NAME THAT PARTY: Court filings reveal Paterson mayoral candidate Goow's decades-old criminal conviction

04/19/2014


PATERSON — Former councilman Aslon Goow Sr. said he believed political motivations were behind recent federal court filings that refer to a decades-old criminal conviction for burglary, a record that Goow successfully had expunged.

Aslon Goow

"It's very disturbing," said Goow, one of eight candidates for mayor in the May election."I'm not in position to talk about it in detail. I'm letting my attorney handle it."

The court proceeding in which the filing was made relates to Goow's unsuccessful civil rights lawsuit against the city. In that suit, he made claims against Paterson police officials arising from an investigation of him after Goow engaged in a high-speed chase of a man he suspected of a crime in 2006.

Goow lost that case, and lawyers for the city are trying to recoup more than $500,000 spent to defend the city and Paterson police officials in the litigation.

A federal appeals court ruling issued last month referred to "expunged records" that showed "Goow had been arrested and/or convicted more than 15 times, had served time in the Passaic County jail, and had submitted two applications for expungement, both of which were granted."

The judicial opinion provides no other details about the expunged records, which are several decades old.

William Connell, attorney for former Police Chief James Wittig, a defendant in the Goow lawsuit, provided additional detail in a legal motion filed on March 19 seeking to force Goow to reimburse Paterson for lawyers' fees incurred in the case. The city confirmed it has paid more than $465,000 of a total $501,000 in defense legal fees.

Connell certifies in the motion papers that one of Goow's convictions, which was expunged, "included the offense of burglary."

Goow this week was startled to learn that the court's ruling and Connell's motion contained details regarding his expunged record.

"Those were all sealed," he said, asserting that the cases all happened when he was a "young adult."

The councilman said the release of the information about his expunged records demonstrated what he called the city's attempt to conduct a "political vendetta" against him.

Goow's lawyer, Mark Frost, said there had been motions approved by judges in the case to seal any records involving the expunged records. "I don't know how that got made public," Frost said. "It's something I have to look into."

Paterson's law director, Domenick Stampone, declined to discuss the case, saying the litigation was still pending. Mayor Jeffery Jones has not responded to attempts to get his comments on the situation.




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