| Piscataway officials, family
face off in court
January 30, 2003 By Patrick Jenkins Star-Ledger Staff 732-634-3607 30 Journal Square, 5th Floor Jersey City, NJ 07306 201-459-2800 To submit a Letter to the Editor: eletters@starledger.com The long-running battle between Piscataway officials and the Halper family (Cornell Dairy Farm -- eminent domain dispute) opened on a new front yesterday in a municipal courtroom in South Plainfield. During the first day of a municipal court trial, Clara Halper testified that former Township Council President Mark Hardenburg hurt her last summer when he tried to wrest a video camera from her grip following a contentious council meeting on August 27, 2002. Her accusation stems from a confrontation between the Halpers, Hardenburg, and Councilman James Huben at the meeting, one of a series of hostilities between the family and the council since the township began condemnation proceedings against their 75-acre farm in 1998. Halper filed harassment charges against Hardenburg after the incident, and the trial was moved from Piscataway to South Plainfield because township officials are involved. Halper said Hardenburg first grabbed the video camera she held with his right hand and tried to pull it from her, than added his left hand and tried to pull it away again, hurting her hands. He didn't stop until her husband, Larry Halper, got between them and pulled the camera away, Halper said. Clara and Larry Halper are members of the family that co-own the [Cornell family] farm and her charge against Hardenburg is an outgrowth of the bitter enmity that has developed between the family and the council. According to Clara Halper's testimony, the meeting was over and she had the camera while Huben and her husband were arguing on the other side of the council room. She was trying to turn the camera off when Huben came over to her. Then, she said, Huben yelled "grab the camera" and Hardenburg confronted her and tried to do so, hurting her hands. Her testimony was corroborated by John Costello of River Road, who said he was at the meeting and the incident occurred right in front of him. He confirmed Clara Halper's statement that the Halpers had only one video camera at the meeting. Halper is being represented by attorney Joseph Paone of New Brunswick. Hardenburg is being represented by New Brunswick attorney Joe Benedict. Benedict moved to dismiss the case after Paone rested but Jorgensen denied that motion and let the trial proceed. The first defense witness, Councilman Steven Cahn, denied that Hardenburg ever tried to grab the camera, saying instead that all Hardenburg did was try to step between Clara Halper and Huben in an effort to diffuse the situation. Cahn said Huben was angry because Larry Halper insulted him while videotaping him, trying to get the councilman to do something improper on tape. He said the Halpers had two cameras and [that] Larry Halper continued to film Huben during his confrontation with Clara Halper and never got between them to take the camera. South Plainfield Municipal Court Judge John Jorgensen continued the trial to an unspecified date, telling both attorneys [that] he would notify them by mail of that date. http://nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1043911902176810.xml?starledger |