Overview

• U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann found Habba lacks lawful authority to act as U.S. attorney for New Jersey following the expiration of her interim term.
• Brann disqualified Habba from participating in the challenged prosecutions and wrote that actions she took after her term lapsed may be declared void.
• The ruling arose from challenges by defendants Julien Giraud Jr., Julien Giraud III, and Ceasar Humberto Pina, including an indictment Habba signed that the court deemed presumptively defective but not dismissed.
• The court criticized a series of personnel maneuvers that removed judges’ pick Desiree Leigh Grace and reinstalled Habba via a Federal Vacancies Reform Act pathway.
• The Justice Department says it will appeal to the Third Circuit, as New Jersey courts pause or adjust cases and observers weigh potential impacts on other similarly installed U.S. attorneys.