State v. Jahnell Weaver (069185) , 219 N.J. 131 ( 2014 )

SYLLABUS
(This syllabus is not part of the opinion of the Court. It has been prepared by the Office of the Clerk for the
convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the Supreme Court. Please note that, in the
interest of brevity, portions of any opinion may not have been summarized).
State v. Jahnell Weaver (A-104-11) (069185)
Argued February 4, 2014 -- Decided September 8, 2014
CUFF, P.J.A.D. (temporarily assigned), writing for a unanimous Court.
In this appeal, the Court addresses whether defendant is entitled to a new trial based upon the cumulative
impact of several alleged errors, including the denial of defendant’s application to use “reverse 404(b)” evidence,
the denial of his motion for a separate trial, and the admission of an inadequately redacted statement.
On June 26, 2004, Jahnell Weaver (defendant) and Edward Williams argued outside of a graduation party
in Camden, New Jersey. As the verbal altercation continued, someone drew a gun and fired five shots. Williams
died from three gunshot wounds. Amyr Hill, a friend standing by Williams’s side, was severely injured by two
gunshot wounds. Defendant and his friend, Khalil Bryant, fled from the scene. Based on statements obtained from
victim Hill and several eyewitnesses, police determined that either defendant or Bryant had fired the shots. Both
were subsequently charged with the murder of Williams, the attempted murder of Hill, and other charges.
Roughly five months later, in November 2004, Winslow Township police went to Bryant’s residence to
investigate a different incident and discovered the weapon that had been used in the Camden shooting. Bryant was
arrested for the Winslow Township shooting and subsequently pled guilty. In November 2005, the lead investigator
of the Camden shooting spoke with Bryant about the weapon. Bryant initially stated that he purchased the gun on
the street, but later admitted that he possessed the weapon on the night of the Camden shooting. He stated that
defendant gave him the weapon after the Camden shooting with instructions to hide it.
As part of his defense, defendant contended that Bryant, not he, shot the two victims. To that end, he
sought to introduce evidence of Bryant’s involvement in the Winslow Township shooting in order to prove that
Bryant had the intent to use the murder weapon. Defendant also moved for a separate trial. The trial court, applying
the four-prong Cofield test, ruled that the other-crimes evidence was inadmissible because it was not relevant to any
issue and was unduly prejudicial to Bryant. The court also denied defendant’s motion for a separate trial.
At trial, the sole contested issue was the identity of the shooter. Among other evidence, the State admitted
a redacted portion of Bryant’s 2005 statement in which he stated that he had received the gun from “someone”
immediately after the Camden shooting. Other trial evidence permitted the jury to readily find that defendant was
the “someone” who gave the gun to Bryant. The jury found defendant guilty of all counts and found Bryant guilty
of third-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and two counts of third-degree endangering an injured victim.
On appeal defendant argued that his right to confrontation was violated because the trial court admitted
Bryant’s statements identifying defendant as the shooter, even though Bryant did not testify. Defendant also
contended that the trial court should have permitted him to introduce the other-crimes evidence, namely that Bryant
used the murder weapon in connection with the Winslow Township incident. Defendant explained that the
exclusion of the evidence deprived him of critical evidence supporting his defense that Bryant was the shooter, and
mandated severance of the charges and separate trials for defendant and Bryant. The Appellate Division affirmed
defendant’s conviction and the Court granted his petition for certification. State v. Weaver, 210 N.J. 108 (2012).
HELD: The confluence of defendant’s third-party defense strategy, the erroneous denial of his defensive use of co-
defendant’s subsequent acts with the murder weapon, the denial of his motion to sever the trial, the admission of an
inadequately redacted statement, and the erroneous admission of when co-defendant received the murder weapon
require a new trial. The cumulative impact of these errors was not harmless.
1. From defendant’s many challenges, the Court discerns four central issues: (1) the denial of his application to use
reverse 404(b) evidence against Bryant, (2) the denial of his motion for severance, (3) the admission of an
incriminatory statement from Bryant’s 2005 statement following his arrest for the Winslow Township shooting, and
(4) the cumulative effect of some or all of those errors. (pp. 16)
2. Two or more defendants may be charged and tried jointly “if they are alleged to have participated in the same act
or transaction” constituting the offense. R. 3:7-1; R. 3:15-1. If it appears that a defendant or the State is prejudiced
by a joint trial, the trial court may sever. R. 3:15-2(b). When, as here, a defendant’s defense strategy is antagonistic
at its core to the defense strategy of his co-defendant so that the jury could believe only one of them, severance is
required. Here, the trial court rejected the motion to sever because it also excluded defendant’s other-crimes
evidence. Critically, however, the trial court’s other crimes analysis was in error. (pp. 17-18, 28-29)
3. In analyzing defendant’s other-crimes evidence – specifically, the evidence of Bryant’s participation in the
Winslow Township shooting – the trial court applied the four-prong test established State v. Cofield, 127 N.J. 338
(1992). However, when a person charged with a criminal offense seeks to use other-crimes evidence defensively,
the Cofield standard does not apply. Instead, reverse 404(b) evidence is governed by a simple relevance standard,
and a defendant may use the other-crimes evidence if it tends to negate the defendant’s guilt of the crime charged.
Under this more relaxed standard, courts must still determine that the probative value of the evidence is not
substantially outweighed by any of the Rule 403 factors. Here, Bryant’s involvement in the Winslow Township
shooting was relevant to the Camden shooting, and presentation of the other-crimes evidence would not have
consumed undue time or confused or misled the jury. Thus, the trial court should have permitted defendant to use
Bryant’s involvement in the Winslow Township shooting defensively at trial. Such evidence was a key component
of defendant’s third-party guilt defense. In addition, if the evidence of Bryant’s involvement in the November 2004
Winslow Township shooting was admissible, the trial should have been severed. (pp. 19-20, 29-31).
4. The trial court also erred by permitting the State to enter into evidence a redacted version of Bryant’s statement
that he received the gun immediately after the Camden shooting. Although courts generally permit the use of co-
defendant statements that do not directly incriminate another defendant as long as all references to the defendant are
removed, here, the admission of Bryant’s statement violated defendant’s right to confront a critical witness. A co-
defendant’s incriminatory statement is admissible only where it requires the jury to make an inferential step to link
the statement to the defendant. Simply replacing a defendant’s name with a blank space or the word “deleted” is not
permissible because it “points to the defendant.” Here, the State and defense counsel agreed that Bryant’s 2005
statement would be redacted and the word “someone” would be used in place of defendant’s name. At trial,
however, Bryant’s counsel sought to establish that Bryant received the weapon immediately after the Camden
shooting. Both the prosecutor and defendant’s counsel objected, stating that the additional detail eviscerated any
benefit achieved by substituting “someone” for defendant’s name. Their objections were correct. Considered in the
context of the complete trial record, the jury was not required to make an inferential step to link defendant to the
person referred to in Bryant’s statement. Although the redaction of defendant’s name may have passed muster if
counsel had not asked when Bryant received the weapon, as soon as the jury learned that Bryant received it on the
night of the Camden shooting, the jury had been provided a direct path to defendant. (pp. 21-26, 31-34)
5. In some circumstances, it is difficult to identify a single error that deprives a defendant of a fair trial. This is one
of those cases. Here, we have a collection of errors, one of which involves a violation of defendant’s right to
confront a witness, namely his co-defendant, to contest the accusation that defendant was the shooter. This is a
classic case of several errors, none of which may have independently required a reversal, but which in combination
dictate a new trial. Defendant’s defense strategy of third-party guilt was not farfetched and use of the Winslow
Township shooting evidence would have added some strength to that strategy. It could not, however, be presented
at a joint trial. The cumulative impact of these errors was not harmless, and, therefore, a new trial is required. (pp.
