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State v. Fortin2/3/2004
enial by the entry of a not guilty plea implicitly raised the defense of third-party guilt. In fact, during summation defendant argued that Hector Fernandez, Padilla's live-in boyfriend, was the third party who killed Padilla. It appears that the third-party evidence he now alleges was improperly excluded would have taken him in another direction.
The right to argue third-party guilt 23af that someone in general, or in particular, other than the defendant committed the crime 23af does not address whether specific evidence is admissible in support of such a defense. Evidence in support of third-party guilt, or any theory offered by the prosecution or defense, must satisfy the standards of the New Jersey Rules of Evidence. Scientific evidence offered through expert testimony must not only be relevant but also must meet the threshold of reliability.
There is no burden on the defendant to prove his innocence through the introduction of evidence of third-party guilt. The defendant does not have to show that the evidence supports a probability that another person committed the crime. Third party guilt evidence "need only be capable of raising a reasonable doubt of defendant's guilt" to warrant its admissibility. Koedatich II, supra, 112 N.J. at 299 (quoting People v. Hall, 718 P.2d 99, 103 (Cal. 1986) (internal quotation marks omitted)). Such evidence cannot be withheld from the jury "if the proof offered has a rational tendency to engender a reasonable doubt with respect to an essential feature of the State's case." State v. Sturdivant, 31 N.J. 165, 179 (1959), cert. denied, 362 U.S. 956, 80 S.Ct. 873, 4 L.Ed. 2d 873 (1960). Stated more concretely, there must be "some link... between the third party and the victim or crime," Koedatich II, supra, 112 N.J. at 300, "capable of inducing reasonable" people to regard the evidence "as bearing upon the State's case," Sturdivant, supra, 31 N.J. at 179. The connection between the third party and the crime cannot be left to conjecture. Ibid.
We recognize that a trial court's decision regarding the admissibility of evidence is fact sensitive and, therefore, our review is deferential and limited to whether there has been an abuse of discretion. See Koedatich II, supra, 112 N.J. at 300.
B.
Defendant claims that the trial court erred in not permitting him to introduce undisputed evidence that Hector Fernandez had purchased $100 worth of crack cocaine for himself and Padilla on the day of the murder, and that Padilla had sold the drugs later that day. Defendant's objective was to argue that Padilla was killed in a drug deal gone awry, or in the course of a robbery for drugs or drug money. Investigators learned of Padilla's drug dealing from witnesses who were interviewed during the homicide investigation. However, no evidence was ever presented that Padilla had drugs in her possession when she left the Gem Motel to purchase food for her family and encountered her killer. No one testified that she was selling drugs at or about the time of her murder. Moreover, the scene of the crime failed to reveal any evidence of drugs or evidence suggestive of a drug sale. All that was found near the bloodied corpse were the remnants of Padilla's purchases from the Quick Chek and a bloody dollar bill. The jewelry that she ordinarily wore was missing. Padilla's killer had battered, sexually assaulted, and strangled her, inflicting traumatic injuries to her anus, but none to her vaginal area.
From this tableau, defendant argued that some unidentified denizen from that drug-infested area of Woodbridge Township near the murder scene killed Padilla. The State countered that no rational basis in the record supported the theory that P
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