 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Fortin2/3/2004
stimony ultimately led the trial court correctly to exclude the evidence. Even were we to accept the testimony of Yates and Dr. Word in which they assumed interpretable results, defendant would fare no better because he was not eliminated as a potential source of the sperm found on the victim's body.
Moreover, this Court is reluctant to come to scientific conclusions based on some of the disjointed testimony adduced from the experts. We decline to speculate as to the import of the testimony that Fernandez did not possess the number 2 allele. The record must provide those answers. The most liberal interpretation of the record in favor of defendant reveals that Padilla had sexual relations with someone other than her boyfriend or defendant at some unknown time before her death. That hardly counts as evidence that that unidentified person killed Padilla. The expert testimony failed to provide any relevant connection between the sperm analyzed and the murder. Reasonable doubt cannot arise from pure conjecture.
Accordingly, based on the record before us, we find that the trial court properly exercised its discretion in barring evidence and argument that some unknown third party engaged in penile penetration at the time of the victim's death.
PENALTY PHASE
V. Mitigating Factors and Mitigating Evidence
In the penalty phase of capital litigation, the jury determines whether the State has presented proof beyond a reasonable doubt of the existence of aggravating factors, and, if there is such proof, whether those aggravating factors outweigh any mitigating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3c(2)(a), (3). If the State satisfies both standards, the defendant is sentenced to death; if not, he is sentenced to a minimum term of imprisonment of thirty years without parole eligibility. N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3c(3)(a)-(c).
In this case, the State alleged three aggravating factors: the murder involved aggravated assault or torture, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3c(4)(c); the murder was committed to escape apprehension for another offense, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3c(4)(f); and the murder was committed during commission of, or an attempt to commit, or flight after committing robbery or sexual assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3c(4)(g).
Defendant may prove mitigation in the penalty phase by two different means, through the introduction of mitigating factors and through the introduction of mitigating evidence. The mitigating factors are set forth in N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3c(5)(a)-(h).
The jury weighs the mitigating factors against the aggravating factors in determining whether to impose a capital or non capital penalty. N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3c(3). Mitigating evidence is any evidence that supports a mitigating factor or undermines an aggravating factor. State v. Feaster, 156 N.J. 1, 86 (1998), cert. denied, 532 U.S. 932, 121 S.Ct. 1380, 149 L.Ed. 2d 306 (2001).
In addition to the mitigating factors specifically enumerated in N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3c(5)(a)-(g), the catch-all provision allows the jury to consider " ny other factor which is relevant to the defendant's character or record or to the circumstances of the offense." N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3c(5)(h).
Defendant proposed eleven mitigating factors under the catch-all category. The State challenged two of those factors:
10. 5(h) The victim sold drugs for her boyfriend on the night she was killed. Individuals gave statements they bought drugs from the victim the night she was killed, and the victim and her boyfriend were overheard arguing about drugs the same night, thereby refuting the State's allegation that Steve Fortin robbed the victim.
11. 5(h) The victim's live-in boyfrie
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 New Jersey DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|