26-27, 34-37)
The judgment of the Appellate Division is REVERSED, and the matter is REMANDED to the trial court
for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
CHIEF JUSTICE RABNER; JUSTICES LaVECCHIA, ALBIN, PATTERSON, and FERNANDEZ-
VINA; and JUDGE RODRÍGUEZ (temporarily assigned) join in JUDGE CUFF’s opinion.
2
SUPREME COURT OF NEW JERSEY
A-104 September Term 2011
069185
STATE OF NEW JERSEY,
Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
JAHNELL WEAVER,
Defendant-Appellant.
Argued February 4, 2014 – Decided September 8, 2014
On certification to the Superior Court,
Appellate Division.
Kevin G. Byrnes, Designated Counsel, argued
the cause for appellant (Joseph E. Krakora,
Public Defender, attorney).
Jason Magid, Assistant Prosecutor, argued
the cause for respondent (Warren W. Faulk,
Camden County Prosecutor, attorney; Nancy P.
Scharff, Assistant Prosecutor, on the letter
briefs).
Alexander R. Shalom argued the cause for
amicus curiae American Civil Liberties Union
of New Jersey (Edward L. Barocas, Legal
Director and Ronald K. Chen, Acting Dean of
Rutgers Constitutional Litigation Clinic
Center for Law & Justice, attorneys; Mr.
Shalom, Mr. Barocas, and Jeanne M. Locicero,
of counsel and on the brief).
Brian J. Uzdavinis, Deputy Attorney General,
argued the cause for amicus curiae Attorney
General of New Jersey John J. Hoffman,
Acting Attorney General, attorney).
JUDGE CUFF (temporarily assigned) delivered the opinion of
the Court.
On a warm summer evening in late June 2004, approximately
fifty young men and women gathered at the Camden apartment of a
recent high school graduate to celebrate her graduation. Later
in the evening, a verbal argument erupted on the street in front
of the apartment between two young men -- Jahnell Weaver and
Edward Williams. Each had a friend standing by their side. As
the verbal altercation continued, someone drew a gun and fired
five shots. Williams died from three gunshot wounds. His
friend, Amyr Hill, was gravely wounded by two gunshots but
survived. Weaver and his friend fled from the scene.
The police investigation quickly focused on Weaver and
Khalil Bryant. Based on statements obtained from Hill and
several eyewitnesses, police determined that the shots were
fired by either Weaver or Bryant. Both were subsequently
charged with the murder of Williams, the attempted murder of
Hill, and various weapons charges.
The focus of the trial was the identity of the shooter.
Hill initially identified Bryant as the shooter but later
modified his identification, stating that he was not sure
whether Weaver or Bryant fired the shots. An eyewitness
provided similar testimony. Another eyewitness provided a
description of the shooting that suggested Bryant was the
2
shooter. Two other eyewitnesses stated unequivocally that
Weaver shot both young men.
Weaver contended that Bryant, not he, shot the young men.
In support of this defense, Weaver sought to introduce evidence
of Bryant’s involvement in a later shooting in which he used the
murder weapon. Weaver also moved for a separate trial.
Applying the Cofield1 analysis rather than a simple relevancy
analysis, the trial court denied Weaver’s defensive use of the
subsequent other-crimes evidence and denied the severance
motion.
Related to the subsequent shooting event, the State
admitted a redacted portion of Bryant’s statement in which he
stated that he received the gun from someone immediately after
the Camden shooting occurred. Other trial evidence permitted
the jury to readily find that the “someone” who gave the gun to
Bryant on the night of the Camden shooting was none other than
Weaver.
No one error is determinative of this appeal. The
confluence of Weaver’s third-party defense strategy, the
erroneous denial of Weaver’s defensive use of Bryant’s
subsequent acts with the murder weapon, the denial of his motion
to sever the trial, the admission of an inadequately redacted
statement by Bryant, and the erroneous admission, over the
1
State v. Cofield, 127 N.J. 328, 338 (1992).
3
objection of the prosecutor and Weaver’s attorney, of when
Bryant received the murder weapon require a new trial.
I.
A.
This appeal arises from a verbal dispute between two young
men during a high school graduation party in Camden in June 2004
that escalated to shots fired, leaving one young man dead and
another seriously wounded. Either defendant or Bryant shot the
victims. Certain facts are undisputed.
On June 26, 2004, about fifty people between the ages of
sixteen and nineteen assembled at a high school graduation party
for a seventeen-year-old girl. Late in the evening, four young
men gathered outside her apartment. Edward Williams and
defendant Jahnell Weaver became embroiled in a verbal dispute.
Hill stood by Williams’ side. Bryant stood by the side of
defendant. The two groups faced each other only several feet
apart. Some witnesses described Williams as screaming at
defendant, who spoke quietly and laughed at Williams. Williams
asked Hill for his phone and called a friend. Hill did not hear
the entire conversation but thought Williams was requesting aid
from the person with whom he spoke.
At that moment five shots were fired. Williams was struck
by three bullets, Hill by two. Both men tried to flee but
Williams fell in the street; Hill fell closer to the curb.
4
As onlookers rushed to the aid of Williams and Hill, many
observed defendant and Bryant run from the scene. Lamike
Goffney, the godmother of one eyewitness and the guardian of
another, observed one of the fleeing men transfer a gun to the
other man. Almost a year later, Bryant admitted that sometime
on the night of the shooting he gained possession of the murder
weapon after the shooting.
Someone placed Hill in a car that drove away from the scene
at a high rate of speed. The car was intercepted by an
emergency medical services (EMS) vehicle. Hill was removed from
the car, placed in the EMS vehicle, and taken to the hospital.2
Police and another EMS vehicle soon arrived at the scene of the
shooting. Williams was removed and taken to the hospital where
he was declared dead.3
2
The trauma surgeon who treated Hill testified that Hill arrived
at the hospital “in extremis” from multiple gunshot wounds to
the torso and leg. The gunshot wound to the torso partially
split the liver causing severe blood loss. The wound to the leg
severed the femoral artery and also produced heavy blood loss.
