A state appellate court will release its decision on whether to reinstate indictments against Democratic powerbroker George E. Norcross III on Friday morning – a move that immediately puts the new acting attorney general, Jennifer Davenport, in a challenging spot.
If the panel of appellate judges affirms the dismissal of the indictments, Davenport will need to decide if she wants to appeal that to the New Jersey Supreme Court. If the indictments are reinstated, Davenport must decide whether she wants to be the lead named on an indictment she never agreed to in the first place – and to decide the future of the embattled Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.
In June 2024, then-Attorney General Matt Platkin announced a 112-page, 13-count racketeering indictment against Norcross, one of the most powerful political insiders in state history, alleging that he led a criminal enterprise to obtain property and property rights along the Camden waterfront, and collect tax credits from the state.
But in February 2025, Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw dismissed the entire indictment against Norcross and all co-defendants.
Warshaw determined that the indictment’s “factual allegations do not constitute extortion or criminal coercion as a matter of law” and found “there was no racketeering enterprise.” He found that all charges were outside the statute of limitations.
“It follows that if the facts alleged do not, as a matter of law, constitute a crime, the indictment is manifestly deficient and facially and palpably defective,” Warshaw wrote in his decision. “The indictment must be dismissed because its factual allegations do not constitute extortion or criminal coercion as a matter of law.”
Platkin appealed the dismissal.
The new governor, Democrat Mikie Sherrill, never took sides in the prosecution of Norcross, saying only that she was “monitoring” the case.
