Cirilo DWI Trial Slated For Wednesday

West Orange Council President Victor Cirilo is expected to answer charges on Wednesday, Feb. 6 stemming from a Nov. 9, 2012 DWI arrest in Verona, Verona court officials said.

The trial has been postponed several times at Cirilo’s request, most recently on Jan. 16, when Cirilo changed lawyers and requested more time to consult with his new lawyer and seek expert testimony from his personal doctor.

On Jan. 16, an exasperated Judge John A. Paparazzo appeared annoyed in Verona Municipal Court when Cirilo’s attorney, Roy Breslow of Verona, made the request for an additional postponement, but agreed to delay the trial until Wednesday.

Paparazzo questioned why Breslow wasn’t ready saying Cirilo had ample time to prepare for the case and saying Breslow should have been ready by now.

Cirilo is seeking expert testimony from his doctor about his field sobriety test, his lawyer said Wednesday.

Paparazzo said there was no way he would postpone the trial again and said he was annoyed the case was not ready to move forward.

Cirilo is charged with driving while intoxicated following a Nov. 9, 2012 police stop after he made a turn from Bloomfield Avenue onto Mount Prospect Avenue (Route 23) just after midnight, Verona Police Chief Douglas Huber said at the time.

On Jan. 2, Verona Municipal Court Administrator Jean DePoe said that postponement was granted at Cirilo’s lawyer’s request.

At the time of his arrest, Cirilo was administered a field sobriety test, Huber said, but he refused to take a blood alcohol test.

Cirilo also faces careless driving and failure to keep right charges. He was originally scheduled to appear in Verona Municipal Court on Wednesday, Nov. 21, but that date was also postponed.

Cirilo apologized for the arrest in a letter to the editor immediately after his November arrest, saying he intends to fight the charges and asking residents to not make a rush to judgment.

West Orange officials refused comment on the arrest at the time, according to a statement released by township public information officer Jessica Glicker.

Cirilo, who won his first council term in 2010, was elected in the township’s non-partisan elections. His current term expires in 2014.

He is employed as the executive director of the housing authority of the city of Passaic and has served West Orange as a board member of the Downtown West Orange Alliance and the John Renna House, as well as serving stints on the West Orange Public Library Board and the West Orange Valley Revitalization Committee.

Cirilo has also served as the field director for Sen. Robert Menendez’s suburban Essex County campaign operation and as chief of staff for state Assemb. John McKeon.