Thompson v. Bd. of Trs., Judicial Ret. Sys.
| Decision Date | 03 June 2019 |
| Docket Number | DOCKET NO. A-4320-17T1 |
| Parties | STEPHEN W. THOMPSON, Petitioner-Appellant, v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES, JUDICIAL RETIREMENT SYSTEM, Respondent-Respondent. |
| Court | New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division |
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.
Before Judges Geiger and Enright.
On appeal from the Board of Trustees of the Judicial Retirement System, Department of the Treasury, Docket No. 6-614.
Brian A. Pelloni argued the cause for appellant (Hornstine & Pelloni, LLC, attorneys; Brian A. Pelloni, on the briefs).
Robert S. Garrison, Jr., Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent (Gurbir S. Grewal, Attorney General, attorney; Melissa H. Raksa, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; Robert S. Garrison, Jr., on the brief).
Petitioner Stephen W. Thompson appeals from a final decision of the State House Commission, sitting as the Board of Trustees (Board) for the Judicial Retirement System (JRS), to forfeit his entire JRS account as dishonorable. We affirm.
The following facts are not in dispute. Following his graduation from college, Thompson voluntarily enlisted in the Army. He commenced service in January 1968, and graduated from Officer Candidate School in November 1968, as a second lieutenant. He was deployed to Vietnam on July 4, 1969, as an infantry platoon leader.
Thompson's platoon was immediately and continuously engaged in direct combat. On July 29, 1969, Thompson was gravely injured; he sustained twenty rounds of automatic fire at point-blank range, resulting in the loss of his right leg, bladder, penis, testicles, and seven inches of height.
Thompson endured a lengthy and complicated recovery, spending months in intensive care at a hospital in Japan, where he repeatedly came close to death and suffered serious complications. He was subsequently transferred to WalterReed Army Medical Center, where he spent over two years undergoing multiple surgeries during his recovery and rehabilitation.
Thompson was awarded a Silver Star for gallantry in action, a Purple Heart decoration for being wounded in action, and a Vietnam Service Medal. He was honorably discharged in May 1972.
Thompson then attended and graduated from law school and was admitted to the Bar of New Jersey in December 1975. His public service began in 1979, when he was appointed Haddon Township municipal prosecutor. Thompson was appointed as the Township's municipal court judge the following year.
Thereafter, Thompson served as an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) from 1984 until he was appointed to the Superior Court Judge on July 7, 1989. He served in that capacity until April 30, 2003, when he was arrested and suspended without pay from his judicial duties. Thompson's arrest and suspension stemmed from an investigation relating to child pornography, which led to the issuance and execution of search warrants on his homes in Avalon and Haddon Township.
The search of the Avalon residence yielded thousands of images of child pornography in both electronic and print form; it also uncovered films of child pornography in digital, videocassette, and 8mm format. At Thompson's HaddonTownship residence, investigators seized a videotape containing images of a prepubescent male child masturbating and being anally penetrated, and a computer containing numerous images of child pornography. The videocassette seized from Thompson's video camera depicted a young male engaging in sexually explicit conduct at Thompson's direction. The footage also captured Thompson performing fellatio on the child. The forty-minute long videotape was recorded during Thompson's five-day trip to St. Petersburg, Russia in September 2002.
On May 21, 2003, Thompson submitted his retirement application as a Superior Court Judge. Thompson sought to make his retirement effective April 30, 2003. Upon receipt of the letter, the Board treated the early retirement application as being effective June 1, 2003. At that point, Thompson had accrued judicial service of thirteen years and ten months and non-judicial service of thirteen years. If awarded retirement for his total service, Thompson would have received $51,916.19 annually, based on 36.82 percent of his final annual salary of $141,000. The Board voted to hold Thompson's retirement application in abeyance until his criminal charges were resolved.1
The State's charges were superseded by a federal indictment, which charged Thompson with knowingly and willfully possessing child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B) and (2); and knowingly and willfully employing, using, inducing, enticing, or coercing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct, for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct, which was transported in interstate and foreign commerce, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a) and (d), and (2). The criminal complaint alleged Thompson possessed child pornography "[o]n or about April 30, 2003, at Avalon," and undertook actions to engage a minor in sexually explicit conduct "[f]rom on or about September 20, 2002, through on or about April 30, 2003, at Avalon."
