By Richard Luthmann
New Jersey mother Monica Ciardi remains unlawfully imprisoned after the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office obtained an illegal indictment—even though her case was transferred to Essex County on January 7, 2025, by Judge Stuart Minkowitz.
The indictment, which was filed after Morris County lost jurisdiction, is a blatant violation of legal procedure, and experts argue that it should be immediately thrown out.
“This is not justice. This is a political hit job,” said David Weigel, an activist, Wall Street fiduciary asset manager, and founder of the Family Court Fraud Warrior Project (familycourtfraudwarrior.com).
Weigel is leading a Valentine’s Day protest at the Morris County Courthouse to demand Ciardi’s freedom and promote Family Court Reform.
Morris County Had No Jurisdiction
Court records show that on January 7, 2025, Judge Minkowitz formally removed the case from Morris County due to a conflict and transferred it to Essex County. Ciardi was immediately relocated from Morris County to Essex County Jail in Newark, NJ.
Legal experts say this transfer means Morris County had zero authority to continue prosecuting Ciardi, let alone bring an indictment.
Yet, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office continued grand jury proceedings on January 22, 2025, resulting in an illegal indictment—weeks after Judge Minkowitz transferred the case.
"If they had to move Monica to Essex because of a conflict, that means they had no right to indict her in Morris County anymore," Weigel said. “I’m no lawyer, but I know corruption and fraud when I see it.”
The NJ Public Defenders Couldn’t Stop It
Despite this blatantly unlawful action, the New Jersey Public Defender’s Office failed to demand a pre-indictment hearing—a move that could have prevented the bogus grand jury proceedings.
"Where were they? This should have been stopped in its tracks," a legal expert following the case said.
Public Defender Diane Carl admitted in an internal email that she was caught off guard.
"After requesting that the Court produce Monica this afternoon based on the state's failure to timely indict the case, we were advised by AP Marshall that an Essex County Grand Jury had, in fact, taken action on the case as required."
However, the indictment was never officially recorded in Essex County's system, raising suspicions that Morris County prosecutors knowingly misled the defense about where the indictment actually took place.
"They obviously wanted us to believe that it was done in Essex," an advocate for Monica Ciardi wrote.
The documents show that Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Jessica Marshall proceeded with the indictment in Morris County after Judge Minkowitz transferred it on January 7.
Then, AP Marshall misrepresented to the NJ Public Defender that the proper indictment proceedings had taken in Essex County. This does not appear to be true.
AP Marshall has declined our previous requests for comment.
“If these facts are true, AP Marshall could face serious attorney discipline,” said a New Jersey attorney familiar with the matter and speaking under conditions of anonymity. “Unless there are facts we do not know, this was not a simple mistake. Rather, it was a deliberate course of dishonesty that violates the Rules of Professional Conduct.”
Monica’s Health is Spiraling Out of Control
Adding to the injustice, Ciardi has now become a medicated vegetable in Essex County Jail.
"They’ve been drugging her up for months," Weigel said. "She’s making so-called 'suicidal ideations' after being pumped full of drugs she was never prescribed before jail. They are literally poisoning and coaxing her to death."
Activists argue that the Essex County Jail is intentionally over-medicating Ciardi to make her incapable of fighting her case.
Weigel sent an email to Ciardi’s public defender last week:
From: David Weigel
Sent: Friday, February 7, 2025 4:57 PM
To: 'meagan.mcgurl@opd.nj.gov' <meagan.mcgurl@opd.nj.gov>Subject: Monica Ciardi Public Protest
Ms. McGurl,
I’m not a lawyer. I’m a Wall St money manager that has had enough of this Treason.
I wanted to introduce myself. I will be the person putting the names and pictures of all culprits involved in the attempted murder of Monica Ciardi on every news site and public record known to mankind from this day forward. And until her release from this false imprisonment.
We have people flying in for the protest. This will be bigger than anything this country has seen.
Please let the powers that be know… millions are now watching their every move. They know how it feels on the other side of that coin huh?
