The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • A4

NEW JERSEY THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2008 A-4 THE RECORD Jury sees James' memos on land deals Secretary says mayor met often with developers showed that James was closely monitoring whether developers he was familiar with were getting a chance to buy city lots. do not deny that James, 72, had an extramarital affair with Riley, 38, but dispute its length. Her "intimate personal relationship" with the mayor began in late April or early May 2002, and lasted to November 2002, Riley lawyer Gerald Krovatin told the jury in his opening statement on Monday. Prosecutors, however, charged that the relationship spanned 2000 to 2006, and that the property sales took place from 2001 to 2005. Posella on Monday said the affair began sometime after 1999 and, despite a rough stretch in 2003, continued at least until the mayor left office at the end of June 2006.

Under cross-examination on Tuesday, however, she said that upon reflection she now recalled that the relationship started in 1999. By JEFFREY GOLD THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEWARK Accused of abusing his office by steering city property to a girlfriend for cut-rate prices, former Newark Mayor Sharpe James maintains that only the City Council had the power to authorize land sales. On Wednesday, prosecutors sought to dent that defense by showing that James displayed a keen interest in the sale of city land. James is charged with abusing his office to benefit the girlfriend, co-defendant Tamika Riley, who bought nine parcels for $46,000 and quickly sold them for $665,000. More than a dozen memos from James were shown to the jury Wednesday.

None mentioned Riley, but most James met routinely with developers in his City Hall office, testified his longtime personal secretary, Rose Marie Posella. She couldn't specify the frequency, but said, "It wasn't on a regular dai letterhead, while in another he directed his business administrator and two redevelopment officials to ensure he received a "blind carbon copy" of items they sent to the council on city land sales. Prosecutors then had the jurors hear media comments that James made in June, a month before his indictment and a year after his final term as mayor had ended. They played a video WABC-TV in which James said, "The mayor cannot give land to anyone," and added, "The mayor has no involvement whatsoever." Posella also read a handwritten note to an Associated Press reporter. In that letter, James noted that the council, not the mayor, voted for the land deals, and that he never had the power to broker land deals or set prices by himself.

Posella was James' personal secretary during his entire 20-year tenure as mayor of New Jersey's largest city. On Monday, she testified that Riley had privileged access to James, and that Posella and others in City Hall knew they were having an affair. Defense lawyers for James and Riley POSELLA ly basis. Some of the memos showed that James was interested in staying behind the scenes on some development matters. He instructed Posella to compose one memo on plain paper, not mayoral RILEY of statements to New York-based Suspect in Newark slayings on trial for other crimes Dangerous rain and winds batter New Jersey despite facing the aggravated assault charge and a separate child-rape charge.

Since then, New Jersey has changed its policies on bail for illegal immigrants. The assault case stems from a barroom incident in 2006. charges in a separate case. Jose Carranza, a 28-year-old illegal immigrant from Peru, is one of six people charged with fatally shooting three college-bound youths in a schoolyard last August. He was free on bail at the time, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEWARK One of the suspects in the execution-style killings of three Newark friends last summer went on trial Wednesday on aggravated assault and other STARTS TODAY 4-DAY FUR SALE 60-70 PLUS AN EXTRA 10 OFF A luxurious selection of natural or dyed mink or sheared mink coats and jackets in The Fur Vault.

2,995, final cost $71 1 ASSOCIATED PRESS Police in Monmouth County rescued a woman from this mobile home in Eatontown after she was trapped by a falling tree early Wednesday. She was not injured. Winds reached as high as 60 mph as wicked overnight weather downed trees and left thousands of homes without power. Warren school attack plot foiled by tip, troopers say Belvidere student, 17, reportedly had list of targets 1 Michael Lamonaco and Kenneth Koenig, working with officials from the other agencies, then began a more extensive investigation and spoke with nine of the student's acquaintances, described by Delia Fave as five juveniles and four adult males, all of whom live in Belvidere or nearby White Township. Delia Fave would not say whether any of them were also students.

"Investigators learned that the military-style plot was being developed, and that those involved had begun doing surveillance work at the school and were working to identify possible escape routes," Delia Fave said. Authorities notified the student's father, who voluntarily surrendered some guns in his house to authorities. Delia Fave said all the weapons were legally registered and that the father By BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TRENTON A developing plot to stage a "military style assault" at a Warren County high school near the end of the school year has been foiled, authorities said. One person has been charged so far in the ongoing investigation, which began this week after officials at Belvidere High School heard that a 17-year-old male senior was allegedly developing a hit list of students and teachers, New Jersey State Police spokesman Capt. Al Delia Fave said Wednesday night.

School officials notified Belvidere police, who soon got state police, the FBI and the region's Joint Terrorism Task Force involved. State police Detectives has been assisting investigators. The student, whose name was not disclosed, has been hospitalized for a mental health evaluation, Delia Fave said. He has not yet been charged. James M.

Shipps, 22, of Belvidere, was charged with creating a false public alarm, making terroristic threats and hindering apprehension, Delia Fave said. He was being held in the county jail on $50,000 bail. It was not immediately clear if he had retained a lawyer. Delia Fave credited teamwork of local, state and federal officials for foiling what he said could have been "a truly horrible" incident. "This is an example of the partnerships we need to have, and why it's important for people to report suspicious activity," he said.

Teen mother going back to Maryland THE ASSOCIATED PRESS i Turning Home Design Dreams i Into Reality LOOK for our insert in today's paper BALTIMORE A teenage mother whose 6-month-old baby was left at a New York lirehouse by a livery cab driver is heading back to Maryland. 'They're both safe, and they'll be coming back so we can provide the proper care that they will be needing," said Elyn Garrett Jones, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Social Services. She said that the teen mother had run away from Baltimore, and that a home is being sought for her when she returns. Livery driver Klever Sailema was hailed as a hero after he took the baby, Daniella, to a Queens fire-house on Thursday, saying an unknown man had left her in his cab and disappeared. Police later alleged that Sailema had conspired with the baby's aunt to get rid of her.

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