Witness: Bergrin Said She 'Had to Lie' in Court

A woman testified in federal court Monday that attorney Paul Bergrin coached her to lie in order to help her father, a Bergrin client, beat attempted murder and other charges more than a decade ago, North Jersey.com reported. Bergrin's trial began last week.

Carolyn Velez was nine years old in November 2001 when her father, Norberto, attacked her mother Marilu Bruno with a knife outside a Belleville school.

Velez  testified that Bergrin, 57, a Nutley resident who had a practice in Newark, said she “had to lie” in order to save her father, suggesting that Velez tell authorities see had actually seen her mother grab a knife at her father’s house.

Bergrin, a defense attorney who is representing himself, faces 26 counts including  drug trafficking, promoting prostitution and arranging the 2004 murder of a witness who was set to testify against a client of Bergrin’s.