Even for August, the federal court complex in Newark has been eerily quiet over the past week. Trials adjourned. Guilty pleas put on hold. Hearings canceled, to be rescheduled once the confusion passes.
The court has all but reached a standstill — and may stay there for months — after a judge raised questions about the legitimacy of New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor, Alina Habba.
Ms. Habba, a former personal lawyer to President Trump, has led the U.S. attorney’s office since late March, courting controversy as she pursued high-profile cases against local Democrats.
Last month, the Justice Department resorted to an extraordinary series of legal maneuvers to keep her in office. Last week, a judge ruled that those moves had been unconstitutional and said that Ms. Habba had not been the lawful leader of the office since July 1.
Had the judge’s order taken effect immediately, Ms. Habba would have been disqualified from participating in ongoing cases. But the judge, Matthew W. Brann of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, placed on hold any effect of his ruling pertaining to Ms. Habba, so that an appeals court could consider the case.
Nonetheless, the courts are bracing for the possibility that any proceedings Ms. Habba has touched, or those involving prosecutors she supervises, could be challenged by defense lawyers.
Ms. Habba could reduce the risk to current and future cases by recusing herself until the appeals court makes a decision, but has thus far declined to do so. In response, judges are delaying all manner of proceedings, often to avoid the possibility that they might be thrown out entirely if Judge Brann’s ruling is upheld.
The appeals process is likely to take some time. In a brief filed with the appeals court this week, Justice Department officials said that they had reached a scheduling agreement with the defense lawyers who had challenged Ms. Habba’s legitimacy. On Wednesday, the court accepted the agreement, indicating that oral arguments on the appeal will not take place until late October or early November.
Ms. Habba did not respond to messages left at her office seeking comment about the districtwide stagnation in criminal cases.
The delays are wreaking havoc on those whose lives are bound up in the New Jersey court system.
Juan Rivera-Sanchez, of Irvington, N.J., was led into court Wednesday afternoon by U.S. marshals, hoping to resolve a gun possession charge from 2023 and be freed. He had pleaded guilty to a lesser charge last week and has already spent 19 months in jail since his arrest — a penalty that the judge acknowledged in court was within the appropriate range, according to the plea agreement.
His older sister, Nitza Sepulveda, had traveled from Pennsylvania to be with him in court. She carried a bag with a change of clothes, hopeful that he would be released in time for dinner, as planned.
Instead, the judge refused to hold a final hearing on the terms of his bail, in part because his co-defendant’s plea hearing had been canceled the day before.
“I don’t want to come back — I’m done!” Mr. Rivera-Sanchez, dressed in a drab green jail uniform, said as he shook his head vigorously.
“I love you,” he said over his shoulder to his sister as he was led away by the marshals.
“I love you, too,” Ms. Sepulveda answered.
“I’ve lost hope,” she said outside court. “You think, ‘He’s coming out.’ Now I have to go tell my 13 grandkids he’s not.”
New Jersey’s chief judge, Renée Marie Bumb, did not reply to several requests for comment about the widespread court cancellations or whether she had offered guidance to judges as the matter is brought before the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. A representative for the court clerk said that no districtwide directive had been filed.
But the collective, statewide confusion was unmistakable.
“There’s a great deal of uncertainty,” said Michael Baldassare, a criminal defense lawyer with cases pending in federal court. “Unfortunately, we are in uncharted territory, and past experience provides no road map.”
On Tuesday, criminal defense lawyers in New Jersey held an informational Zoom meeting to discuss the status of the litigation involving Ms. Habba and strategies for handling pending criminal cases.
“I have clients who want to go forward,” said Thomas Ambrosio, a defense lawyer who recently had a murder trial postponed by two months, over his objections.
Another of his clients appeared less upset on Wednesday by the court’s logjam.
She was there for a status conference regarding a violation of supervised release. But the judge, Brian Martinotti, abruptly canceled the hearing after holding a brief, closed-door meeting with the lawyers who were present.
That delayed her next court date by at least 10 weeks. She declined to comment but seemed pleased by the outcome.
The politics of the situation are complicated. The district court judges who are now adjourning cases, waiting for guidance from an appeals court, were the ones who declined to extend Ms. Habba’s tenure as the state’s top federal prosecutor. As Ms. Habba’s short-term appointment was coming to an end, the judges instead selected Desiree L. Grace, a veteran prosecutor, to take over as U.S. attorney.
But Ms. Grace was immediately fired by the Justice Department as it moved to keep Ms. Habba in charge, setting in motion the legal uncertainty now plaguing the District of New Jersey.
Most of the hearings are being canceled in advance, before the parties arrive at court. But on Tuesday, Antone Poindexter traveled to Newark from Long Island, prepared to plead guilty to an offense stemming from a 2021 indictment on drug distribution charges.
In a whisper, as he waited for the judge to enter the courtroom, he told his lawyer that he was nervous. “If you weren’t nervous, you’d be insane,” the lawyer, Daniel J. Welsh, said.
Then a courtroom deputy, Amy Andersonn, approached and explained that the judge, Madeline Cox Arleo, was unlikely to proceed with the hearing, citing Judge Brann’s ruling last week.
“There’s been a new directive internally,” Ms. Andersonn said.
Minutes later, Judge Arleo took the bench and confirmed that she was canceling the hearing, but said she would permit Mr. Poindexter, who is in a drug-treatment program, to remain free on bail.
“In light of the uncertainty around the authority of the U.S. attorney, I think it would be prudent to adjourn,” Judge Arleo said.
The prosecutor objected to the defendant’s remaining free, arguing that he had been stopped in New York carrying a large amount of prescription drugs.
The judge countered that Mr. Poindexter would be more apt to remain clean and sober outside of jail, but she warned him that he would get no more chances.
“If he has a drug problem,” she told the prosecutor, “the best place for him is in treatment.”
Tracey Tully is a reporter for The Times who covers New Jersey, where she has lived for more than 20 years.
Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in the New York region for The Times. He is focused on political influence and its effect on the rule of law in the area’s federal and state courts.
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