It’s time for the first to do their Perp Walk.
Good day.
David W. Weigel, CFP® CPM®
Principal & Chief Investment Officer
Weigel Fiduciary Asset Management
"None of this would have happened if the Public Defender’s Office was able to do its job and stopped that illegal indictment in Morris," Weigel said. “If that prosecutor lied, there should be REAL consequences.”
Court Hearing Scheduled for February 11
Ciardi's criminal pretrial hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, February 11, 2025, at 11:00 AM in Essex County before the Hon. Sheila A. Venable, A.J.S.C.
The hearing will be virtual, and court watchers and supporters are strongly encouraged to attend.
According to U.S. Supreme Court precedent, the public has a constitutional right to access criminal hearings unless the court makes specific legal findings to justify closing the proceedings.
"There is a constitutionally-protected public right of access to criminal trials that is implicit in the guarantees of the First Amendment," said one legal analyst, citing Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia (1980) and In re VV Pub. Corp. (NJ 1990).
“Public scrutiny of a criminal trial enhances the quality and safeguards the integrity of the factfinding process, with benefits to both the defendant and to society as a whole. Moreover, public access to the criminal trial fosters an appearance of fairness, thereby heightening public respect for the judicial process. And in the broadest terms, public access to criminal trials permits the public to participate in and serve as a check upon the judicial process an essential component in our structure of self-government. In sum, the institutional value of the open criminal trial is recognized in both logic and experience,” the U.S. Supreme Court opined in the Richmond Newspapers Case.
Monica Ciardi’s supporters are sending the clarion call for virtual mobilization this Tuesday.
"They will try to hide what they're doing to Monica, so we need as many eyes as possible on this hearing," Weigel said.
Court watchers can access the hearing via this PUBLIC ZOOM LINK:
ESX.VTC01@njcourts.gov is inviting you to a scheduled NJCourts Virtual Courtroom.
Please be advised that only recognized email addresses &/or devices will be allowed entry into the Zoom hearings. Should you require entry with another device – Ipad, cellular phone, etc – please let Court staff know in advance of the hearing. In the alternative, you may wish to rename the device when you attempt to join the meeting to avoid this issue.
If there are multiple cases involved, we need to limit the number of members in the hearings. Once you are done participating in hearing events, you must leave the meeting or the moderator will remove you from the meeting.
If the court event is streamed, and wish to see what is occurring, you may watch via the weblink (www.njcourts.gov/public/channels.html) as opposed to viewing live in the room.
Thank you in advance for your understanding and patience.
Topic: Status Conference- FV-07-2316-24- Rosenblum Motion
Time: Feb 11, 2025 11:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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Valentine’s Day Protest in Morristown
Weigel’s Family Court Fraud Warrior Project is organizing a massive protest to demand Ciardi’s immediate release and raise awareness of Family Court Corruption.
The protest will take place this Friday, February 14, 2025, at 11:00 AM outside the Morris County Courthouse in Morristown, NJ.
MONICA CIARDI PUBLIC PROTEST - VALENTINE'S DAY
📍 Morris County Courthouse - 10 Court St, Morristown, NJ 07960
📅 Friday, February 14, 2025
⏰ 11:00 AM
"This is a modern-day political prisoner case, and Monica Ciardi is a family court hostage," Weigel said. "They locked up a mother for exposing their fraud. We won't let them get away with it."
A System on Trial
Critics say the real criminals are the prosecutors, judges, and law enforcement officials who conspired to keep Ciardi behind bars.
"This is the biggest disgrace in New Jersey legal history," Weigel said. "These people should be in prison for what they’ve done to Monica."
The February 11 pretrial hearing and the Valentine’s Day protest will give the public two opportunities to oppose the corruption and weaponized justice that keeps Ciardi behind bars.
Will Judge Sheila Venable do the right thing and free Monica Ciardi—or is she just another corrupt New Jersey hack?
The world is watching.
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