The case involving a private school teacher charged with simple assault on a black teenager – an incident that sparked allegations of racial bias – was postponed Thursday in Municipal Court During a pretrial conference, Judge Scott J. Basen determined that questions about a conflict of interest need to be examined before the court can proceed in the case against Elchonon Zimmerman.The question of a conflict centers on a tort-claim notice filed by Zimmerman, which is required before an individual sues a public entity.

Zimmerman, 43, alleges he was discriminated against by police because of his religious beliefs. Zimmerman is an Orthodox Jew.

Local NAACP leaders, however, say 15-year-old Jamarr Dickerson was the victim of racial bias.

Dickerson, who attended the court hearing, told a reporter Thursday that after he was assaulted May 17, a group of Orthodox men surrounded him and uttered racial slurs.

“They said, “This is our side of town,’ ” a soft-spoken Dickerson recounted.

While the Zimmerman matter was delayed, another twist has been injected into the controversial case.

Last week, Dickerson’s mother said she received a notice in the mail stating that Zimmerman had filed a complaint of simple assault, harassment and criminal mischief against Dickerson, a Lakewood High School sophomore.

After the afternoon hearing, Dickerson returned to the Lakewood municipal building at 8:15 p.m. to face those charges in a juvenile court hearing.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. He’s trying to come up with something to turn things around on me,” Dickerson said. “I want the guy that attacked me to get what he deserves.”

Dickerson walked out of juvenile court Thursday evening accompanied by family members and two community leaders including James Waters, past president of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

“They dismissed it. They believed his testimony,” said Waters, who attended the court proceedings.

During the afternoon hearing, Judge Basen said the pending juvenile matter was a second conflict that prevented the Zimmerman case from advancing. If called to testify in the Zimmerman case, Dickerson’s constitutional right to not incriminate himself could come into play, the judge said.

Police have given this account of the May 17 confrontation:

Dickerson, who lives in Coventry Square, cut through an alley on Lawrence Avenue. Zimmerman, who lives on Lawrence Avenue, told Dickerson that he was on private property and tried to take the teen’s picture with a cell phone camera. A scuffle ensued, and when a patrolman arrived, he found Zimmerman kneeling on Dickerson’s back.

Though local NAACP leaders called for bias charges to be filed against Zimmerman, police declined. Zimmerman was charged with simple assault instead.

If Dickerson were white, he would not have been confronted while going for a walk, said Waters, who was in court Thursday with Dickerson for both hearings.

“We can’t have a vigilante system. Jamarr was the victim in this,” Waters said.

The township attorney, Steven Secare, will determine whether Zimmerman’s tort claim against the township means it would be a conflict for the municipal prosecutor to handle the case.

If there’s a conflict, the case would be handled by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

Superior Court Assignment Judge Eugene D. Serpentelli also will examine the matter, said Municipal Prosecutor Valter Must.

Zimmerman’s attorney, Darren Gelber of Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer, Woodbridge, declined to comment on the juvenile charges facing Dickerson or the tort claim.

While Zimmerman stood silently before the judge Thursday afternoon, Dickerson sat toward the back of the courtroom with his mother and several leaders from the black community.

Dickerson said riding his bike through Lakewood doesn’t feel the same anymore.

“I notice people looking at me now,” he said.

APP