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Jersey City man faces judge in Facebook witness tampering case



Alleged street gang member Laquan Clark, 31, of Jersey City, appears in court in Jersey City today, Dec. 30, 2016, on witness tampering charges.

Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal
January 27, 2017

JERSEY CITY -- A Hudson County judge today ordered bail lowered for a Jersey City man who posted police interview videos on Facebook in what prosecutors say was an effort to incite an "overwhelming lynch mob" targeting people for cooperating with police.

Jacob V. Hudnut, attorney for 31-year-old Laquan Clark, argued in a court hearing this morning for Clark to be released from jail, with Hudnut accusing authorities of waging an overzealous prosecution of Clark by charging him with two counts of first-degree witness tampering.

But Judge John A. Young Jr. said he found sufficient evidence that Clark's now-deleted Facebook posts -- including videos of police interviews with two of Clark's co-defendants in a separate gang criminality case -- would be viewed by a reasonable person as an attempt at witness tampering.

Young added that he found no evidence of Clark himself initiating any threats or intimidation, so he ordered Clark's bail lowered from $150,000, cash only, to $75,00, with a 10 percent option.

Clark's case caused a stir in late December, with authorities saying his Facebook posts, which elicited threatening comments aimed at the two co-defendants, illustrated the difficulty police have making arrests for violent crimes. Aaron Silverstein, a county prosecutor, argued that point to Young today.

"Witnesses and victims are fearful of retaliation," Silverstein said. "This, your honor, is an exact reason why so many crimes go unsolved in Hudson County, because of actions by Mr. Clark deterring, threatening witnesses and victims for coming forward."

Hudnut, meanwhile, said the case against Clark amounts to little more than evidence that he liked Facebook comments other people made that the police view as threats. Clark, Hudnut noted, is not accused of posting any threats himself.

"Where do you draw the line?" Hudnut said. "Had Mr. Clark simply sat on his stoop ... and discussed his case out loud, would that be witness tampering? If he viewed this discovery at a coffee shop, would that be witness tampering? How is Mr. Clark commenting on this discovery any different than the prosecutor's office broadcasting that discovery before the media in open court?"

Case of accused Jersey City gang member puts social media in spotlight
Case of accused Jersey City gang member puts social media in spotlight
The 31-year-old is accused of writing Facebook posts authorities call a form of witness tampering.

Clark received the videos as part of the discovery process for the gang criminality trial. He was arrested in April along with more than a dozen people authorities called the city's "most violent" gang members and charged with gang criminality, aggravated assault, robbery and narcotics and weapons. He was out on $50,000 bail when he began posting the videos, on Dec. 26.

Jersey City police reviewed Clark's page and by the next day the posts had been deleted. On Dec. 29, Clark was arrested on the witness tampering charges and his $50,000 bail was revoked.

Hudnut said he will seek to have Clark's initial, $50,000 bail reinstated today. He argued that Clark cannot be charged with witness tampering because the two people seen in the videos talking to police are his co-defendants, not witnesses. Young countered that they can be both co-defendants and witnesses.