In a move that many residents and others contend is only delaying the inevitable, a federal magistrate issued an order last week to delay the trial of embattled Trenton Mayor Tony Mack until this summer in an effort to allow the Mack legal team to prepare an adequate defense.
The highly publicized federal trial of the errant politico was set to start in February. However, a request submitted to the court on behalf of Mack by defense attorney Mark Davis, of the brother and sister legal team of the Davis Law Firm in Hamilton, N.J., urged the court to delay the trial. “We need time to review and analyze the evidence against the mayor and prepare a proper defense,” Davis said in a brief interview with reporters last month.
Mack, along with his brother and a local businessman, was arrested in a federal sting in September by federal agents and charged with corruption and bribery, among other things. Investigators contend they have mounds of evidence, including recorded conversations between Mack and others involving an illicit city contract deal. Mack has denied any wrongdoing and remains defiant that he will remain mayor, despite repeated calls for him to step down. Gov. Chris Christie and Trenton City Council President Phyllis Holly-Ward are among the key state politicos who have publicly admonished Mack and urged him to resign. A tentative trial date has been scheduled for June.