Fred C. Galda
Frederick C. Galda (April 12, 1918 – August 14, 1997) was an American attorney and
Raised in
Mayor of Paramus
Galda was elected as a Democrat as
Campaign for State Senator
When incumbent
Prosecutor
He served as a Bergen County, New Jersey prosecutor in the trial of Thomas Trantino, charged with the execution-style murder of two police officers at a bar on U.S. Route 46 in Lodi, New Jersey in 1963. Trantino was convicted and sentenced to death, but his death sentence was commuted to a single life term after the death penalty was abolished in the state in 1972. Trantino would face a battle to be released on parole, and was not paroled until 2002.[2]
Judge
He was appointed as a judge on the New Jersey Superior Court in 1967 by Governor of New Jersey Richard J. Hughes, and served in that post until 1983, when he stepped down from the bench, having been the presiding judge of the criminal court division.[2] The Record had challenged his nomination, citing in an editorial its belief that he lacked the temperament for the post, as "An impatient and emotional man does not become cool and calm by sitting behind a judge's desk".[4]
In a 1981 case, Dorothy Rapp's husband had pulled her out of bed, ripping out clumps of hair, before beating and threatening to kill her. She took a loaded rifle and killed her husband. At trial, he allowed Rapp's attorney to claim that the action had been taken in self-defense, making him the first judge in New Jersey to accept a
Personal
After stepping down from the bench and until 1995, he had been a lawyer with the firm of George A. Vaccaro.[2]
A resident of Saddle River, New Jersey at the time of his death, Galda died at age 79 on August 14, 1997, at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, New Jersey, because of a long illness. He was survived by his wife, the former Ellen Molloy, as well as by five sons, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.[2]
References
- ^ https://www.paramusborough.org/284/Paramus-Mayors
- ^ a b c d e f Saxon, Wolfgang. "Fred C. Galda, 79, Retired Judge", The New York Times, August 19, 1997. Accessed March 22, 2011. "He grew up in Cliffside Park, N.J., where he excelled in football and basketball. He was place-kicker on the football team while studying at Michigan State University."
- Newspapers.com. "Frederick C. Galda, son of Mrs. Frederick Galda of North Bergen, formerly of Cliffside Park, has been admitted to the New Jersey Bar. He was graduated from John Marshall Law School, Jersey City, in February. Mr. Galda, an alumnus of Cliffside Park High School and Michigan State College, served for 5 years with the Navy, part of the time on Guam."
- ^ a b c d Zambito, Thomas. "Fred C. Galda, Retired Judge, Dies At 79", The Record, August 16, 1997. Accessed October 16, 2009.
- Newspapers.com. "The largest suburban shopping center in the State, the new area was five years in the planning and two years in construction. At 9:30 A. M. In front of Bamberger's Paramus store, hub of the center, a ribbon cutting ceremony will make the plans and the dreams official. Instead of the usual satin ribbon used on such occasions, the Garden State Plaza has designed a symbolic ribbon composed of 1,000 dimes to spell out the Garden State Plaza name. Eight-year-old polio victim Barbara Brannon of 193 Alberta Drive, Saddle Brook, New Jersey will be the official ribbon cutter, assisted by Paramus mayor Fred C. Galda."
- ^ Staff. "Paramus Blue Law On; Ordinance Reinstated After Month of Nonenforcement", The New York Times, September 12, 1958. Accessed October 16, 2009.
- ^ "Our Campaigns". Retrieved 3 December 2014.