State v. Nelson

• Decision Date: 30 July 2002
• Citation: 803 A.2d 1,173 N.J. 417
• Parties: STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Leslie Ann NELSON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

803 A.2d 1

173 N.J. 417

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Leslie Ann NELSON, Defendant-Appellant.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Argued March 12, 2002.

Decided July 30, 2002.

Jay L. Wilensky and Lon C. Taylor, Assistant Deputy Public Defenders, argued the cause for appellant (Peter A. Garcia, Acting Public Defender, attorney).

Deborah C. Bartolomey, Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent (Peter C. Harvey, Acting Attorney General of New Jersey, attorney).

Leslie Nelson submitted a supplemental brief, pro se. The opinion of the Court was delivered by ZAZZALI, J.

Defendant Leslie Nelson, formerly known as Glenn Nelson, pled guilty to the killing of two police officers and to the aggravated assault of a third officer. After her first penalty-phase trial, she was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Officer John McLaughlin and to death for the murder of Officer John Norcross. This Court vacated defendant's first death sentence because the State withheld evidence that was favorable to the defense and material to the jury's deliberations on the death penalty. State v. Nelson, 155 N.J. 487, 715 A.2d 281 (1998). The matter was remanded for a new sentencing trial on the Norcross murder. After the second penalty-phase trial, which is the subject of this appeal, Nelson again received the death penalty. She now appeals to this Court as of right. N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3e.

We find error in the special verdict sheet and in the improper comments made by the prosecution during summation. We therefore reverse the imposition of the death penalty.

I

A

Early on the morning of April 20, 1995, Haddon Heights Police Detectives Robert Griffith and Richard Norcross were summoned to defendant's home to assist Investigator John McLaughlin of the Camden County Prosecutor's Office and Carmelo Garcia of the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) in investigating a complaint against defendant. Defendant had been residing in that home with her parents.

Investigators presumed defendant was home because of the presence of her van outside the residence. After initial attempts to contact defendant failed, the two officers requested that a police dispatcher call defendant at home. The dispatcher persuaded defendant to open the front door after telling her the police were there to investigate her van. After the investigators told defendant that they were there to investigate her, defendant appeared "paranoid" and "somewhat afraid." Although defendant initially refused to permit the investigators into the home and communicated with them only through a screen door, defendant ultimately allowed McLaughlin and Garcia into the home. The meeting between defendant and the investigators lasted approximately ninety minutes. The conversation was "generally calm," until defendant "became emotionally upset," and grew increasingly "paranoid" as the two investigators charged her with wrongdoing and informed her of her rights.

The investigators then requested defendant's consent to search her bedroom. Defendant denied their request. However, defendant's mother allowed the investigators to search the upstairs of the house and defendant permitted the investigators entry into her room. There, they noticed that defendant had been manufacturing homemade bullets. After Investigator McLaughlin engaged defendant in a discussion about guns, defendant admitted to the investigators that she kept a gun in her closet, but would not produce the weapon. As McLaughlin and Garcia exited the home, defendant asked if they planned on returning. After McLaughlin told defendant that he had to check with his superiors, defendant indicated that she would kill herself if taken into custody.

On returning to the Haddon Heights police station, Detective Richard Norcross sought a warrant to search defendant's bedroom for firearms. Specifically, Detective Norcross asked for a "no-knock" warrant, which would allow police to execute the warrant without first notifying defendant of their presence. A municipal court judge granted Detective Norcross' request.

At approximately 2:00 p.m. that afternoon, Detective Norcross, Investigator McLaughlin, and four other Haddon Heights police officers arrived at defendant's home. There, McLaughlin decided not to execute the "no-knock" warrant and instead attempted to engage defendant in conversation. Defendant's mother answered the door and told defendant that Investigator McLaughlin had returned, to which defendant answered, "What the f___ does he want?" McLaughlin told defendant that he had a few more questions to ask her. From the top of the second floor stairs, defendant asked if the officers had a warrant. McLaughlin responded that he had a search warrant for her bedroom and not an arrest warrant.

