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TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow issued
the following statement today on the effective
date of a new forfeiture-by-wrongdoing exception
to the hearsay rule ordered by the New Jersey
Supreme Court. The exception allows a statement
to be admitted into evidence at trial if
the defendant engaged, directly or indirectly,
in wrongdoing that resulted in the person
who made the statement being unavailable
as a witness. The rule was promulgated by
the Supreme Court pursuant to its 2009 decision
in State v. Byrd. Deputy Attorney General
Daniel I. Bornstein represented the Attorney’s
General Office in that case as a member
of the Division of Criminal Justice’s
Appellate Bureau, successfully arguing for
an exception to the hearsay rule when witness
intimidation occurs.
Statement
of Attorney General Dow:
“Far
too often, our efforts to prosecute violent
gang members are thwarted because the defendants
and their criminal associates intimidate
essential witnesses and prevent them from
testifying at trial. It is a problem of
epidemic proportions in our cities, where
justice is denied to victims because gangs
have literally established a reign of terror
in our streets. It is hard to overstate
the importance of this rule, which will
serve, in effect, to open the mouths of
witnesses who otherwise would be silenced.
It will also be critical in many other types
of prosecutions, including domestic violence
cases. I commend the Supreme Court for making
this vital change.”
View
The Supreme Court’s Notice to the
Bar and Order
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