The trauma surgeon repaired the liver and managed respiratory
failure which developed later. A vascular surgeon performed “an
inter-position [vein] graft” to address the severed femoral
artery. Hill remained hospitalized for several weeks.
3
The medical examiner described the three gunshot wounds
suffered by Williams. The first was “a perforating wound that
entered the upper neck on the left, passed left to right, and
exited” the body. It only caused muscle damage. The second and
third gunshots entered the left side of the chest. One passed
through the ribcage and the aorta. The other struck the left
lung. Both wounds caused severe blood loss –- “[the] kind of
blood loss . . . associated with rapid death.”
5
The central issue, and the only disputed issue at trial,
was who shot Williams and Hill. Even that issue was narrowly
focused because all the evidence pointed to either defendant or
Bryant.
In his first interview following discharge from the
hospital, Hill told a defense investigator that Bryant shot him.
At trial, he testified that he was not sure whether defendant or
the person who was standing next to defendant fired the gun.
Bryant DeShields observed part of the verbal altercation
between defendant and Williams. DeShields was a close friend of
Williams and Hill and knew defendant from school and the
neighborhood. In his first statement, given within three or
four hours of the shooting, DeShields told the investigator that
defendant did not shoot Williams or Hill. Four days later,
however, he informed the same investigator that he was not sure
who shot his friends. At trial, he testified that he “saw a
hand,” and stated he did not “know whose hand it was,” but he
had no doubt that the shots were fired by either defendant or
Bryant.
Cherae Frazier testified that she saw defendant lift his
shirt and pull a gun from his pants and shoot Williams and Hill.
Jasmaine Watkins testified that she saw defendant fire a gun
five or six times. Goffney, Frazier’s godmother and Watkins’
guardian, responded to the scene after hearing the gunshots and
6
encountered Frazier. In response to Goffney’s question about
the whereabouts of Watkins, Frazier stated, “[defendant] didn’t
have to kill him. [Defendant] didn’t have to kill him.”
Goffney also saw two young men, one dressed in a white
shirt and blue shorts, running from the site of the shooting.
The young man in the blue shorts “passed the other guy
something.” She explained that “[o]ne had something in his
hand. He passed the other one whatever he had in his hand and
they kept on running.”
DeShields testified that Bryant wore a navy blue hat pulled
low over his eyes and had a white cast or a cast-like object on
one arm. Frazier and Dominique Pratt, another eyewitness,
confirmed that Bryant wore a white cast on his right arm.
Pratt also saw Bryant dancing at the party. As Bryant
danced, Pratt saw a gun fall from his waistband two or three
times. In addition, Pratt observed the verbal dispute between
defendant and Williams. Pratt observed defendant and Bryant
have “a little exchange” of something, but could not identify
what passed between the two young men. Soon thereafter, Pratt
“saw a cast go up and [] an arm under it and [] heard gunshots.”
Pratt could not state whether defendant or Bryant fired the gun.
B.
Following waiver to adult court, a grand jury indicted
seventeen-year-old Jahnell Weaver and Khalil J. Bryant and
7
charged them with the following offenses: first-degree murder,
contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3(a)(1)(2) (count one); first-degree
attempted murder, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:5-1 and 2C:11-3 (count
two); second-degree aggravated assault, contrary to N.J.S.A.
2C:12-1(b)(1) (count three); third-degree aggravated assault
with a deadly weapon, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(b)(2) (count
four); second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful
purpose, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4(a) (count five); third-
degree unlawful possession of a weapon, contrary to N.J.S.A.
2C:39-5(b) (count six); and two counts of third-degree
endangering an injured victim, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1.2
(counts seven and eight).
Defendant filed a motion for severance pursuant to Rule
3:15-2(b). Defendant contended that Bryant, not he, was the
shooter. In support of this defense, defendant sought to
introduce other-crimes evidence that showed that Bryant
threatened to use, and did use, the same firearm used to shoot
Williams and Hill at a later date. Defendant argued that the
other-crimes evidence showed Bryant had the intent to use the
murder weapon. The trial court, applying the four-prong Cofield
test, ruled that the other-crimes evidence was inadmissible
because it was not relevant to any issue and was unduly
prejudicial to Bryant. The court also denied defendant’s motion
for a trial separate from Bryant.
8
Defendant and Bryant were tried together. The jury found
defendant guilty of all counts. The jury acquitted Bryant of
counts one, two, three, four, and five, but found him guilty of
counts six, seven and eight. Defendant is serving an aggregate
term of sixty-six years’ imprisonment, 51.85 years of which must
be served without parole.
On appeal, defendant argued that his right to confrontation
was violated when the trial court admitted hearsay statements
uttered by Bryant identifying him as the shooter. Bryant did
not testify; therefore, defendant did not have the opportunity
to cross-examine him.
Defendant also contended that the trial court should have
permitted him to introduce other-crimes evidence that Bryant
used the murder weapon during a confrontation with others
several months after the Camden shooting in June 2004. He
argued that this evidence showed Bryant’s intent to use the gun
when involved in a dispute. Defendant maintained that the
other-crimes evidence was relevant and the prejudice to Bryant
could have been resolved by granting defendant’s motion to
sever. Moreover, he urged that the exclusion of the evidence
deprived him of critical evidence supporting his defense that
Bryant, not he, was the shooter, and mandated severance of the
charges and separate trials for defendant and Bryant.
9
Defendant also contended that the trial court should have
delivered a passion/provocation manslaughter charge as a lesser-
included offense of murder, that the trial court failed to mold
the charge to the facts as developed at trial, that his right to
a speedy trial had been denied, and that the sentence was
excessive.
In an unpublished opinion, the Appellate Division affirmed
defendant’s conviction. The appellate panel held that the trial
court did not abuse or mistakenly exercise its discretion when
it denied defendant’s motion for severance. The panel reasoned
that “[s]everance would have been required if and only if that
evidence was otherwise admissible . . . the only purpose for
which that evidence would be admitted is to establish Bryant’s
propensity to shoot others. It was therefore inadmissible, in
either a joint or individual trial.” The appellate panel
observed that both defendants participated in the episode with
the victims and much of the evidence was the same. In the end,
the panel opined that “defendant lost nothing by being tried
with Bryant.”
The Appellate Division also determined that Bryant’s
redacted statement regarding his possession of the murder weapon
after the night of the Camden shooting did not violate
defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to confrontation. The panel
emphasized that the trial court admitted the redacted statement
10
at defendant’s request and the statement potentially exculpated
defendant and inculpated Bryant. The panel also determined that
the use of the statement by Bryant’s counsel to suggest that
defendant gave the weapon to Bryant was error, but harmless,
because defendant and Bryant were charged with all crimes as
principals and accessories, and defendant gained some benefit
from the testimony because it deflected attention from him.
