That defendant used other inmates’ assigned PIN numbers to make these phone calls from prison is pertinent. It demonstrates his attempt at covering up his efforts to make A.A. unavailable to testify against him. Given that backdrop, defendant’s conversations with his girlfriend and cousin were much more than just meaningless vents of frustration “wishing” for A.A.’s demise. Defendant knew that phone calls from jail were recorded and, by using other inmates’ PIN numbers, he calculated that his incriminating statements would never be traced back to him.
In all, defendant’s demands here were not mere “hopes” or “wishes” that death befall A.A.; rather, defendant was demanding that someone kill A.A. or at least bail him out so he could take that desired action. Defendant’s insistent verbal demands in the context of these circumstances corroborated the firmness of his purpose to have the crime carried out, and are sufficient to satisfy the substantial step requirement for criminal attempt pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:5-1(a).
I sympathize with the Appellate panel that the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed with this decision. The more logical use of another inmate’s pin number in the context of knowing that all conversations are monitored is that the defendant did not have any credit left on his own pin. If he was trying to avoid making incriminating statements, he would not have been speaking in the above-quoted language.