STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. JOSE SANTOS (96-09-1980, ATLANTIC COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) ( 2021 )

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ." Although it is posted on the
internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.
SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
APPELLATE DIVISION
DOCKET NO. A-3059-19
STATE OF NEW JERSEY,
Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
JOSE SANTOS,
a/k/a NELSON NIEVES,
Defendant-Appellant.
_______________________
Submitted September 20, 2021 – Decided October 13, 2021
Before Judges Messano and Accurso.
On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law
Division, Atlantic County, Indictment No. 96-09-1980.
Jose Santos, appellant pro se.
Cary Shill, Acting Atlantic County Prosecutor, attorney
for respondent (Mario C. Formica, Special Deputy
Attorney General/Acting Deputy First Assistant
Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief).
PER CURIAM
In 1997, a jury convicted defendant Jose Santos of murder, robbery and
related offenses, and the court sentenced defendant to life imprisonment plus a
consecutive term of twenty years, with a total of forty years of parole
ineligibility. We affirmed the convictions, remanding only to resentence
defendant on his first-degree robbery conviction to eliminate the ten-year parole
disqualifier. State v. Santos, No. A-2719-97 (App. Div. June 29, 1999). We
subsequently affirmed denial of defendant's petition for post-conviction relief.
State v. Santos, No. A-1058-04 (App. Div. Feb. 14, 2006).
In 2009, defendant filed a pro se application to have DNA testing
"performed on a hair found on the back of the victim's index finger" and "blood-
stained gloves" found in a dumpster where the murder weapons, a knife and a
pair of scissors, were found. State v. Santos, No. A-4554-12 (App. Div. Sept.
22, 2015) (slip op. at 2–3). Without conducting oral argument or an evidentiary
hearing, the judge denied the request in a one-page order that simply provided
defendant "failed to meet [the] standard set forth in N.J.S.A. 2A:84A-32a." Id.
at 3 (alteration in original).
Defendant again appealed, and we concluded the judge "failed to address
the eight statutory factors within the body of its order" and failed to "issue any
written or oral statement of reasons explaining its conclusion that the statutory
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factors were not met." Id. at 6. Not knowing whether the hair and gloves still
existed, we said that defendant was "entitled to have the State undertake a
reasonably diligent inquiry to determine if one or both samples exist." Ibid. We
vacated the order and "remanded for reconsideration and a statement of reasons
that addresse[d] all of the discrete factors under N.J.S.A. 2A:84A-32a." Id. at
7. We left "to the trial court's sound discretion . . . whether an evidentiary
hearing on remand [was] warranted." Ibid.
The State located the hair and gloves, as well as additional evidence from
the trial, including a DNA sample from the victim, clippings from his
fingernails, and the knife and scissors recovered from the dumpster. Defendant
provided a sample of his hair and a buccal swab for comparison. The New Jersey
State Police Laboratory (NJSP Lab) conducted a DNA analysis of these items in
2016 and furnished a report. 1
Defendant was excluded as a contributor to most of the blood samples
from the gloves, although two samples contained a "[m]ixture of DNA profiles
consistent with at least three contributors." The victim was the major
1
Apparently, neither defendant nor the State recognized that all the hair samples
submitted for analysis in 1996 were deemed to have come from an animal or
otherwise be "not useful for comparison." As a result, the NJSP Lab did not
perform a DNA analysis on any hair samples.
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contributor of DNA from the other blood samples, as well as those from the
knife and scissors. However, defendant's DNA profile was identified on the
victim's fingernail clippings; the report stated that DNA profile occurred in
approximately "1 in 29.8 billion of the Hispanic population."
The judge conducting our remand entered an order on December 19, 2016.
He determined no evidentiary hearing was "warranted" and our decision was
"now rendered MOOT, as DNA testing has been completed, albeit, with adverse
results for defendant."
In 2019, defendant filed a pro se motion for a new trial premised on the
results of the DNA testing. A different judge, Judge Jeffrey J. Waldman, denied
the motion, stating his reasons in a comprehensive written opinion. This appeal
followed.
Defendant argues that based on the DNA testing, Judge Waldman should
have vacated his conviction and granted him a new trial. We disagree and
affirm.
"Rule 3:20-1 and -2 provide a mechanism for seeking a new trial following
a criminal conviction." State v. Armour, 446 N.J. Super. 295, 305 (App. Div.
