Judge Ok's Defamation Suit by N.J. Priest Accused of Stabbing Colleague, Report Says

By Paul Milo
NJ.com
July 24, 2015

http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2015/07/judge_oks_defamation_suit_by_nj_priest_accused_of.html

A judge ruled Friday that a defamation suit filed by a Roman Catholic priest against a fellow cleric can proceed, the Daily Record reported.

Superior Court Judge Robert J. Brennan denied a request to dismiss the suit filed by the Rev. Frank Hreno, 52, who was charged April 14, 2014, with threatening to kill Rev. Emeka Okwuosa at the Vocationist Retreat and Conference Center in Florham Park.

Okwuoso also claimed Hreno stabbed him with a four-foot crucifix, but Hreno was never charged with that offense and was later admitted into Morris County's pre-trial intervention program, which allows some first-time offenders to avoid a criminal record.

In his suit, Hreno states the claim about the attack was defamatory and manufactured. The suit also alleges Okwuosa spit in Hreno's face, wrote checks to himself using Hreno's checkbook, used Hreno's credit cards and also damaged cars Hreno was authorized to use.

An attorney for Okwuosa and the Vocationist Fathers requested the suit be dismissed on several grounds, including the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, the so-called wall between church and state. But Hreno's lawyer successfully argued that the complaint is secular in nature.