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Law360 (April 21, 2021, 6:24 PM EDT ) A man facing charges in New Jersey over his alleged threat to kill a federal jurist called Wednesday for the case to be sent to Pennsylvania, citing jury concerns related to media coverage of a shooting at another federal judge's home that left her son dead and husband wounded.
More than two weeks after losing his bid to dismiss the charges, William Kaetz urged U.S. District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan to transfer the matter to the Western District of Pennsylvania, pointing to U.S. District Judge Esther Salas' appearances on NBC's "Dateline" and local TV in the aftermath of the shooting at her North Brunswick, New Jersey, residence.
Kaetz asserted in his motion that "the tragedy of Judge Salas' loss, the subsequent news coverage, and the news coverage of Mr. Kaetz's case may make finding a fair and impartial jury in the [District of New Jersey] difficult."
"Although 'Dateline' is a national show making its way into the WDPA, overall, there has been less news coverage of Judge Salas by the local WDPA newspapers, television stations and online news sources," Kaetz said.
The government does not object to Kaetz's transfer request, according to the motion.
Judge Ranjan, who is sitting by designation, is based in the Western District of Pennsylvania, and prosecutors from the U.S. attorney's office for that district are handling Kaetz's case, since it involves a New Jersey federal judge. The Pittsburgh office of Kaetz's court-appointed attorney, Douglas Sughrue, also is located in the district.
Judge Salas' son, Daniel Anderl, was gunned down July 19 in an apparent ambush by self-described "anti-feminist" attorney Roy Den Hollander. The lawyer also critically injured Judge Salas' husband, defense attorney Mark Anderl of Anderl & Oakley PC, before fleeing.
Den Hollander, who had litigated a case before Judge Salas, was found dead the morning following the shooting in upstate New York with a single gunshot wound to the head in an apparent suicide. He is also suspected of killing fellow "men's rights" attorney Marc Angelucci in California about a week earlier.
In subsequent media appearances, Judge Salas has discussed the shooting and the need for greater privacy protections for jurists.
Amid this news coverage, Kaetz was arrested Oct. 18 and indicted on four counts Jan. 21, including charges of threatening to assault and murder a different federal judge in New Jersey, sending a threatening email to the judge, and disclosing personal information about the judge on Facebook and Twitter. He has been ordered detained until trial.
Looking to go before a Keystone State panel of jurors, Kaetz on Wednesday pointed to the judicial vacancies in New Jersey federal court and the backlog of cases due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the Western District of Pennsylvania has "a full complement of judges," the federal court in the Garden State has "six empty benches" and thus "11 judges on the bench with each judge handling greater than 2,700 cases," Kaetz said.
"The COVID-19 backlog of cases and trial[s] is more severe in the DNJ than in WDPA," Kaetz said. "The backlog of cases in the WDPA is still great due to COVID-19, but the shortage of judges in the DNJ amplifies the time required to resolve the backlog."
Kaetz added that there's "no advertised plan" in New Jersey federal court "as to how cases will be prioritized once normal court operations resume."
Without the judge, prosecutors or his lawyer in New Jersey, Kaetz said "any ability to fit this trial [into] the schedule may be limited."
"Mr. Kaetz could be waiting for his day in court well into December 2021 or later if this case stays in the DNJ, which is not good for his constitutional rights, the right to the public and Mr. Kaetz to a speedy trial or the interests of justice," Kaetz added.
A trial in the Western District of Pennsylvania would likely happen in the summer or early fall, according to Kaetz.
Kaetz further cited his limited access to his attorney, Sughrue, while he remains incarcerated at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, New Jersey, which he said is "only permitting non-contact visits between lawyers and clients."
Immediately sending Kaetz to "a local facility which permits contact attorney visits best permits Mr. Kaetz and counsel to finally meet in person and to begin to firm up trial preparation procedures," Kaetz said.
"Waiting to transport Mr. Kaetz at the time of trial will rob Mr. Kaetz of valuable time to prepare for trial with counsel as well as place an extraordinary level of stress and anxiety on Mr. Kaetz at trial time," Kaetz said.
A representative of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania said the office declined to comment Wednesday. Sughrue did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
The government is represented by Cindy K. Chung and Tonya S. Goodman of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Kaetz is represented by Douglas Sughrue of Sughrue Law.
The case is U.S. v. Kaetz, case number 2:21-cr-00071, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
--Editing by Janice Carter Brown.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
