A federal judge has ruled that U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman does not have a conflict of interest that would deny former a Bergen County Democratic leader a fair trial on racketeering charges.
The Record reported the ruling issued last week by U.S. District Judge Esther Salas means jury selection will begin Tuesday in the case of Joseph Ferriero.
His lawyers had argued that Fishman had a conflict because he had represented a client who could be a key government witness in the trial. The lawyers also sought to have testimony from Fishman's former client, former real estate executive James Dausch, excluded from the trial and wanted part of the indictment tossed.
In her ruling, Salas said there was "no evidence beyond conjecture'' that Fishman received any information from Dausch.
