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“I realize we live in a technologically innovative society,” Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Roma said. “But in the context of this trial, I don’t know if this should be used as a means of bringing people’s testimony to the courtroom when they could otherwise be available.
“Having witnesses present in the courtroom is helpful.”
Roma’s concerns included the limits of the technology, the violation of standard court protocol, and a lack of uniform procedures for such a process in New Jersey.
The boys were brought to what was called “Camp Rivlin,” and stayed at the rabbi’s home in 2009 and 2010, under the sponsorship of an organization that he founded.
Prosecutors said he fondled and masturbated the boys and forced them to masturbate him. The 13 charges against Rivlin , 65, also include two counts of impairing the morals of a minor.
The FBI summoned local authorities here after the boys went to Israel police separately after returning from the U.S., Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said when his detectives and Teaneck police arrested Rivlin in August 2011. The rabbi has remained free on $175,000 bail since then.
Rivlin, of Congregation Beth Aaron, launched The Scholarship Fund for the Advancement of Children in Israel (Keren Milgot) more than 17 years ago. Through the program, hundreds of youngsters stayed with host American families and attended Camp Moshava, an Orthodox Zionist camp in Pennsylvania.
Many came from troubled or terribly poor homes; some were orphans. Two attended Yeshiva University, while others went to local yeshivas in North Jersey and New York, including the Torah Academy of Bergen County in Teaneck. One, a foster child, made his bar mitzvah at the Jewish Center of Teaneck while staying at “Camp Rivlin.”
Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Demetra Maurice opposed a request earlier this week by defense attorney Howard Simmons to have four witnesses for Rivlin testify from a courthouse in Tel Aviv.
“These witnesses just don’t want to disrupt their lives,” she said.
Maurice also pointed to points of law, as well.
“It’s a given in our system of [justice] that testimony is given in person,” she said, noting that exceptions are usually made only when someone is critically ill and could suffer health effects from coming to court.
She cited a state Appellate Division decision reversing a ruling because a 94-year old victim testified by video without evidence presented that it was medically necessary.
Maurice also said that with Skype “you can see the appearance or demeanor of the witness, but you can’t see their surroundings. Is there someone else there, are they repeating something, are they being coached? When someone testifies in person, they come into the courtroom alone, the jury can see everything. Skype does not allow this.”
Simmons contented that members of the defense team “don’t have the funds to buy four more plane tickets.”
“Have you submitted any financial statements?” Roma responded. “Your client is not indigent, he hired you.
“If you’re going down that road, expect to be vetted and questioned as to all information. There has been no representation made to the court to being unable to pay.”
The judge also cited the limits of a Skype hookup, including a degraded signal over a long period of time.
Roma also took issue with a separate request by Simmons to delay the start of the trial by 48 hours so he could obtain family services records from Israel, which the defense attorney said could show that one of the victims had a troubled history.
With a jury already selected, the judge said, “I can’t keep entertaining 11th-hour requests.
“You had a year and a half to develop this evidence,” Roma told Simmons. “It almost approaches being disingenuous with the court.”
Opening arguments in the case are scheduled to begin June 3.
By Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter
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