State v. Laboy

• Court: New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division
• Writing for the Court: BAIME
• Citation: State v. Laboy, 637 A.2d 184, 270 N.J.Super. 296 (N.J. Super. App. Div. 1994)
• Decision Date: 03 February 1994
• Parties: STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Pedro LABOY, Defendant-Appellant.

Page 296

270 N.J.Super. 296

637 A.2d 184

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Pedro LABOY, Defendant-Appellant.

Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division.

Argued Jan. 3, 1994.

Decided Feb. 3, 1994.

J. Michael Blake, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for appellant (Zulima V. Farber, Public Defender, attorney; Mr. Blake, of counsel and on the brief).

Nancy Peremes Barton, Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent (Fred DeVesa, Acting Attorney General, attorney; Ms. Barton, of counsel and on the brief).

Before Judges BAIME, CONLEY and VILLANUEVA.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

BAIME, J.A.D.

Following a protracted jury trial, defendant Pedro Laboy was found guilty of murder ( N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3a(1) and (2)) and conspiracy to commit that offense ( N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3a(1) and (2)). ¹ On the murder conviction, defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment with a 30 year parole disqualifier. The trial court imposed a concurrent sentence of 15 years on the conspiracy count. ² In addition, defendant was assessed penalties totalling $1,030 payable to the Violent Crimes Compensation Board.

Defendant advances a plethora of arguments challenging the validity of his convictions. His principal contention is that his right to confrontation was violated by admission of his codefendant's hearsay statement blaming him for the killing. Defendant further claims that this error was compounded by the trial court's failure to provide the jury with any guidance concerning how it was to consider his incriminatory statements. We agree.

Although the evidence of guilt was substantial, we are constrained to reverse defendant's convictions. We hold that the trial court committed error of constitutional dimension when it admitted evidence relating to a non-testifying codefendant's confession directly inculpating the defendant in the crimes charged. We also conclude that the trial court's instructions to the jury were faulty in various particulars. Our review of the record convinces us that defendant was deprived of a fair trial.

I.

On January 19, 1989, Sara Pharo's lifeless body was found embedded in the sand on a beach located in Carneys Point Township. The police were immediately summoned. From a clearing in the grass approximately 70 feet from the body, the police recovered a log bearing traces of blood consistent with the victim's blood type. Nearby, the police later discovered a "no trespassing" sign lying in the water.

Although it was apparent that Pharo's body had been submerged beneath the waters of the Delaware River for some time, the cause of death was not drowning. Instead, the evidence disclosed that the victim had been badly beaten and had died as a result of the injuries inflicted.

The State's two experts differed respecting the precise cause of Pharo's death. Dr. Robert Breckenridge, a board certified pathologist employed by the Salem County Medical Examiner's office, concluded that, despite the numerous injuries inflicted on the victim, it was a single blow by a "rather sharp instrument[ ]" that deeply lacerated her scalp and caused a fracture of the base of the skull, followed by "compression" and hemorrhage of the brain, which resulted in her death. The pathologist observed that the "no trespassing" sign, with its sharp edges on two sides, "could very well have been the instrument causing the laceration of the scalp and [the] fracture of the skull." He added that the log and various rocks found near the victim's body did not have sharp edges and could not have been the instrument that inflicted the fatal blow.

Dr. Ronald Suarez, an Assistant State Medical Examiner, agreed with Dr. Breckenridge that Pharo's body evidenced a skull fracture with "subtentorial hemorrhage[,]" but was "unable to [conclude]" that the blow causing that injury resulted in death. Instead, Dr. Suarez pointed to "a half dozen blows easily identifiable as separate from each other" and concluded that "[t]he accumulation of all the injuries caused [the victim] to die."