In addition, the appellate panel determined that the trial
court correctly barred evidence that Bryant had been involved in
a later shooting. The panel concluded that the later violent
act by Bryant was relevant only to establish Bryant’s propensity
to commit violent acts, which is expressly precluded by N.J.R.E.
404(b). The appellate court rejected, as without merit,
defendant’s contentions that the trial court should have
instructed the jury on passion/provocation manslaughter because
one of the victims uttered a racial slur, that the trial court
prejudicially erred by failing to mold the prior inconsistent
statement portion of the final charge to the trial evidence, and
that the prosecutor engaged in prosecutorial misconduct. The
panel also concluded that defendant was not entitled to a new
trial due to cumulative error.
Finally, the appellate court determined that the four-year
delay between indictment and trial did not violate defendant’s
right to a speedy trial because he failed to establish that he
11
suffered any prejudice attributable to the delay, that the
prosecutor did not engage in misconduct in the investigation of
the incident and preparation for trial, and that the sentence is
not excessive.
We granted defendant’s petition for certification. State
v. Weaver, 210 N.J. 108 (2012).
II.
A.
Before this Court, defendant reiterates the same arguments
that he presented to the Appellate Division but focuses
particularly on five issues -- the exclusion of the other-crimes
evidence, the failure to sever the trial, the admission of
Bryant’s hearsay statement that defendant passed the gun to him
after the shooting, the omission of the passion/provocation
manslaughter charge, and cumulative error. Defendant emphasizes
that the surviving victim and an eyewitness identified Bryant as
the shooter soon after the shooting, that one witness observed
Bryant with the murder weapon before the shooting, and that
Bryant possessed the gun after the shooting and used it against
others on another occasion. Defendant asserts this evidence
supports the conclusion that the gun belonged to Bryant, not
defendant, and that Bryant was the shooter.
Furthermore, defendant contends that Bryant’s out-of-court
statement that defendant passed the gun to him following the
12
shooting should not be considered a declaration against Bryant’s
penal interest. He contends such an interpretation “belies
common sense.” Defendant acknowledges that Bryant admitted to a
possession of a weapon offense but emphasizes that he also
exculpated himself from the murder charge and the lengthy term
of imprisonment imposed for the offense. In other words, the
statement was not actually against Bryant’s penal interest when
he made the statement.
Finally, defendant urges that the circumstances that
unfolded that evening in Camden created an atmosphere that
required submission of the charge of passion/provocation
manslaughter as a lesser-included offense of murder. Defendant
insists that the victim’s call for backup from his group of
friends and the victim’s use of a derogatory term provided the
factual underpinnings for the lesser-included offense and the
appropriate charge.
B.
The State argues that the trial court properly denied
defendant’s attempt to admit evidence that Bryant used the
murder weapon against others months after the Camden shooting.
It contends that the trial court properly applied the Cofield
analysis to exclude the later incident and properly concluded
that the later incident was not relevant to the charges arising
from the Camden shooting. The State argues that, whether the
13
evidence of the later use of the murder weapon by Bryant is
considered direct other-crimes evidence or reverse other-crimes
evidence, the reason for offering the evidence was for no
purpose other than to establish Bryant’s propensity to commit
violent acts.
The State also maintains that the trial court properly
denied defendant’s motion for severance. It emphasizes that
defendant conditioned the severance motion on his ability to
introduce the reverse other-crimes evidence. Once the trial
judge denied the use of that evidence, the need for a severance
evaporated. Moreover, the State emphasizes that defendant’s
severance argument is premised on the relevance and
admissibility of the reverse other-crimes evidence.
The State also argues that the admission of evidence of a
redacted portion of Bryant’s statement that defendant passed the
weapon to him after defendant shot Williams and Hill did not
violate defendant’s right to confrontation. The State
emphasizes that the contested testimony was elicited by Bryant’s
counsel, not the prosecutor, and defendant did not object or
seek a limiting instruction. Moreover, any error must be
considered harmless due to the overwhelming evidence of guilt
adduced by the State.
Finally, the State contends that the four-year delay
between indictment and trial did not violate defendant’s right
14
to a speedy trial, the prosecutor’s investigator did not engage
in misconduct, the trial court properly denied a
passion/provocation manslaughter charge, and the trial court
imposed a fair and appropriate sentence. Addressing the speedy
trial contention, the State maintains that defendant suffered no
prejudice, and the delay was occasioned by some pretrial
proceedings initiated by defendant.
C.
The Attorney General, appearing as amicus curiae, concedes
that reverse 404(b) or defensive use of other-crimes evidence is
viewed more indulgently than use of such evidence by the State.
It urges, however, that defendant sought to use the evidence for
no other reason than to establish Bryant’s propensity to commit
violent acts. The Attorney General emphasizes that defendant
moved to introduce Bryant’s out-of-court statement in which
Bryant admitted that he possessed the gun “before and after the
shooting.” It contends that the brief and unanticipated
testimony that defendant passed the gun to Bryant after the
shooting does not require a new trial. The Attorney General
insists that the reference to the redacted inculpatory portion
of Bryant’s statement by Bryant’s counsel, not the prosecutor,
does not warrant a new trial.
Amicus American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU)
urges the Court to address the speedy trial issue raised by
15
defendant. It urges the Court to take this opportunity to
define with certainty the length of delay that constitutes
presumptive denial of a defendant’s right to a speedy trial. It
recommends that when a defendant has been incarcerated for more
than 270 days and meets the other prongs of the Barker v. Wingo4
test, the burden must shift to the State to establish that the
defendant has not been prejudiced by the delay.
III.
Defendant has raised several issues. Based on our review
of the record, we discern that four issues -- the denial of
defendant’s application to use reverse 404(b) evidence against
Bryant, the denial of defendant’s motion for severance, the
admission of an incriminatory statement from Bryant’s statement
following his arrest for a later shooting, and the cumulative
effect of some or all of any of those errors -- are the central
issues in this appeal.5 As related in our summary of the
evidence adduced at trial, neither defendant nor Bryant denied
that they attended the graduation party or that they were in the
street outside the residence where the party occurred or that a
4
Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S. Ct. 2182, 33 L. Ed. 2d 101
(1972).
5
Defendant’s contention that the record required a
passion/provocation manslaughter charge is without merit. It is
well-settled that words alone, even a racial slur, are not
sufficient to warrant this charge. State v. Mauricio, 117 N.J.
402, 413-14 (1990).
16
verbal dispute occurred between defendant and Bryant and two
other young men. The issue was solely the identity of the
person who fired the gun. It is in this context that we review
these closely related issues.
A.
Two or more defendants may be charged and tried jointly “if
they are alleged to have participated in the same act or
transaction” constituting the offense. R. 3:7-1 (indictment);
R. 3:15-1 (trial). Indeed, under those circumstances, a joint
trial is “preferable” because it serves judicial economy, avoids
inconsistent verdicts, and allows for a “more accurate
assessment of relative culpability.” State v. Brown, 118 N.J.