2016). The motion may be granted "if required in the interest of justice[,]"
pursuant to Rule 3:20-1, and, if "based on the ground of newly-discovered
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evidence," the motion "may be made at any time." R. 3:20-2. Even when
premised on the ground of newly discovered evidence, "a motion for a new trial
is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial judge, and the exercise of that
discretion will not be interfered with on appeal unless a clear abuse has been
shown." State v. Russo, 333 N.J. Super. 119, 137 (App. Div. 2000) (State v.
Artis, 36 N.J. 538, 541 (1962)).
A defendant is entitled to a new trial based on newly discovered evidence
if the evidence is "(1) material to the issue and not merely cumulative or
impeaching or contradictory; (2) discovered since the trial and not discoverable
by reasonable diligence beforehand; and (3) of the sort that would probably
change the jury's verdict if a new trial were granted." State v. Szemple, 247 N.J.
82, 99 (2021) (quoting State v. Nash, 212 N.J. 518, 549 (2013)). "[A]ll three
prongs of that test must be satisfied before a defendant will gain the relief of a
new trial." State v. Ways, 180 N.J. 171, 187 (2004) (citing State v. Carter, 85
N.J. 300, 314 (1981)). "The defendant has the burden to establish each prong is
met." State v. Fortin, 464 N.J. Super. 193, 216 (App. Div. 2020) (quoting State
v. Smith, 29 N.J. 561, 573 (1959)).
"[P]rongs one and three are inextricably intertwined." Nash, 212 N.J. at
549. "'[E]vidence [that] would shake the very foundation of the State's case and
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almost certainly alter the earlier jury verdict' could not be categorized as 'merely
cumulative.'" Ibid. (quoting Ways, 180 N.J. at 189 (second alteration in
original)). "The power of the newly discovered evidence to alter the verdict is
the central issue, not the label to be placed on that evidence." Id. at 549–50
(quoting Ways, 180 N.J. at 191–92). We have said that when the new trial
motion is based upon post-verdict testing of trial evidence, "even the most
favorable retesting outcome . . . must be weighed against the compelling proofs
presented by the State." Armour, 446 N.J. Super. at 313 (citations omitted); see
also State v. Reldan, 373 N.J. Super. 396, 401–05 (App. Div. 2004) (affirming
denial of the defendant’s request for DNA testing because he failed to show a
reasonable probability that any favorable DNA evidence would have changed
the jury’s verdict).
Defendant contends that the DNA testing of the gloves, knife, and
scissors, which did not indicate the presence of his DNA, merited the grant of a
new trial. However, Judge Waldman correctly concluded the lack of defendant's
DNA on those items "ha[d] no probative value as it d[id] nothing to negate
[defendant's] involvement in the crime." Moreover, the positive match of
defendant's DNA to the victim's fingernail clippings yielded significant
additional inculpatory evidence if it were introduced at the time of trial.
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Defendant explains this forensic finding by noting evidence at trial
revealed that he and a friend discovered the victim and tried to resuscitate him. 2
However, the State produced overwhelming evidence of defendant's guilt at
trial, including his confession, which defendant repeatedly contends now, as he
has in the past, was "coerced." Defendant, for example, made the same claim
when he testified before the jury, which obviously rejected the contention.
Furthermore, as Judge Waldman wrote:
Additionally, [defendant's] confession was
corroborated by other evidence presented at trial. The
murder weapons were found in the dumpster where
[defendant] said he had placed them; a mattress in the
victim’s home was moved as [defendant] said he moved
it; and the victim’s pants pockets were turned inside out
with all money removed, corroborating [defendant's]
confession of stealing [eighty-seven dollars] from the
victim. Further, [defendant's] fingerprint was found on
the bag containing the alleged murder weapons, and an
eyewitness did see [defendant] put something in the
dumpster where the murder weapon was found shortly
after the victim’s death. Therefore, even if the absence
of [defendant's] DNA on some of the evidence were
presented at trial, it would not have altered the outcome
of the jury’s verdict.
For the foregoing reasons, [defendant's] motion
fails to meet the criteria for newly discovered evidence
warranting a new trial.
2
Judge Waldman mistakenly wrote that there was no evidence at trial
supporting defendant's explanation.
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We fully concur with this reasoning. To the extent we have not specifically
addressed any other arguments raised by defendant, they lack sufficient merit to
warrant discussion in a written opinion. R. 2:11-3(e)(2).
Affirmed.
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