After the hearing Giorgianni's lawyer said the judge’s declaration was neither a win nor a loss.
TRENTON — Even though a psychologist determined Joseph “JoJo” Giorgianni is prone to make grandiose statements about himself, a federal judge ruled yesterday that Giorgianni is fully competent to stand trial next month on corruption charges alongside Mayor Tony Mack.
In August, Giorgianni and his attorney Jerome Ballarotto filed to have Giorgianni declared mentally incompetent. If Judge Michael A. Shipp had ruled Giorgianni was mentally unfit to stand trial, the trial would have been put on hold and Giorgianni would have been placed in a mental facility for treatment. The charges would have remained pending until Giorgianni was deemed mentally competent.
Yesterday’s decision thwarted that move, yet after the hearing Ballarotto said the judge’s declaration was neither a win nor a loss for his client.
“He’s healthy,” Ballarotto said of Giorgianni. “I need for him to be healthy to help me.”
Following three mental evaluations — one during a 30-day stay at a federal prison facility this fall, and another yesterday morning, Giorgianni was determined not to have a mental illness, based on reports referred to in the late afternoon court hearing yesterday.
In July, Giorgianni was examined by Dr. Gerald Cooke, who said Giorgianni became too emotional when confronted with information about his case and could not function as part of the defense at the trial. But in an about-face, Cooke yesterday examined Giorgianni again and determined he was in fact mentally competent, Shipp said.
Federal law mandates that in order to be competent to stand trial, a defendant must have both an understanding of court procedures and be able to help the attorney representing them. Shipp said Giorgianni’s knowledge of the court system was never in doubt, and yesterday he ruled Giorgianni met the second standard as well.
“Mr. Giorgianni is able to assist in his own defense, and as such he is competent to stand trial,” Shipp said.
During the hearing Ballarotto said he had experienced “difficulties” with Giorgianni in preparing for the upcoming trial, but was all smiles after Shipp’s ruling. Facing Giorgianni, Ballarotto raised his fists in a boxer’s stance and grinned at his client.
Giorgianni was indicted with Mack and Mack’s brother Ralphiel last year on extortion, bribery, wire fraud and mail fraud following an FBI sting operation. While the three remain tied together in the case for now, Shipp will soon decide whether to separate Giorgianni’s trial from the Mack brothers’ court case. The trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 6.
Leaning forward in his wheelchair parked at the defense table and peering through spectacles, Giorgianni listened intently to the testimony yesterday afternoon. The 64-year-old Giorgianni suffers from a multitude of health issues including heart problems, but his medical condition was not a factor in the proceeding.
Forensic psychologist Miriam Kissin, who said she examined Giorgianni five times at Federal Medical Center Devens in Massachusetts, participated in the hearing via conference call.
“Mr. Giorgianni, I felt, had a very good and sophisticated understanding of the legal process,” Kissin said while being questioned by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Skahill.
Kissin said that, while she believes Giorgianni has no psychotic ailments, she diagnosed him with narcissistic personality disorder.
“Individuals see themselves as important, special,” Kissin said. “They may make claims about themselves that are not true, they may make exaggerated claims about themselves, and they may make some claims that are totally fabricated.”
The heart of that diagnosis, Kissin said, came from “grandiose” claims by Giorgianni about his financial state, famous people he knows and intelligence level.
“In addition, he would often present himself in a haughty manner and he had expectations of being treated differently from others, especially given the situation he was in,” Kissin testified under oath yesterday.
In cross-examining Kissin, who was on speaker phone, Ballarotto mentioned some of the trouble he had with Giorgianni in preparation for his client’s month-long stay at the facility.
Ralphiel Mack’s attorney, Robert Haney, attended the hearing but sat in the gallery area. Haney and Mayor Mack’s attorney Mark Davis want their clients to have a separate trial from Giorgianni because they are concerned his alleged involvement in a prescription pill dealing ring will affect the way the jury views their own clients.
In a brief filed on the Mack brothers’ behalf Monday, the defense lawyers argue the drug indictment against Giorgianni and allegedly involving government witness Charles Hall III will unfairly leak into the corruption trial.
Ballarotto is copied on the motion but has argued Hall can be put on the stand if the prosecution is instructed to keep its questioning of him narrowed to the corruption case. In a separate motion, government attorneys agreed.
“The Mack defendants are not charged with being involved in the narcotics conspiracy and jury instructions adequately can make that fact clear to the jury,” they wrote.
Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5705.
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