595, 605 (1990).
If, for any reason, it appears that a defendant or the
State is prejudiced by the joint trial, the trial court may
sever. R. 3:15-2(b) (governing relief from prejudicial
joinder). One instance in which a defendant is prejudiced by a
joint trial is when a defendant’s and a co-defendant’s defenses
are not simply at odds, but are “antagonistic at their core,”
meaning that they are mutually exclusive and the jury could
believe only one of them. Brown, supra, 118 N.J. at 605-07.
The decision to sever is within the trial court’s discretion,
and it will be reversed only if it constitutes an abuse of
17
discretion. State v. Sanchez, 143 N.J. 273, 283 (1996) (citing
Brown, supra, 118 N.J. at 603).
B.
A trial court ruling on the admissibility of other-crimes
evidence is a discretionary matter that receives “great
deference” and is reversible only if clearly erroneous. State
v. Gillispie, 208 N.J. 59, 84 (2011). But evidentiary rulings
that undermine confidence in the validity of the conviction or
misapply the law are subject to reversal. State v. Fulston, 325
N.J. Super. 184, 192-93 (App. Div. 1999) (reversing conviction
of murder of infant because trial court wrongfully excluded
defendant’s proffered evidence that child’s mother previously
abused child), certif. denied, 163 N.J. 397 (2000).
The fundamental principle guiding the admission of evidence
is relevance. Relevant evidence is “evidence having a tendency
in reason to prove or disprove any fact of consequence to the
determination of the action.” N.J.R.E. 401. Even if evidence
is relevant, evidence of other crimes or bad acts is
inadmissible if offered “to prove the disposition of a person in
order to show that such person acted in conformity therewith” on
another occasion. N.J.R.E. 404(b). In other words, even though
often relevant, parties cannot introduce evidence that suggests
a person is predisposed to commit wrongful acts to argue that
the party committed the wrongful act at issue. State v. Nance,
18
148 N.J. 376, 386 (1997); see also Gillispie, supra, 208 N.J. at
85 (asserting that other-crimes evidence may be both inherently
prejudicial and also “highly relevant to prove a defendant’s
guilt”); State v. G.S., 145 N.J. 460, 468 (1996) (acknowledging
that other-crimes evidence is at “tension” because it is “both
probative and prejudicial”).
But other-crimes evidence is admissible to prove something
other than an individual’s propensity to commit wrongful acts,
“such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation,
plan, knowledge, identity or absence of mistake or accident” so
long as “such matters are relevant to a material issue in
dispute.” N.J.R.E. 404(b). The Court has developed a rule of
general application to guide the admission of other-crimes
evidence. Cofield, supra, 127 N.J. at 338. Under this test,
other-crimes evidence is admissible only if: (1) relevant to a
material issue; (2) similar in kind and reasonably close in time
to the offense charged; (3) supported by clear and convincing
evidence; and (4) its prejudice does not outweigh its probative
value. Ibid.
When a person charged with a criminal offense seeks to use
other-crimes evidence defensively, the Cofield standard does not
govern because “an accused is entitled to advance in his defense
any evidence which may rationally tend to refute his guilt or
buttress his innocence of the charge made.” State v. Garfole,
19
76 N.J. 445, 453 (1978). A defendant generally may introduce
“similar other–crimes evidence defensively if in reason it
tends, alone or with other evidence, to negate his guilt.”
Ibid. Thus, even though “a fairly rigid standard of similarity
may be required” of the prosecution, when it is the defendant
who “offer[s] that kind of proof exculpatorily, prejudice to the
defendant is no longer a factor, and simple relevance to guilt
or innocence should suffice” as the admissibility standard. Id.
at 452-53; see also State v. Cook, 179 N.J. 533, 566-67 (2004)
(affirming Garfole rule that standard for defendants using
other-crimes evidence defensively is “simple relevance”). The
defensive use of similar other-crimes evidence is sometimes
referred to as “reverse 404(b)” evidence.
Under this more relaxed standard, trial courts must still
determine that the probative value of the evidence is not
substantially outweighed by any of the Rule 403 factors, which
are “undue prejudice, confusion of issues, or misleading the
jury,” and “undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation
of cumulative evidence.” See Cook, supra, 179 N.J. at 567.
This determination is highly discretionary. Ibid. In Cook, for
example, the Court deferred to the trial court’s determination
that though the other-crimes evidence was relevant, its
probative value was “minimal” because there was “nothing
20
distinctive to tie” the sexual assault with a non-sexual
abduction. Id. at 568-69.
C.
A person charged with a criminal offense has the right to
confront his accusers. U.S. Const. amend. VI. This right is
founded on the belief that subjecting testimony to cross-
examination enhances the truth-discerning process and the
reliability of the information. California v. Green, 399 U.S.
149, 159, 90 S. Ct. 1930, 1935, 26 L. Ed. 2d 489, 497 (1970);
State ex rel. J.A., 195 N.J. 324, 342 (2008). The Confrontation
Clause generally forbids admitting testimony of a witness who
directly or indirectly provides information derived from a non-
testifying witness that incriminates a defendant at trial.
State v. Branch, 182 N.J. 338, 350 (2005).
The Confrontation Clause does not condemn all hearsay.
Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 51, 124 S. Ct. 1354, 1364,
158 L. Ed. 2d 177, 192 (2004); Branch, supra, 182 N.J. at 349.
Hearsay that satisfies a recognized exception to the hearsay
rule and is non-testimonial in nature will not run afoul of the
Confrontation Clause. Branch, supra, 182 N.J. at 349. Hearsay
that is testimonial in nature is inadmissible, even if it
satisfies a recognized exception to the hearsay rule, when the
declarant does not testify. See Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S.
813, 822, 126 S. Ct. 2266, 2273-74, 165 L. Ed. 2d 224, 237
21
(2006); State v. Michaels, ___ N.J. ___, ___ (2014) (slip op. at
30).
The Confrontation Clause is commonly implicated when a
witness refers to specific information from a non-testifying
third party. In Branch, supra, the State’s case against the
defendant rested primarily on the identification of the
defendant by two victims. 182 N.J. at 346-47. A detective
testified that he assembled a photo array based on information
received. Id. at 347. The Court determined that the reference
to “information received” contravened the defendant’s Sixth
Amendment right to confront witnesses with incriminating
evidence because the reasons the detective included a photo in
an array are irrelevant to the identification process and the
officer conveyed that he possessed information unknown to them
but highly relevant to the investigation. Id. at 352-53; accord
State v. Bankston, 63 N.J. 263, 268-69 (1973) (holding that
detective’s recounting of information received from informant to
explain reason for entry to tavern and arrest of defendant
contravened defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to confront
witnesses against him). The “common thread” that renders
testimony about information received from non-testifying third
parties inadmissible “is that a police officer may not imply to
the jury that he possesses superior knowledge, outside the
record, that incriminates the defendant.” Branch, supra, 182
22
N.J. at 351. The Confrontation Clause is violated only when the
hearsay statement is testimonial or meant to establish events
relevant to the current prosecution. Davis, supra, 547 U.S. at
822, 126 S. Ct. at 2273-74, 165 L. Ed. 2d at 237.
