A paralegal became so concerned about a phone call from a man, seeking
to make an appointment with her boss, that she told the lawyer not to
come to work one afternoon and told her coworkers to lock the office
doors.
Leslie Margolies said she remembered getting a phone call in June 2002 from a potential client who wanted an immediate appointment. She initially told the caller that her boss, Peter Paras, would not be back in the firm's Red Bank office until that Friday afternoon.
The caller said he was referred to Paras by someone who gave him the attorney's business card, and that he needed a lawyer because of a custody issue, she said. But the conversation was unusual and she grew concerned about the lack of accurate responses she was getting when she questioned the caller, she said on the witness stand this morning in the courtroom of state Superior Court Judge Ira E. Kreizman, sitting in Freehold.
Margolies, now retired, testified at the trial of Nicholas A. Lucarella, 57, a former Millstone Township resident, who is accused of hiring a Passaic man to try to kill his attorney soon after losing a motion in a custody dispute with his ex-wife over their three young children.
That North Jersey man, Vancleve 'Q' Ashley, along with Ramaine 'Rah Rah' York, also of Passaic, whom authorities say Ashley recruited for help, have pleaded guilty in the case.
Prosecutors say Ashley was the man who called the paralegal in June 2002, using a fake name and pretending he needed an appointment. They say he and York went to see the attorney under the guise of a legal matter, then waited outside his office at The Galleria until the lawyer walked out. Ashley was behind the wheel of a sport utility vehicle that struck the attorney, causing serious injuries, including a broken back, pelvis and several ribs, authorities said.
Defense attorney Brian J. Neary has said his client, Lucarella, who now lives in Valley Cottage, Rockland County, N.Y., had nothing to do with the assault on the Red Bank attorney who specializes in matrimonial law.
Under questioning from First Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Peter E. Warshaw Jr., the paralegal said during that June 2002 telephone conversation, the caller said he worked in entertainment, and owned his own promotions company, called Sex Money Murder, but then failed to provide a telephone number where he could be reached, telling her the area code would not "go through."
Margolies had initially told the caller that her boss would be available that Friday afternoon - a day that she already had a scheduled to take off, but she grew so alarmed by the conversation that she told Paras not come into the office that Friday afternoon and told the staff to lock the doors.
"I was very concerned," she said.
Margolies said she worked with Paras at Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, a prominent Woodbridge law firm that had a satellite office in Eatontown. She continued to work for him when he and some other attorneys opened their own firm in Red Bank.
Under cross-examination, she said it was fair to say that her boss enjoyed a good reputation in Monmouth County because he was a good lawyer.
Paras took the stand late this morning, and under questioning, provided some background about his education and work: he earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, his law degree from Villanova Law School and has been an attorney for 33 years.
He said another attorney handled Lucarella's divorce, but a couple of months after that divorce paperwork was signed, the former Millstone Township man contacted the Red Bank law firm because he wanted to change the terms of his child custody agreement. Lucarella and his ex-wife had joint custody of their three children -- twins who were about 5 years old and an older sibling, who was about 9, said Paras.
Lucarella told the lawyer he wanted full custody of the children because his ex-wife was imposing obstacles in his relationship with them, Paras said on the stand.
Meanwhile, Lucarella's ex-wife filed a motion, also seeking to modify the custody agreement. She also wanted full custody and she wanted all of her ex-husband's visits with the children to be supervised.
Source: APP.com (beta)
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