Detective Norcross testified that at this point he heard defendant running upstairs and saw McLaughlin run up the staircase, one hand gripping his weapon. As McLaughlin reached the top of the stairs, defendant fired an AK-47 assault rifle at McLaughlin. McLaughlin fell down the stairs, fatally wounded. Detective Norcross returned defendant's fire, but defendant shot Norcross in the hand, arm, and twice in the chest. As Norcross slid down the stairs, defendant leaned over the railing and shot Norcross in the leg. When defendant began to follow the wounded officer down the stairs, her mother intervened and pleaded with defendant to stop shooting. During that exchange, Detective Norcross was able to escape through a side door.

From a second floor window, defendant resumed firing on police positioned around the home. During that firefight, defendant shot and killed Officer John Norcross, Detective Norcross' brother and one of three officers who had arrived at the scene after the initial gunfire. After Officer Norcross was shot, a police dispatcher telephoned defendant and asked her to stop shooting. Defendant told the dispatcher to "[t]ell them to stop shooting at me. I don't know why they're shooting." Defendant also told him that she did not want her room searched or to be taken to jail.

The shooting finally ended around 2:30 p.m. After extended negotiations with police, defendant surrendered at 4:00 the next morning.

B

Nelson was indicted and charged with two counts of purposeful or knowing murder by her own conduct, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3a(1) and/or (2); eight counts of first-degree attempted murder, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:5-1; third-degree unlawful possession of an assault firearm, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5f; and second degree possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a. Defendant pled guilty to the two capital murder counts and to the second-degree aggravated assault of Detective Richard Norcross. After defendant's first penalty trial, she was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Investigator McLaughlin, with thirty years of parole ineligibility, and to death for the murder of Officer John Norcross. However, this Court vacated Nelson's death sentence due to a Brady violation. Nelson, supra, 155 N.J. at 501,715 A.2d 281; See Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 1197, 10 L.Ed.2d 215, 218 (1963) (holding that prosecution may not withhold any favorable, material evidence from a criminal defendant). Specifically, the State's failure to alert defendant to Detective Richard Norcross' civil complaint against county and municipal authorities required a retrial of defendant's sentence. A main theme of Nelson's defense was her "claim that the police were inadequately trained to handle situations involving mentally-ill and emotionally-disturbed people who are armed and dangerous." Nelson, supra, 155 N.J. at 517,715 A.2d 281 (Handler, J., concurring and dissenting). Because Detective Norcross, the "State's key witness," Nelson, supra, 155 N.J. at 500,715 A.2d 281, alleged that the authorities "acted in a `palpably unreasonable' manner in `failing to provide proper training and instruction to ensure the safety of the Haddon Heights Police Officers' who served the search warrant on defendant," id. at 496-97, 715 A.2d 281, we held that his complaint was material evidence in support of defendant's mitigation case.

Defendant's second penalty trial took place in Camden County in March 2001. The second penalty trial jury was charged with imposing a sentence for the murder of Officer John Norcross only. At that trial, the jury unanimously found two aggravating factors present: the murder was committed for the purpose of escaping detection, apprehension, trial, punishment, or confinement for the unlawful possession of a firearm (the `escape detection' factor); and the murder occurred while the officers were engaged in the performance of their official duties (the `public servant' factor). The jury rejected the "other murder" factor, that is, that defendant murdered Officer Norcross in the course of murdering Officer McLaughlin, by a vote of 11 to 1 in favor of that factor. With regard to mitigating factors, the jurors unanimously found three mitigating factors: 1) defendant had pled guilty and had accepted responsibility; 2) defendant had given up any right to parole; and 3) defendant was making a positive contribution to prison life. Additionally, eleven jurors found that Nelson had a long history of mental illness or psychological problems that contributed to her conduct; eight jurors found that defendant's psychological or psychiatric make-up made her susceptible to an emotional breakdown and loss of judgment and reason; four jurors determined that inadequate training provided by law enforcement officers contributed to defendant's crimes; and four jurors found that Nelson's actions were triggered, in part, by the conduct of law enforcement. The jury unanimously found that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors beyond a reasonable doubt, and the trial court accordingly sentenced defendant to death. This appeal followed.

C

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