After a jury trial, defendant, a Newark police officer, was found guilty of theft by unlawful taking and official misconduct.
Defendant began taking paid administrative sick leave in March 2018. The police department's policies prohibited officers on sick leave from engaging in any outside employment. Despite that prohibition, defendant worked a second job as a security guard at a hospital for seven months during his period of paid leave. Defendant took his full salary from the police department on the days he worked for the hospital, which he was not entitled to under the policies.
In the published portion of this opinion, the court vacates defendant's conviction of official misconduct under N.J.S.A. 2C:30-2(a). As a matter of law, there is inadequate evidence to establish under subsection (a) that defendant's receipt of sick pay in violation of the department's leave policies amounted to "an unauthorized exercise of his official functions."
The court declines to address the hypothetical question of whether he could have been charged with and found culpable under subsection (b) of the official misconduct statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:30-2(b), concerning a defendant's failure to perform a legal duty. The court affirms, however, defendant's conviction of theft under N.J.S.A. 2C:30-3.
In the unpublished portion of the opinion, the court rejects various other arguments raised by defendant. The court remands the case for resentencing and to address other specified matters.