Herbert Jay Stern  Herbert Jay Stern (born November 8, 1936) is a New Jersey criminal defense lawyer. Earlier in his career, Stern served as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and the United States Court for Berlin. He presided over a hijacking trial that was the only case ever tried in an American court in the occupied American Sector of West Berlin. He wrote a book about that case, "Judgment in Berlin", which became a movie of the same name in which his role was played by Martin Sheen. He was part of the team that successfully handled several major corruption and organized crime trials in New Jersey. These are memorialized in his recent book, "Diary of a DA: The True Story of the Prosecutor Who Took On the Mob, Fought Corruption, and Won". (2012)  Born on November 8, 1936, in New York City, New York, Stern attended Hobart College. After graduating in 1958 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, he went on to earn a Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School in 1961. He then served one year in the United States Army Reserve. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1961 and the New Jersey bar in 1971. Stern served from 1962 to 1965 as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, during which he participated in the investigation of the assassination of Malcolm X. He then took a position as a trial attorney in the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the United States Department of Justice. In 1969, Stern became Chief Assistant United States Attorney for New Jersey. From 1971 to 1973, he served as the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. He was part of the team that handled several major corruption and organized crime trials in New Jersey. The United States Attorney's Office in New Jersey was originally headed by Frederick Lacey. Trials included the successful prosecution of Newark Mayor Hugh Joseph Addonizio. Stern was nominated by President Richard Nixon on December 7, 1973, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey vacated by Judge Leonard I. Garth. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 19, 1973, and received his commission on December 28, 1973. His service terminated on January 4, 1987, due to his resignation. During a 13-year tenure on the bench, Stern presided over a variety of civil and criminal cases. However, his judicial service is best remembered for the unique case of "United States v.