Supreme Court's ruling turned on the death of a witness before trial.
NEPTUNE -- In a ruling released Monday, the state Supreme Court said that a man serving 60 years for a murder at a local hotel a decade ago must receive a new trial, partly because a prosecution witness died before testifying against him.
David Bass, 65, was accused of fatally shooting Jessica Shabazz, 19, and wounding another man, James Sinclair on Dec. 20, 2006.
Bass admitted that three had smoked crack cocaine together shortly before the shooting and that he had shot them following a dispute over money with Shabazz. Bass claimed the shooting was in self-defense but he was eventually found guilty of murder, attempted murder and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
Court to rule on access to police records
In an appeal of his conviction Bass argued that his lawyer should have been allowed to cross-examine Sinclair, the state's lead witness, about a plea deal on an unrelated charge for which Sinclair was sentenced to probation. Sinclair had been facing up to life in prison before making a deal with prosecutors.
"Given the timing of Sinclair's plea agreement and its favorable terms, the jury could have drawn an inference of bias had it been fully informed," the court wrote.
The court said testimony by a medical examiner at Bass's trial also provided grounds to overturn the original conviction. Monmouth County Medical Examiner Jay Peacock died shortly before Bass's trial but an assistant medical examiner, Frederick DiCarlo, testified based on the autopsy report prepared by Peacock. The Supreme Court ruled that DIcarlo should only have been allowed to enter testimony based on his independent observations.
Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.