Verniero To Testify in Profilings
by JOHN P. McALPIN
Associated Press Writer

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Former New Jersey Attorney General Peter G. Verniero denied Wednesday that he directed anyone to withhold from the U.S. Justice Department evidence that state police were engaging in racial profiling.

Verniero, now an associate justice on the state Supreme Court, said he agreed voluntarily to appear before a state Senate committee investigating racial profiling so the public could have a full understanding of events that transpired during his tenure as attorney general.

''Racial profiling has existed for many years. I hope we can arrive at the day when this humiliating ... practice is stamped out,'' Verniero said in his opening statement.

In the days leading up to his testimony, Verniero told reporters his role had been distorted and he looked forward to testifying. But he refused to answer specific questions in advance.

Verniero was expected to be Wednesday's only witness.

Exactly when Verniero found out police under his jurisdiction were stopping minorities at traffic lights, and whether he was deliberately slow in stopping the practice has remained unclear.

''What has happened so far as I can tell is negative inferences are being drawn from an honest set of facts,'' Verniero said Saturday. ''We're looking at one document or a meeting with microscope clarity in hindsight.''

Verniero did not publicly admit racial profiling was a practice by State Police until April 1999. He did so in a report issued a year after two white troopers fired shots at a van stopped for speeding on the New Jersey Turnpike, wounding three unarmed men, all minorities.

The troopers have said they fired in self-defense, thinking the van's driver was trying to run them over.

The Senate Judiciary Committee's hearings began last week.

Verniero released the 1999 report one day after announcing an indictment against the troopers for the shooting. Witnesses testified Monday that Verniero rushed to release the report because the Justice Department planned a civil rights lawsuit.

In marathon panel sessions, witnesses have also alleged Verniero ignored information from his department that troopers were stopping minorities on the turnpike and searching their cars based solely on their race.

Officers have told the committee they relayed documents detailing trooper activity to Verniero's deputies. Some of those studies showed black and Hispanic drivers accounted for more than 90 percent of the motorists stopped and searched by troopers.

Assistant Attorney General John Fahy testified Verniero knew of concerns that troopers were targeting minority drivers as early as December 1996 and that the Justice Department might launch an investigation.

''Anyone with an ounce of common sense could see we had a history and if you're going down to Washington, it's a big issue,'' Fahy said.

But former deputies also testified Verniero believed State Police commanders who repeatedly denied racial profiling existed.

Former Gov. Christie Whitman -- who resigned earlier this year to join the Bush administration as Environmental Protection Agency chief -- said Verniero did ''nothing wrong'' in his handling of racial profiling allegations. But she admitted she and Verniero were slow to realize profiling was a problem.

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On the Net:

Full text of depositions and hearing testimony is available at the Office of Legislative Services site: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us

AP-NY-03-28-01 1054EST<