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Department: Prosecutor's Office

Press Release - CPANJ Award for First Assistant Prosecutor Gregory R. Mueller

Release Date: December 03, 2020

Press Release
 
 
December 3, 2020
 
     Sussex County Prosecutor, Francis A. Koch, announces that First Assistant Prosecutor Gregory R. Mueller received the 2020 Outstanding Advocacy over the Course of a Career Award by the County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey during the Prosecutors College hosted by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office.  The County Prosecutors Association presents this award to only one assistant prosecutor annually out of the nearly 1,000 prosecutors in New Jersey.  This represents the first time an assistant prosecutor from Sussex County was selected to receive this distinguished award.
 
     First Assistant Prosecutor Mueller began his professional career in the financial sector as a Supervising Senior Accountant with KPMG Peat Marwick in Short Hills, New Jersey. After four (4) years with KPMG, Mr. Mueller decided to attend law school with the goal of pursuing a career in law enforcement.
 
     In 1995, FAP Mueller graduated, cum laude, from Duquesne University School of Law. Thereafter, he clerked in the criminal part for the Honorable Manual Greenberg, J.S.C. and the Honorable Michael Connor, J.S.C. After his clerkship, FAP Mueller began his law enforcement career with the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office. During his tenure with the MCPO, he was assigned to a trial team where he successfully tried numerous cases to verdict. He also assisted in the domestic violence unit, appellate section and the major crimes unit.
In 2005, FAP Mueller joined the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office. At the SCPO, he worked in the appellate section, the grand jury unit, the major crimes unit and handled internal affairs matters. In 2009, he was promoted to the position of First Assistant Prosecutor.
 
     During his tenure in Sussex County, FAP Mueller successfully prosecuted numerous high-profile cases to verdict. Among some of his noted cases, FAP Mueller successfully prosecuted a multi-jurisdictional, and multi-defendant, kidnapping case that captured national media attention. In that case, three (3) defendants drove from Missouri to Newton, NJ and kidnapped a local business owner at gunpoint. The defendants intended to kill the victim after extorting money from him. Shortly after that trial, FAP Mueller successfully tried a case involving the murder of a local woman, known for her altruistic nature and significant contributions to the community. The victim was killed in her home by a trusted acquaintance of the family and found deceased by her son.
FAP Mueller also successfully prosecuted a cold case homicide from 1999. FAP Mueller spent several years and countless hours assisting the investigative effort that culminated in the defendant’s confession and subsequent conviction.
 
     Another high profile murder case demonstrates FAP Mueller’s ability to balance accountability, punishment and justice. This case involved the homicide of a former Sussex County Sheriff’s Officer and Boy Scout leader in 2012. Interwoven into the case were allegations by the defendant that he had been the victim of sexual abuse by the homicide victim when he was eight (8) years old. After three (3) years investigating the homicide, the defendant’s claims of sexual molestations and consulting psychiatric experts, the defendant ultimately pled guilty to manslaughter. FAP Mueller and the SCPO were widely praised by the trial court and community leaders for the manner in which this complex and sensitive case was handled.
 
     During his career with the SCPO, FAP Mueller successfully tried and resolved several other homicide cases, including a novel vehicular homicide prosecution involving the use of inhalants. Mr. Mueller’s first jury trial with the SCPO resulted in the defendant receiving a thirty-year sentence for the aggravated sexual assault of an eight-year old child and a five-year old child.
 
     FAP Mueller has also headed the Internal Affairs Unit since joining the office and prosecuted most, if not all, matters involving public officials. He has successfully prosecuted numerous cases involving law enforcement officers and high-ranking local officials.
 
     FAP Mueller was formerly the Chief of Appellate Unit and has represented the State before the Supreme Court on several occasions. Among his noted Supreme Court cases are State v. Andrews, allowing the State to compel a defendant to produce the passcode to his encrypted electronic devices and State v. Lenihan, allowing prosecutions under N.J.S.A. 2C: 40-18 in the context of a vehicular homicide prosecution. FAP Mueller also authored the State’s brief to the Supreme Court in State v. Tedesco, where the Court held that a defendant can be compelled to appear at sentencing to face his victim(s).
 
     Mr. Mueller is currently the Vice President of the First Assistant Prosecutors Association, a faculty member of the New Jersey Attorney General Advocacy Institute and has served on numerous working groups and committees. He is the proud father of Zachary and Alexandra Mueller.