The Confrontation Clause is implicated in other contexts
than the Branch/Bankston model. In prosecutions where there are
multiple participants in a crime, the Confrontation Clause’s
“truth finding function” is “uniquely threatened when an
accomplice’s confession is sought to be introduced against a
criminal defendant without the benefit of cross-examination.”
State v. Laboy, 270 N.J. Super. 296, 303 (App. Div. 1994)
(citing Lee v. Illinois, 476 U.S. 530, 541, 106 S. Ct. 2056,
2062, 90 L. Ed. 2d 514, 526 (1986)). In Bruton v. United
States, the United States Supreme Court held that a defendant’s
confrontation right was violated by the admission of his co-
defendant’s incriminatory confession, even if curative jury
instructions were later given. 391 U.S. 123, 126, 88 S. Ct.
1620, 1622, 20 L. Ed. 2d 476, 479 (1968). The Court recognized
that such incriminating statements can be “devastating” to a
defendant whose credibility is “inevitably suspect.” Id. at
136, 88 S. Ct. at 1628, 20 L. Ed. 2d at 485; see also State v.
Young, 46 N.J. 152, 156 (1965) (holding pre-Bruton that co-
defendant’s out-of-court confession is inadmissible against
other defendant).
23
Bruton’s application is limited, however. The Court has
held that Bruton, which involved a co-defendant’s expressly
incriminatory confession, does not apply to a statement that is
linked to the defendant only through other evidence and is “not
incriminating on its face.” Richardson v. Marsh, 481 U.S. 200,
208, 107 S. Ct. 1702, 1707, 95 L. Ed. 2d 176, 186 (1987). In
Richardson, redacting all references to the defendant in a non-
facially incriminatory statement and giving the jury a limiting
instruction was adequate to protect the defendant’s
confrontation rights. Ibid. However, the ruling was confined
to redacted statements that remove all references to the
defendant. Id. at 211 n.5, 107 S. Ct. at 1709 n.5, 95 L. Ed. 2d
at 188 n.5. Moreover, the Court expressly offered “no opinion
on the admissibility of a confession in which the defendant’s
name has been replaced with a symbol or neutral pronoun.” Ibid.
In Gray v. Maryland, the Court addressed the reserved
question holding that admission of a co-defendant’s confession
violated the defendant’s confrontation right even when the
defendant’s name had been replaced with blank spaces or the word
“deleted.” 523 U.S. 185, 194, 118 S. Ct. 1151, 1156, 140 L. Ed.
2d 294, 302 (1998). The Court reasoned that a blank space in a
redacted document “points to the defendant.” Ibid. The Court
clarified Richardson, declaring that incriminatory statements
were admissible as long as there was an inferential step between
24
the statement and the defendant. Id. at 196, 118 S. Ct. at
1157, 140 L. Ed. 2d at 303. At the same time, the Court
emphasized that a statement directly referring to another is
prohibited by Bruton because it can be assumed that the
referenced person is the defendant. Ibid.
Thus, in a case in which neutral terms, such as “the other
guy,” were used but the detective testified that the co-
defendant identified defendant as the shooter and the
prosecutor’s summation effectively eliminated the redaction, the
appellate court reversed the conviction. Vazquez v. Wilson, 550
F.3d 270, 282 (3d Cir. 2008). The panel noted that the
detective’s testimony and the prosecutor’s argument negated the
otherwise acceptable use of a non-identifying descriptor of a
participant in a criminal act. Ibid. Moreover, one of the
three participants was not on trial and the declarant had not
implicated himself. Id. at 281. The nature of the linkage
between the redacted statement and other evidence directly
identified the defendant as the shooter, rendering the redaction
utterly ineffective. Id. at 280; see also United States v.
Richards, 241 F.3d 335, 341 (3d Cir. 2001) (declaring use of “my
friend” in redacted statement in case with three participants
“sharply incriminated” defendant, violating Bruton as
interpreted in Gray). By contrast, descriptive terms such as
“friend,” “other guy,” or “another guy” that are “bereft of any
25
innuendo that ties them unavoidably to [the defendant]” do not
run afoul of the Sixth Amendment, particularly when there were
fifteen participants in the criminal episode. Priester v.
Vaughn, 382 F.3d 394, 400 (3d Cir. 2004), cert. denied, 543 U.S.
1093, 125 S. Ct. 974, 160 L. Ed. 2d 906 (2005).
When evidence is admitted that contravenes not only the
hearsay rule but also a constitutional right, an appellate court
must determine whether the error impacted the verdict. Chapman
v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24, 87 S. Ct. 824, 828, 17 L. Ed. 2d
705, 710-11 (1965). The standard has been phrased as requiring
a reviewing court “to declare a belief that [the error] was
harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.” Ibid.; see Branch, supra,
182 N.J. at 353 (requiring appellate court to determine whether
erroneously admitted evidence is clearly capable of producing
unjust result in the case of plain error); Bankston, supra, 63
N.J. at 272-73 (applying harmless error standard when timely
objection is lodged at trial and there may have been curative
instruction).
D.
When legal errors cumulatively render a trial unfair, the
Constitution requires a new trial. State v. Orecchio, 16 N.J.
125, 129 (1954). “‘[W]here any one of several errors assigned
would not in itself be sufficient to warrant a reversal, yet if
all of them taken together justify the conclusion that defendant
26
was not accorded a fair trial, it becomes the duty of this court
to reverse.’” Id. at 134 (quoting State v. Dolliver, 184 N.W.
848, 849 (Minn. 1921)). If a defendant alleges multiple trial
errors, the theory of cumulative error will still not apply
where no error was prejudicial and the trial was fair. See
State v. D’Ippolito, 22 N.J. 318, 325-26 (1956) (rejecting
application of Orecchio because none of alleged errors
prejudiced defendant nor impaired fair trial). In assessing
whether a defendant received a fair trial, courts are guided by
the following principle: “‘[D]evised and administered by
imperfect humans, no trial can ever be entirely free of even the
smallest defect. Our goal, nonetheless, must always be
fairness. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial but not a
perfect one.’” State v. Wakefield, 190 N.J. 397, 537 (2007)
(quoting State v. R.B., 183 N.J. 308, 333-34 (2005)).
IV.
Three of the legal issues which are the focus of this
appeal –- severance of the trial of defendant and Bryant,
defensive use of other-crimes evidence, and the Confrontation
Clause implications of a statement provided by Bryant to the
lead investigator –- are founded on Bryant’s November 2004
arrest for a shooting in Winslow Township and his 2005 statement
about when and how he gained possession of the weapon. The
27
application of the law governing these discrete issues requires
a review of those subsequent events.
