No Court Date Yet for Township Manager Accused of Assault, Obstruction

The Livingston Township Manager continued her pretrial proceedings at the West Caldwell Court House last week for assault, obstruction and disorderly conduct charges stemming from an alleged incident during a police exercise in April.

Township Manager Michele Meade and her lawyer Salvatore Alfano had a court conference with West Caldwell Judge Bridget Stecher and prosecuting attorney Joseph DeFuria on July 31. The conference was conducted over the phone, the West Caldwell Court Administrator confirmed. 

“The two lawyers exchanged what they needed,” the court administrator said.

Meade will not have to go before the West Caldwell judge with her lawyer during future pretrial proceedings, according to the court administrator, and all future communications will be handled in writing.

A court date has not yet been set.

“All we did was set up scheduling and we haven’t set up a date yet for the case to be heard,” DeFuria said. “We are just trying to make sure everyone has the available information.”

Neither Meade nor her lawyer returned calls for comment on Monday.

The charges against Meade stem from a police exercise on April 19 during which resident Kelly Mollineaux — wife of Belleville Police Officer Charlie Mollineaux — alleged Meade assaulted her. 

On June 26, Meade first went before Stecher who found there was "probable cause" for Mollineaux's claim.

In addition, Meade faces two additional charges of disorderly conduct for abusive language toward a police officer and obstructing justice — both filed by Livingston Police Sgt. Kenneth Hanna. If convicted, the township manager could face a maximum of a $1,000 fine or six months in jail.