Judge Robert Reed Thursday denied Herne LaCoste’s request to dismiss his indictment, which LaCoste’s attorney said was tainted by the omission of crucial evidence.
"None of that ... is of any consequence to this motion," Reed said.
LaCoste, a 14-year-Irvington police veteran, has been charged with robbery, kidnapping and official misconduct. He also faces several weapons charges and counts of aggravated assault and hindering apprehension.
The 40-year-old officer is accused of standing by while his 19-year-old girlfriend, Shanikah Daniels of East Orange, and another woman, Markeesa Coleman, 18, of Irvington, beat the victim in a parking lot on Oct. 16.
The beating came minutes after Coleman and Daniels allegedly robbed the teen at gunpoint and took her cell phone, bus ticket and MetroCard. Authorities said the attackers and LaCoste, of Plainfield, fled in his SUV.
A .38-caliber handgun used in the robbery was not LaCoste’s police-issued sidearm, but an unregistered weapon allegedly belonging to him, court documents state.
According to those papers, the plan was to take the victim, who Daniels knew, and strand her somewhere. Daniels intended to beat the victim because she had disrespected her mother, according to authorities.
A Somerset County grand jury indicted LaCoste last fall, but defense attorney Dan Smith said the panel didn’t get to see key evidence — surveillance footage and a witness statement — that could have raised doubt as to whether LaCoste refused to help the victim.
"The grand jury should have had a chance to decide," he said.
Reed, however, said the evidence was not enough to negate guilt.
LaCoste is currently suspended from the Irvington force, Smith said.
Irvington police did not return a phone call seeking confirmation.