In November 2004, five months after the Camden shooting,
Winslow Township police went to Bryant’s residence to
investigate a shooting. Bryant was a suspect in that shooting.
Police found a weapon and a magazine behind the residence and
obtained a statement from Bryant. He admitted that he had
hidden the gun in the place police found it. A firearms
examiner testified that the gun found behind Bryant’s Winslow
Township home was the same gun that killed Williams and injured
Hill. Bryant was arrested for the Winslow Township shooting and
subsequently pled guilty. It is this charge that defendant
sought to introduce as other-crimes evidence at trial.
In November 2005, the lead investigator of the Camden
shooting spoke with Bryant about the weapon. Initially, Bryant
stated that he purchased the gun on the street in Camden. When
confronted with the fact of his presence at the June 2004
shooting, Bryant admitted that he possessed the weapon on the
night of the Camden shooting. He stated that defendant gave him
the weapon after the shooting with instructions to hide it.
Prior to trial, in consultation with defense counsel for
defendant and Bryant, Bryant’s November 2005 statement was
redacted. In place of defendant’s name, the word “someone” was
inserted. The investigator testified that Bryant admitted he
28
had the gun on the night of the Camden shooting but someone gave
it to him after the shooting and he hid it.
The November 2004 Winslow Township shooting was one
element, albeit a critical element, of defendant’s defense
strategy of third-party guilt. Defendant sought to prove that
Bryant was the shooter, and his subsequent use of the same
weapon that killed Williams and injured Hill supported
defendant’s position that Bryant was the shooter.
A joint trial is preferable because it fosters the goal of
judicial economy and prevents inconsistent verdicts. Brown,
supra, 118 N.J. at 605. When, as here, defendant’s defense
strategy is antagonistic at its core to the defense strategy of
his co-defendant so that the jury could believe only one of
them, severance is in order.
Here, the trial court rejected the motion to sever because
he also excluded the other-crimes evidence proffered by
defendant. In doing so, the trial court applied the Cofield
four-prong analysis and found the evidence of the November 2004
Winslow shooting and Bryant’s subsequent guilty plea to charges
arising from that episode irrelevant to the charges arising from
the June 2004 Camden shooting and highly prejudicial to Bryant.
The trial court applied the wrong analysis.
A defendant may use other-crimes evidence in support of his
defense “if in reason it tends, alone or with other evidence, to
29
negate his guilt of the crime charged against him.” Garfole,
supra, 76 N.J. at 453. Admissibility of this evidence is
governed by N.J.R.E. 401, not N.J.R.E. 404(b). “[T]he question
. . . is not relevance as such, but the degree of relevance
balanced against the counter considerations expressed in
[N.J.R.E. 403] of undue consumption of time, confusion of the
issues and the misleading of the jury.” Id. at 451.
Here, the relevance of the evidence of Bryant’s involvement
in the November 2004 Winslow Township shooting to the June 2004
Camden shooting is clear. The sole contested issue at trial was
who shot Williams and Hill. The gun used by Bryant in November
2004 was the same gun used to kill Williams and to injure Hill.
This is the type of evidence, standing alone or in combination
with other evidence, which may establish the guilt of another.
In this case, there was evidence presented at trial that Bryant
possessed the gun before the shooting and that Bryant, not
defendant, shot Williams and Hill in June 2004.
The State also presented evidence that the gun used in the
November 2004 Winslow Township shooting was the same weapon used
against Williams and Hill in the June 2004 Camden shooting.
Moreover, Bryant pled guilty to charges arising from the later
shooting. Thus, presentation of the proffered November 2004
other-crimes evidence would not have consumed undue time or
confused or misled the jury.
30
Evaluated in accordance with N.J.R.E. 401, the trial court
should have permitted defendant to use Bryant’s involvement in
the November 2004 Winslow Township shooting defensively at
trial. To be sure, such evidence would have been highly
prejudicial to Bryant but that was its purpose. Such evidence
was a key component, but not the only component, of defendant’s
third-party guilt defense. Moreover, as recognized by the trial
court, if the evidence of Bryant’s involvement in the November
2004 Winslow Township shooting was admissible, the trial should
have been severed.
The improper disposition of defendant’s application to use
Bryant’s involvement in the Winslow Township shooting and the
failure to try defendant separately from Bryant are not the only
trial errors. The State also admitted Bryant’s redacted
admission that he received the gun used in both shootings after
the Camden shooting. Cross-examination by Bryant’s attorney
established that Bryant received the gun the night of the Camden
shooting. Defendant contends that this admission, although
redacted to omit defendant’s name, violated his right to
confront a critical witness against him. We agree.
As a preliminary matter, we reject the argument advanced by
defendant that Bryant’s 2005 statement cannot be considered an
admission against his penal interest and admissible pursuant to
N.J.R.E. 803(c)(25). To be sure, Bryant attempted to exculpate
31
himself from and incriminate defendant in the June 2004 Camden
shooting. On the other hand, he also incriminated himself of
several weapons offenses. We know of no rule that eviscerates
the character of a statement against penal interest and denies
admission of the statement because it is a mixture of
exculpatory and incriminatory statements. See N.J.R.E.
803(c)(25); cf. State v. White, 158 N.J. 230, 241-44 (1999)
(discussing N.J.R.E. 803(c)(25) and applicable case law). On
the other hand, even though Bryant’s statement may be admissible
pursuant to N.J.R.E. 803(c)(25), that does not end the analysis.
As a testimonial statement, its use must protect defendant’s
right to confrontation. Crawford, supra, 541 U.S. at 59, 124 S.
Ct. at 1369, 158 L. Ed. 2d at 197.
We recognize that the United States Supreme Court permits
use of a co-defendant’s statement that does not directly
incriminate another defendant as long as all references to the
defendant are removed. Richardson, supra, 481 U.S. at 211 n.5,
197 S. Ct. at 1709 n.5, 95 L. Ed. 2d at 188 n.5. If the co-
defendant’s incriminatory statement requires the jury to make an
inferential step to link the statement to the defendant, the
statement is admissible. Gray, supra, 523 U.S. at 196, 118 S.
