Democrat Assemblyman and Mayor of Orange, Mims Hackett
Before she's AG, past to be plumbed:
Mims Hackett was a popular teacher and candidate for Orange City Council, when he was convicted of the abduction and beating of a man he suspected had broken into his home in 1975. Sentenced to a mandatory 30 years in prison -- a term the judge, prosecutors and police all called excessive -- his case became a cause célèbre. Newspaper columnists and community leaders backed his claim that he had been framed. The victim recanted his testimony, and Hackett's cousin confessed to being the assailant.
It was Zulima Farber's job, as assistant counsel to then-Gov. Brendan Byrne, to recommend whether the governor should reduce Hackett's sentence under his powers to release inmates or cut their time.
After what she called an extensive review, Farber wrote in a Jan. 26, 1979 memo she was "convinced beyond any doubt" of Hackett's guilt and believed he had pressured the victim to change his story and concocted his tale of a frame-up.
"To me, this is more disturbing and reprehensible, legally and morally, than the crime itself," Farber wrote. She did recommend a sentence reduction, but to five to seven years -- twice what Byrne finally adopted on the recommendation of prosecutors and judges.
Hackett's conviction was ultimately overturned by a federal judge who said he did not get a fair trial. Hackett is now a Democratic assemblyman and mayor of Orange.
New Jersey Assembly
Mims Hackett was a popular teacher and candidate for Orange City Council, when he was convicted of the abduction and beating of a man he suspected had broken into his home in 1975. Sentenced to a mandatory 30 years in prison -- a term the judge, prosecutors and police all called excessive -- his case became a cause célèbre. Newspaper columnists and community leaders backed his claim that he had been framed. The victim recanted his testimony, and Hackett's cousin confessed to being the assailant.
It was Zulima Farber's job, as assistant counsel to then-Gov. Brendan Byrne, to recommend whether the governor should reduce Hackett's sentence under his powers to release inmates or cut their time.
After what she called an extensive review, Farber wrote in a Jan. 26, 1979 memo she was "convinced beyond any doubt" of Hackett's guilt and believed he had pressured the victim to change his story and concocted his tale of a frame-up.
"To me, this is more disturbing and reprehensible, legally and morally, than the crime itself," Farber wrote. She did recommend a sentence reduction, but to five to seven years -- twice what Byrne finally adopted on the recommendation of prosecutors and judges.
Hackett's conviction was ultimately overturned by a federal judge who said he did not get a fair trial. Hackett is now a Democratic assemblyman and mayor of Orange.
New Jersey Assembly
