Chief Justice Rabner continued in relevant part: Joan also testified at trial. She was shown two still photos from the bank surveillance video and testified she was 100 percent positive that each depicted defendant. Sergeant Frank Vitelli, Jr., testified about the...
On August 2, 2023, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided the Middlesex County case of State v. Quintin Watson. The principal issues before the Court concerned first-time in-court identifications and video narration testimony. Chief Justice Rabner wrote for a unanimous...
Justice Pierre-Louis and the five-Justice majority concluded with the following in relevant part: Because comments like those made in this case about the defendant’s identity and evidence that purportedly links the defendant to the crime could well make an incourt...
The New Jersey Supreme Court continued with the following in relevant part: Under New Jersey case law, when an expert grounds testimony in personal views, rather than objective facts, the net opinion rule requires the exclusion of such unsupported views. In...
Justice Pierre-Louis continued in relevant part: Prior to trial, defense counsel moved to exclude testimony by the State’s expert, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Ajit David, and any first-time in-court identification of defendant by any of the victims....
The New Jersey Supreme court majority continued in relevant part: On December 26, Rosette Martinez misidentified a filler photo in a photo array with 90 percent certainty. She declined to make an identification during a second photo array, which included a photo of...
On August 2, 2023, the New Jersey Supreme Court decided the Essex County case of State v. Roberson Burney. The principal issues concerned the admissibility of GPS and in-court identification testimony. Justice Pierre-Louis, my Rutgers Law classmate, wrote for the 5-2...
The 4-3 majority continued in relevant part: Campanella also testified, however, that the “white blip” on the video indicated “the defendant firing the handgun”; that a frame depicted the suspect “turning towards the officer”; that another view of the first muzzle...
Justice Patterson continued in relevant part: The Court reviews N.J.R.E. 701, which governs the admission of lay opinion testimony, and recent decisions in which the Court has applied Rule 701 to an officer’s testimony about a photo or video relating to an offense. In...
The Court continued in relevant part: During defendant’s trial, Officer McGhee testified, in part narrating the videos as they were played for the jury. Campanella testified later, describing the steps taken in the investigation. After the State indicated its intent...