Pharo, a 13 year old eighth grade student who resided with her parents and brother, was last seen alive by her mother at approximately 5:30 p.m. on January 17, 1989. Shortly after the victim's body was discovered, the police investigation focused upon the defendant who was then 15 years old and resided in the same apartment complex as the victim. Defendant had confided to a friend, Jose Hernandez, that Pharo was rumored to be pregnant and he the father. On the next day, defendant's mother, in Hernandez's presence, asked defendant to summon Pharo in order to discuss her purported pregnancy. According to Hernandez, while walking to Pharo's apartment, defendant "started breaking down." Defendant told Hernandez that he and Matthew Vincent had killed the victim. Defendant said that "they [had] hit her with a stick" and had left her on the beach. Hernandez accompanied defendant to the river, but they were unable to find Pharo's body due to the rising tide. Defendant exclaimed that he would "probably kill himself" if he were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Defendant and Vincent were apprehended on January 19, 1989. Lieutenant Dennis Sample of the Salem County Prosecutor's office interviewed defendant at the Carneys Point Police Department on that date. Also present were the defendant's mother and several law enforcement officers. Sample advised defendant of his constitutional rights. Both defendant and his mother acknowledged their understanding of these rights by signing the back of a Miranda card. Before commencing the interrogation, Sample told defendant that he had previously interviewed Vincent and that Vincent had blamed the defendant for most of the violence. Defendant then gave the police an oral statement which was subsequently repeated and tape recorded.

In his statement, defendant vividly described the brutal beating inflicted upon the victim. Defendant recounted that Vincent had arranged to meet Pharo at the baseball field near the highway. Defendant was somewhat evasive concerning the purpose of the meeting. At one point, defendant admitted that earlier that day he and Vincent had planned to kill the victim. Later in his statement, defendant equivocated, noting that Vincent said Pharo was pregnant and that he was going to "hurt her." Defendant claimed that he agreed to participate in the killing because he believed Vincent was merely "joking." In any event, the two met Pharo at the baseball field and chased her to the river. According to defendant's account, Vincent struck the victim's head with a rock approximately the size of a "softball." Both defendant and Vincent repeatedly hit the victim with a stick and a "club" that they found on the beach. Each time Vincent "picked [the victim] up" defendant would "kick[ ] her." When Pharo fell into the water, defendant and Vincent rolled up their trousers and waded into the river so that they could "choke[ ] her" and "hold[ ] her down." They held the victim under water and, after she stopped kicking, dragged her on to the beach where Vincent struck the victim with a sign post. Defendant recounted how Vincent picked up the "no trespassing" sign and shouted that he was "gonna bash [the victim's] head open" with it. Defendant claimed that he turned away at that point and did not actually observe the blow inflicted upon the victim. Vincent also applied pressure to her throat by pressing the sign post into her neck, face and chest. The victim's eyes "rolled back in her head" and she appeared "cursed." The two then fled the scene.

Because of inconsistencies in their accounts of the incident, Sample decided to interview defendant and Vincent together. Sample testified that the two "jok[ed] with each other about how they had killed [the victim] [and] how her eyes had rolled back" into her head. Following this joint interview, Vincent gave an additional statement in which he "admitted to being more involved in the violence."

At trial, defendant's tape recorded statement was played before the jury. In addition, Sample briefly described his joint interview with defendant and Vincent. Over defense counsel's objection, Sample testified that prior to questioning the defendant, he apprised him that Vincent had given a statement blaming him for the killing. Sample was also permitted to testify that before interviewing defendant and Vincent jointly, he told the boys and their mothers that there were "inconsistencies" in their statements and that "Matthew was blaming most of the violence on Pedro." No limiting instruction was given to the jury concerning Vincent's statement inculpating the defendant. So too, the trial court failed to instruct the jury respecting its consideration of defendant's confession. We will deal with these points later in our opinion.

Juvenile delinquency complaints were filed against both defendant and Vincent. On April 16, 1990, the Family Part ordered that defendant be tried as an adult. Several days later, defendant, who had been detained in the Cumberland County Juvenile Detention Center for more than a year, attempted to escape. He was apprehended shortly thereafter. Testimony relating to defendant's unsuccessful attempt to flee was presented at trial as evidence of consciousness of guilt. It is against this backdrop that we consider the arguments advanced by defendant on appeal.

II.

We first consider the contention that the trial court erred by admitting testimony relating to Vincent's statement in which he placed most of the blame for the killing on the defendant. We hold that admission of this evidence violated defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confrontation and New Jersey's common law.

Our analysis begins with the Sixth Amendment's prescription that "[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right ... to be confronted with the witnesses against him[.]" U.S. Const. amend. VI. This right is secured for def...