Morristown rape suspect wants 5th lawyer

Judge lashes out after man, 27, seeks attorney who's Spanish-speaking

BY PEGGY WRIGHT
DAILY RECORD
Thursday, April 26, 2007

The trial of a man charged with dragging a woman off a Morristown sidewalk and raping her was put on hold Wednesday after he demanded a new attorney, his fifth in 21 months.

Superior Court Judge Joseph A. Falcone, sitting in Morristown, agreed to relieve the latest lawyer for suspect Joel A. Romero, 27, because Romero refuses to speak to counsel Douglas Del Tufo and claims he does not have "his best interests at heart."

Since he was caught in the act of assaulting a 20-year-old woman on July 10, 2005, Romero has gone through three public defenders and one private lawyer, Del Tufo.

The Morris County Office of the Public Defender is expected to reassign Romero's first lawyer, Jessica Moses, to represent him on multiple charges that include kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault.

Falcone reluctantly let Del Tufo step down from the case while acknowledging that the attorney has been a strong advocate for Romero at court conferences. But Falcone said he did not want to force a trial with built-in attorney-client conflicts as grounds for appeal.

The judge in February set a trial date of May 7, but said Wednesday he would give Romero until May 30 to either accept a plea bargain or go to trial. The Morris County Prosecutor's Office has extended a 30-year plea deal. Falcone said he had been willing to consider a 24-year sentence but upped the offer back to 30 years Wednesday after Romero started making demands, through a Spanish-to-English court interpreter.

I want one who speaks Spanish," said Romero, who is in the United States illegally from Honduras.

"Too bad!" blurted out deputy Public Defender Dolores Mann, who was watching the hearing in court.

"And I want to win the lottery!" the judge snapped at Romero. "You don't run the system. Let me say this again: You don't run the system."

Romero and co-defendant Juan Antonio Amendano, now 25, of Morristown, were charged together on July 10, 2005, with sexually assaulting the victim, a citizen of Great Britain doing an internship in New Jersey. On Tuesday, Amendano accepted a 10-year bargain and pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault as an accomplice to Romero.

A chilling account

In a chilling version of events, Amendano -- an illegal immigrant from Ecuador --said he heard screams and choking sounds while heading home along Lafayette Avenue around 2 a.m. after a night of drinking. He said he followed the noise and saw a man sexually abusing a naked woman. Amendano said he complied with the stranger's request that he hold down the woman while he -- Romero -- continued his assault.

Amendano said he held the woman on her chest and stomach to keep her still but ran when he heard sirens. He was nabbed running away. Romero, police said, was caught in the act of assaulting the victim.

Romero told Falcone Wednesday that he still might plead guilty, but he didn't want to talk about a plea with Del Tufo. Del Tufo, meanwhile, said he had spoken numerous times to Romero, stressed the seriousness of the charges, but that Romero by Wednesday morning would no longer speak to him.

http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 7704260338