Ct. at 1157, 140 L. Ed. 2d at 303; see also Priester, supra, 382
F.3d at 400 (approving use of neutral terms that do not
unavoidably tie reference to defendant). On the other hand, a
32
blank space or use of the word “deleted” in place of a
defendant’s name is not permissible because it “points to the
defendant.” Gray, supra, 523 U.S. at 194, 118 S. Ct. at 1156,
140 L. Ed. 2d at 302.
The prosecutor recognized that Bruton prohibited admission
of Bryant’s November 2005 statement in which he named defendant
as the person who gave him the murder weapon after the Camden
shooting. This statement unequivocally incriminated defendant
as the shooter. Therefore, the prosecutor proposed, and defense
counsel agreed, that the reference to defendant would be
redacted and the word “someone” would be used in its stead. The
prosecutor, counsel, and the trial court also discussed the need
to phrase questions in a manner to avoid running afoul of
Bruton. When counsel for Bryant sought to establish that Bryant
received the weapon in the evening immediately after the Camden
shooting, the prosecutor and defendant’s counsel objected. Both
stated that this additional detail eviscerated any benefit
achieved by substituting “someone” for defendant’s name.
The prosecutor and defendant’s counsel had reason for
concern. The simple deletion of defendant’s name and insertion
of “someone” did not obscure the reference to defendant.
Indeed, the prosecutor remarked that she “didn’t ask any
question about the gun being given to [Bryant] because I was
concerned that even though we were not using the name Jahnell
33
Weaver, that it would be easily detectable who we were talking
about, so I stayed away from that question completely.”
Furthermore, Bryant’s statement cannot be considered in a
vacuum. Considered in the context of the complete trial record,
including Goffney’s testimony that she saw one of the fleeing
men pass something to the other man, the jury was not required
to make an inferential step to link defendant to the person
referred to in Bryant’s statement. As in Vazquez and Richards,
there were only four young men involved in this shooting. Two
of them were shot and two fled. All of the eyewitnesses
identified defendant and Bryant as the two men involved in the
verbal altercation with Williams and Hill, and defendant and
Bryant were the two young men who fled following the shooting.
While the redaction of defendant’s name may have passed muster
if counsel had not asked when Bryant received the weapon, as
soon as the jury learned that Bryant received it from someone
that night, the jury had been provided a direct path to
defendant.
A defendant is not entitled to a perfect trial. Wakefield,
supra, 190 N.J. at 537. A defendant is entitled to a fair
trial. Ibid. In some circumstances, it is difficult to
identify a single error that deprives a defendant of a fair
trial. This is one of those cases. Here, we have a collection
of errors, one of which involves a violation of defendant’s
34
right to confront a witness, namely his co-defendant, to contest
the accusation that defendant was the shooter.
The State contends that the admission of Bryant’s November
2005 statement did not violate Bruton. In the alternative, it
asserts that if the jury could readily find that the “someone”
who gave Bryant the gun was defendant, the error should be
reviewed as plain error because the added detail was provided by
defense counsel and defendant’s counsel did not object. The
record belies that assertion. Bryant’s attorney, not
defendant’s attorney, introduced the added detail about the
timing of Bryant’s receipt of the gun. Furthermore, the
prosecutor and defendant’s attorney both objected and sought to
prevent the introduction of the evidence regarding when Bryant
received the gun.
The Attorney General argues that any Bruton violation must
be considered de minimis due to the overwhelming evidence of
defendant’s guilt. According to the Attorney General, the
weight of the evidence permits this Court to conclude that the
error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. That argument
requires this Court to conclude that no other error, singly or
collectively, contributed to the verdict of guilt. The record
does not permit us to do so.
The evidence marshalled by the State to support a finding
by the jury that defendant shot and killed Williams and shot and
35
severely wounded Hill was strong, but it was not overwhelming.
As we have noted throughout this opinion, the universe of
possible shooters was small. Either defendant or Bryant shot
Williams and Hill, and there was evidence that would have
permitted a jury to find that Bryant shot the two young men.
Hill, one of the victims, identified Bryant as the shooter
soon after his discharge from the hospital. According to the
defense investigator who interviewed him, Hill identified Bryant
without any hesitation or equivocation. When he recanted, Hill
did not name defendant as the person who shot him. He
maintained that he was not sure who shot him. Similarly,
DeShields, an eyewitness who knew the four participants,
identified Bryant as the shooter four or five hours after the
shooting. Later, DeShields explained he was drunk and not sure
what he observed that evening; however, the investigator who
took his statement detected no signs of intoxication. He, too,
never identified defendant as the shooter. Pratt did not
expressly identify Bryant by name but testified that Bryant
possessed the gun earlier in the evening, described seeing a
casted arm rise, and then hearing gunshots. No witness disputed
that Bryant wore a white cast on his right arm.
Viewed against this evidence, Bryant’s statement that he
received the murder weapon from defendant immediately following
the shooting directly incriminates defendant, corroborates
36
Goffney’s testimony that she saw the men exchange an object as
they fled, and strengthened the State’s case against defendant.
Still, this was not the only error.
Defendant’s defense strategy was that Bryant was the
shooter. While all of the evidence identifies defendant as the
person engaged in a heated verbal exchange with Williams,
defendant always maintained that Bryant carried the gun that
evening and that he shot Williams and Hill. To establish
Bryant’s involvement, he sought to introduce evidence that
Bryant not only had the murder weapon in his possession after
the June 2004 Camden shooting but also used it in another
shooting five months later. As previously discussed, the trial
judge applied the Cofield analysis rather than the N.J.R.E. 401
analysis to consider defendant’s defensive 404(b) other-crimes
evidence. Furthermore, the use of the erroneous analytical
framework informed not only his decision to exclude relevant and
unrefuted other-crimes evidence but also informed the decision
to deny defendant’s application for severance.
This is a classic case of several errors, none of which may
have independently required a reversal and new trial, but which
in combination dictate a new trial. Defendant’s defense
strategy of third-party guilt was not farfetched. Use of the
November 2004 Winslow Township shooting evidence would have
added some strength to that strategy but could not be presented
37
at a joint trial. The combined impact of these errors does not
permit us to conclude that the cumulative error was harmless
beyond a reasonable doubt, therefore, a new trial is required.
V.
The judgment of the Appellate Division is reversed and the
matter is remanded for a new trial.
CHIEF JUSTICE RABNER, and JUSTICES LaVECCHIA, ALBIN,
PATTERSON, and FERNANDEZ-VINA, and JUDGE RODRÍGUEZ (temporarily
assigned) join in JUDGE CUFF’s opinion.
38
SUPREME COURT OF NEW JERSEY
NO. A-104 SEPTEMBER TERM 2011
ON CERTIFICATION TO Appellate Division, Superior Court
STATE OF NEW JERSEY,
Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
JAHNELL WEAVER,
Defendant-Appellant.
DECIDED September 8, 2014
Chief Justice Rabner PRESIDING
OPINION BY Judge Cuff
CONCURRING/DISSENTING OPINIONS BY
DISSENTING OPINION BY
REVERSE AND
CHECKLIST
REMAND
CHIEF JUSTICE RABNER X
JUSTICE LaVECCHIA X
JUSTICE ALBIN X
JUSTICE PATTERSON X
JUSTICE FERNANDEZ-VINA X
JUDGE RODRIGUEZ (t/a) X
JUDGE CUFF (t/a) X
TOTALS 7