Thompson pleaded not guilty and asserted an insanity defense.2 "[T]he core of Thompson's insanity defense . . . was that he did not understand the moral wrongfulness of his actions." United States v. Thompson, 310 Fed. App'x 485, 486 (3d Cir. 2008). Tried to a jury in federal District Court, Thompsonwas found guilty of sexual exploitation of a minor and not guilty by reason of insanity of possession of child pornography.3 Thompson was sentenced to the ten-year mandatory minimum prison term,4 followed by a three-year term of supervised release. He was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine and to register as a sex offender with State authorities. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Thompson's conviction. Ibid.
Attorney ethics charges were also levied against Thompson. The Office of Attorney Ethics (OAE) recommended disbarment based on Thompson's criminal conviction. The charges were then considered by the Disciplinary Review Board (DRB) pursuant to Rule 1:20-13(c)(2). The DRB agreed with the OAE's recommendation. In its decision filed with the Supreme Court pursuant to Rule 1:20-13(c), the DRB recommended that Thompson be disbarred based on his conviction for the sexual exploitation of a minor in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251A(a) and (2), conduct that violated RPC 8.4(b) ().5 Disciplinary Review Bd. v. Thompson, DRB 08-059, final decision, (Oct. 21, 2008), http://njlaw.rutgers.edu/collections/drb/decisions/08-059.pdf; In re Thompson, 197 N.J. 464, 464 (2009). The Supreme Court adopted the DRB's recommendation, disbarring Thompson effective January 29, 2009. Thompson, 197 N.J. at 464.
Thompson was released from incarceration on June 11, 2014; he renewed his retirement benefits application six months later. The Board rendered a decision to forfeit Thompson's "entire JRS service and salary credit as dishonorable." The Board determined that Thompson's actions "constituted a high degree of moral turpitude," and "violated the public trust." The Board concluded "[t]he misconduct was ongoing and resulted in the suspension of [his] judgeship." It noted Thompson admitted his "conduct was deplorable." TheBoard found Thompson's misconduct was "egregious" and "severely discredited the judiciary system."
Thompson challenged the forfeiture, and the matter was then transmitted to the Office of Administrative Law for hearing as a contested case. Both parties agreed to submit the matter for summary decision pursuant to N.J.A.C. 1:1-12.5. The ALJ concluded the gravity of Thompson's misconduct warranted total forfeiture. The ALJ's initial decision was not modified by the Board. As a result, it was adopted as the Board's final decision by operation of law. N.J.S.A. 52:14B-10(c). This appeal followed.
Thompson argues:
Appellate courts serve a "limited role" in reviewing administrative agency decisions. In re Stallworth, 208 N.J. 182, 194 (2011) (quoting Henry v. Rahway State Prison, 81 N.J. 571, 579 (1980)). We will not overturn an agency decision "unless there is a clear showing that it is arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable, or that it lacks fair support in the record." Stein v. Dep't of Law & Pub. Safety, 458 N.J. Super. 91, 99 (App. Div. 2019) (quoting J.B. v. N.J. State Parole Bd., 229 N.J. 21, 43 (2017)). Nor will we overturn an agency decision merely because we would have come to a different conclusion. Stallworth, 208 N.J. at 194. Richardson v. Bd. of Trs., Police & Firemen's Ret. Sys., 192 N.J. 189, 196 (2007) (quoting In re Taylor, 158 N.J. 644, 658 (1999)).
A public employee must provide "honorable service" to receive pension or retirement...
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