A defendant in what is believed to be the longest federal criminal trial in American history wanted special consideration because of his sleep disorder, so he asked the judge about his ``sleeping motion.'' ``I thought we had put that to bed,'' U.S. District Judge Harold A. Ackerman replied to the laughter and groans of the defendants and attorneys in his Newark courtroom. On another day, Ackerman angered some when he called one motion ``creative nonsense at best.'' Ackerman, 60, spent nearly two years with the Herculean task of handling the U.S. v. Accetturo, et al. case. The trial ended Friday when the jury, after 21 months of proceedings but only 14 hours of deliberations, acquitted all 20 defendants of racketeering charges. The defendants, alleged to be members of the Lucchese crime family, had been charged with organized crime activities in New Jersey. During the trial, 20 litigators, including some of New Jersey's most highly regarded lawyers, and two defendants representing themselves filled Ackerman's courtroom. He acted as referee to a throng of egos, and sometimes one of his toughest tasks was just keeping the courtroom quiet. He made more than 100 rulings on legal motions. Legal papers from the case fill 15 feet of file drawers. Ackerman's judicial record includes a landmark decision in a civil racketeering case brought by the government against Teamsters Local 560. In 1984, Ackerman ruled that the Union City local had been dominated by organized crime for a quarter century and placed it under a trustee's control, the first such action in the nation. Earlier this year, because of comments he had made in news reports in his typically outspoken fashion, ousted union officials sought to have Ackerman removed from the case. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused. At about the same time, the appellate court was considering another Ackerman matter. The judge had ordered a lawyer and his firm back into the Lucchese trial after a key defendant's attorney contracted cancer. The lawyer fought his appointment in appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court and lost. Along the way, though, the 3rd Circuit mildly chided Ackerman for the ``leisurely pace'' of the trial. The judge then lengthened trial days and reduced delays. Ackerman attended Seton Hall University and Rutgers University, where he received his law degree in 1951. The former sportswriter served as a judge in the state Division of Workmen's Compensation and was a state judge in Union County before President Carter nominated him for U.S. District Court in 1980.
