Murder conviction overturned based on improper admission of evidence
Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Ira E. Kreizman set a $3 million bail for a Holmdel man whose murder conviction was recently overturned by the Appellate Division. The defendant was convicted of murdering his wife, whose body was found inside her vehicle in a remote area of the PNC Bank Arts Center in 2005. The Appellate Division overturned this conviction earlier this week based on the improper admission of hearsay statements of the victim. For additional information, see the Asbury Park Press article entitled "$3M bail for Holmdel man with overturned murder conviction."
It is very common to see mistakes made and improperly admitted evidence when it comes to hearsay. The definition of hearsay is "an out of court statement offered for the truth of the matter asserted". For example, if I testify in court that actor A told me he was going to the gym at 5 to prove that he went to the gym at 5, this is a hearsay statement. I am offering the statement which was previously made to me to prove the truth of the statement. In this case, the judge allowed the State to offer previously made statements of the victim that she intended to end her marriage to prove that she intended to end her marriage (thus giving her husband motive to kill her). This is classic hearsay and should not have been admitted. Moreover, hearsay can be admitted in certain situations if one of the hearsay exceptions apply. For example, admissions of a party is an exception to the hearsay rule. Thus, if I am a defendant in a criminal case for assault and I told the police previously that I punched the victim in the eye, this is hearsay but would be admissible based on the "admission of a party" exception to the hearsay rule. Here, the State argued that the "state of mind" exception to the hearsay rule applied to show the state of mind of the victim in that she intended to leave her husband and end the marriage. However, this exception did not apply and should not have been used because the state of mind of the victim was not a point at issue and was irrelevant to the case. The hearsay statement was being offered not to show the state of mind of the victim but instead to show that the statement was true and that her husband had a motive to murder her. Thus, the Appellate Division overruled the conviction and the case may go to trial again if it does not result in a plea agreement.
