 t-o deter.3 The Court finds no mitigating factors. It4 does note the conditi-on of his heal-th. The Court5 concludes that the aggravating factors outweigh the6 mitigating factors and none of that seems to be very7 important any longer in the law as the result of aB United States Supreme Court decision.9 Accordingly, it is the sentence and judgment

10 of this Court that wi-th respect to count two of the11 indictment, possession of mariiuana in a quantity of72 more than 50 grams, a fourth degree offense, that the13 defendant be commj-tted to the Burlington CountyL4 correction center or jail for a period of nine months.15 The Court imposes a $50 J-aboratory fee, a $7516 Safe Streets Penalty, a $30 Law Enforcement Training71 fee. The defendant's driving privileges are suspended18 for six months.79 I believe there is a $500 D.E.D.R. penalty20 required as well, dfl I correct?2L MR. LUCIANO: There is, Judge.22 THE COURT: The Court imposes the $50023 MR. LUCIANO: I'm sorry, it's $750.24 THE COURT: $750 drug enforcement penalty.25 The Court does not impose a fine at this time

t21 as it did originally in as much as the Court is2 substituting probation and a fine for imprisonment.3 The defendant is entit}ed to jail credits from April t,4 20L0 to Apr11 5, 2070 and from January 31, 2013 to5 March \2, 2013, a total- of 45 days.6 The Court is mindful of Mr. Forchion's7 medical condition. It does not intend to deny himB treatment. The Court accordingly can, pursuant to Rule9 3:27-10, release him for treatment at any time. Upon

10 receipt of correspondence from his treating doctor as11 to the specific dates of treatment and the recovery12 time after each treatment involved, the Court will-, oD13 application, enter a modified order to the sentence so14 that his treatment will not be canceled or denied him.15 The Court will not require the fiting of a formalLG motion as set forth in the rule but it wil} requireLl that the letter of the treating doctor be delivered to18 the Court with that information. fn as much as this19 judge may not be available for the next week, an20 applicati-on may be made to Judge Covert who will- be27 advised of the Court's sentence here today. That is22 the sentence of the Court.23 Again, Mr. Forchion, the Court advlses you24 that if you think you've been treated unfairly here,25 you have a right of appeal, that right of appeal exists

13l- f or 45 days.2 l4r. Ackerman, has an appeal form been3 completed?4 MR. ACKERMAN: Judge, I'm going to have to...5 THE COURT: And, Mr. Forchion, you're aware6 that you have 45 days to appeal, am I correct?7 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, I do understand that.I MR. LUCIANO: Judge, just so I'm clear, once9 Mr. Forchion has completed his medical treatment, he's

10 to return here to complete his sentence?11 THE COURT: Then he comes back to serve his12 sentence. He's not getting a free skate.13 MR. LUCIANO: Right.14 THE COURT: He goes for treatment, he comes15 back until he's served his sentence, it's an in and out76 proposition.Ll MR. ACKERMAN: Judge, Mr. Eorchion has a1B quick question.L9 THE COURT: Yes.20 THE DEFENDANT: The letter or clarification27 you're talking about from the doctor/ are you saying22 like if the doctor faxes something today or tomorrow23 then I would be released to go to his treatment?24 THE COURT: It depends when he tell-s me the25 treatment is and how long it wil-l- take.

741 THE DEFENDANT: WeII, we've already got that.2 THE COURT: Not the specific date. And I3 don't know how long. T don't know how long the4 recovery process is after the treatment.5 THE DEFENDANT: WelI, the next it's once a5 month it used to be in the beginni-ng of this case it7 was once a week. At this point it's once a month and IB think that this l-etter, the last letter the doctor did9 explain that, that it's once a month.

10 THE COURT: What's the last letter?11 MR. ACKERMAN: All- right. Okay, Judge12 THE COURT: Wait, does he give me a specific13 date?14 THE DEFENDANT: Yes.15 MR. ACKERMAN: Judge, this is the situation.1,6 He says that he missed the treatment on January11 THE COURT: Is this the letter that was sent18 to me on February 26?19 MR. ACKERMAN: Yes, Judge.20 THE COURT: We1l, I've read that one. It27 doesn't give me that specific information. When is the22 next treatment scheduled? How long is it going to take23 him to recover from that treatment? And if he can,24 when is the following one? And when I know that, then25 I'lI order the release

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15THE DEFENDANT: That's what that does say.THE COURT: for that period of time.THE DEFENDANT: The next date it says I

think it says March 25 or somethlng like that.THE COURT: But I don't know the recovery

time.THE DEFENDANT: It's a one-day treatment.THE COURT: I'm finished with the games.

Either the Court is going to be satisfied as the Courthas outlined or there will be no rel-ease, it.'s thatsimple.

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L6CERT]FICATlON

I, COLLEEN M. KISIELEWSKI, CCR, CRR, LicenseNo. XI001056, do Official Court Reporter j-n and for theState of New Jersey, do hereby certify the foregoing tobe prepared in fuI1 compliance with the currentTranscript Format for Judicial Proceedings and is atrue and accurate compressed transcript to the best ofmy knowledge and ability.

^)./. \ .,/( L|t *-- \-\ f,octt_Lt^*c/l May 09, 2013

Official Court ReporterBurlington County Courts Facility