U.S. District Judge Esther Salas ruled that Thomas Ambrosio's representation of a cooperating witness caused a conflict of interest.
NEWARK -- A judge in a federal death penalty case involving an alleged Newark gang leader has dismissed his lawyer from the case, ruling that the lawyer had a "serious" conflict of interest.
In an amended opinion issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Esther Salas ruled that Thomas Ambrosio, the lawyer appointed to represent Farad Roland, had to step down. Salas said Ambrosio's previous representation of a witness who agreed to testify against Roland created the conflict.
Roland is facing rare federal death penalty charges for racketeering and murders he allegedly was involved in as part of the South Side Cartel, a wing of the Bloods street gang.
Roland was appointed in September to represent Ambrosio.
Over that period of time, Ambrosio said in an interview, they developed "a very trusting and productive relationship."
The conflict arose in March 21, 2014, when Ambrosio was tapped to represent an unnamed individual facing criminal charges in New Jersey. Ambrosio and the witness met five days later for him to sign an agreement that he would cooperate in upcoming federal cases. It was their only meeting, court records say.
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Last September, Ambrosio was asked to represent Roland. At the time, government attorneys failed to note that Ambrosio had once represented one of their future trial witnesses, the cooperating witness.
Ambrosio said he couldn't have known at that time who the government would call as witnesses, so he could not have identified a potential conflict. Ambrosio, in any case, denied he had a conflict.
When prosecutors finally realized Ambrosio's work for the cooperating witness, they objected, saying he "has ethical obligations not to reveal client confidences from his representation of the cooperating witness, but on the other hand, he owes a duty to Roland to represent him vigilantly and zealously," according to Salas' opinion.
Ambrosio, court records show, submitted a sworn declaration that he had no discussions that crossed ethical lines with either the witness or Roland.
Roland wanted Ambrosio to remain as his attorney, but the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that defendants with court-appointed attorneys do not have the right to choose who will represent them, Salas' ruling said.
After several hearings earlier this year, Salas ruled that a conflict existed, and wrote that it occurs "when the attorney's representation of the defendant is impaired by loyalty owed to a prior client."
The ruling also says her finding at this point cannot be appealed.
Salas appointed a "very experienced" lawyer, Stephen Turano of Newark, to take over for Ambrosio. She also said the court will modify its schedule to give him at least three additional months to prepare for a trial that will begin sometime in 2017.
"It's a significant amount of information to process in a relatively compressed time," Turano said, adding that the court has been sensitive to the issue of making sure Roland has a fair defense.
Ambrosio said he believes he has an ethical responsibility to share what he has learned about the case with Turano, but is seeking legal guidance to avoid violating any court orders.
Prosecutors in 2015 told the court they intended to pursue a death penalty case against Roland, 31, for violations of the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act, murder, kidnapping, robbery, carjacking, drug conspiracy and other violent acts.
Roland's is the second federal death penalty case to be tried in New Jersey and the first since 2007.
Tim Darragh may be reached at tdarragh@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @timdarragh. Find NJ.com on Facebook.