LAWYER NO LONGER QUESTIONS STATE POLICE APPOINTEE'S CONDUCT

A defense lawyer who had questioned the conduct of Joseph J.
Santiago, Gov. James E. McGreevey's nominee to head the New Jersey
State Police, said yesterday he was now convinced Mr. Santiago had
done nothing wrong in a trial of two police officers in December 2000.

In a letter to Mr. McGreevey on Tuesday, the Judiciary Committee of
the State Senate said its main concern was a newspaper report at the
time of the trial that Mr. Santiago, the director of the Newark
Police Department, might have had an improper discussion with
officers who were potential witnesses in the case of two Newark
police officers accused of planting drugs on a suspect.

The committee also asked for more information on Mr. Santiago's
record. In the last decade, he has had a disorderly persons
conviction and a related lawsuit against him, a second charge pressed
by a Newark police officer, a personal bankruptcy and at least one
other lawsuit.

The defense lawyer, Joseph A. Ferrante of Newark, suggested at the
officers' trial 13 months ago that the police director had acted
improperly in admonishing other officers about their testimony.

"Some people thought it might border on intimidation," Mr. Ferrante
said in an interview yesterday, "but in reality, after I spoke to him
about it, he was just saying, `Be honest, if a guy did something
wrong, don't say he's a great guy.' "

He added: "He has a zero-tolerance policy for police brutality. I
think he'll be a great state police director." The two officers were
acquitted of the most serious charges.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said that they had no
response yet from the governor's office and had not scheduled a
hearing on the nomination. Mr. Santiago has promised to provide any
information requested by the committee.

Mr. Santiago has visited the governor twice in the last two days,
although Mr. McGreevey has declined to discuss the visits. Late
yesterday, Mr. Santiago was on his way to the governor's mansion, and
did not respond to a message relayed to him by the mayor's office.

The state police unions, angry at the nomination of an outsider as
superintendent, are deciding whether to formally oppose Mr. Santiago,
union officials said. "Obviously he was not our first choice," said
Sgt. Dennis Hallion, the president of the sergeants' union. "But
until we know more, we're just leaving the door open," he added.

Mr. Santiago is supported by civil rights groups that say only an
outsider, and a strong disciplinarian, can make the changes necessary
to eliminate racial profiling by the state police. The issue has been
especially volatile since two troopers who shot and wounded three
unarmed men on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1998 pleaded guilty on
Monday to reduced charges, in a deal sparing them prison sentences or
probation.

"We've got to stop allowing the state police members to act as though
the state police are their organization and their club," the Rev.
Reginald T. Jackson, the executive director of the Black Ministers
Council of New Jersey, said yesterday.

Mr. Jackson spoke at a news conference in Trenton at which the
council protested the plea agreement and demanded new hearings on
racial profiling. The troopers said in court that they had been
coached by superiors to single out minority drivers.

A spokesman for Attorney General David Samson said yesterday that Mr.
Samson had just received the transcript of the plea-bargain
proceedings. "We will review the transcript and other materials to
see if there is sufficient evidence of intentional criminal
behavior," said the spokesman, Roger Shatzkin.

Mr. Santiago's disorderly persons conviction stems from a 1992 fight
with a corrections officer at the Essex County jail. The officer,
Sgt. Joseph Bruno, was a co-worker of Mr. Santiago's fiancee, who
summoned Mr. Santiago when she got into a dispute with Sergeant
Bruno, according to court documents.

Sergeant Bruno claimed Mr. Santiago had punched him repeatedly
without provocation and knocked him down, causing a knee injury. Mr.
Santiago contended the sergeant had shoved him first. Both men were
convicted. Mr. Santiago was fined $1,000 and sentenced to 30 days of
community service. Two years later, Mr. Santiago was charged with
threatening a subordinate and convicted in municipal court, but the
conviction was dismissed.