State v. Norman

• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: HANDLER; STEIN
• Citation: State v. Norman, 151 N.J. 5, 697 A.2d 511 (N.J. 1997)
• Decision Date: 08 July 1997
• Parties: STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Anthony Maurice NORMAN, a/k/a Quader, a/k/a Tony Fair, Defendant-Appellant. STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Appellant and Cross-Respondent, v. Edward Lamont DUNCAN, a/k/a Lateef, Defendant-Respondent and Cross-Appellant.

Page 5

151 N.J. 5

697 A.2d 511

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Anthony Maurice NORMAN, a/k/a Quader, a/k/a Tony Fair,

Defendant-Appellant.

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Appellant and Cross-Respondent, v. Edward Lamont DUNCAN, a/k/a Lateef, Defendant-Respondent and Cross-Appellant.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Argued Jan. 21, 1997.

Decided July 8, 1997.

Kevin G. Byrnes, Designated Counsel, for appellant, Anthony Maurice Norman (Susan L. Resiner, Public Defender, attorney).

Raymond W. Hoffman, Assistant Prosecutor, for appellant and cross-respondent, State of New Jersey, in State v. Duncan and for the respondent, State of New Jersey, in State v. Norman (Clifford J. Minor, Essex County Prosecutor, attorney).

John M. Apicella, Princeton, for respondent and cross-appellant, Edward Lamont Duncan.

J. Michael Blake, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, for amicus curiae, Office of the Public Defender, in State v. Duncan (Susan L. Reisner, Public Defender, attorney).

Edward L. Duncan, submitted supplemental briefs pro se.

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

HANDLER, J.

This appeal arises from the separate dispositions of individual applications for post-conviction relief brought by two defendants who participated together in a drug-related homicide, for which each, in a separate trial, was convicted of murder.

The central issue in these two cases is the constitutional right to the assistance of counsel and the extent to which that right requires representation by counsel who is conflict-free. Each defendant alleges that the relationship between their attorneys created a prejudicial conflict of interest that necessitates reversal of their murder convictions. The two attorneys involved in representing defendants shared office space, eventually became partners, and were paid their fees by one of the defendants. In addition, one defendant's attorney appeared at the other defendant's arraignment, and representation of one defendant on appeal continued after the actual formation of the partnership.

The Appellate Division, in separate decisions, was seemingly split on the resolution of those issues, granting post-conviction relief to one of the defendants, but not to the other. The Court now must determine whether the ties between the attorneys created conflicts of interest that warrant the application of a per se rule that imputes prejudice to the defendants as a matter of law and requires the reversal of the convictions, or, if not, whether such ties amounted to potential conflicts of interest that require an evaluation of the likelihood of prejudice that could require reversal of the convictions.

I

On February 18, 1989, Norris Holmes was shot dead near his home in Newark. The shooting resulted from what appears to have been a dispute between several drug dealers and their friends over turf and money. Holmes, however, was not the target of the shooting; instead, he was the unfortunate victim of defendants' dispute with Robert Henderson.

Holmes spent the early morning hours with Henderson, Clarence Moody, and his brother Caldwell Moody, in Newark, drinking beer, smoking marijuana, and sniffing cocaine. Before daybreak, the four of them were approached by Anthony Norman, one of the defendants in this case. Norman, who was a drug dealer in the area, instructed Henderson to get off the block, apparently because Norman believed that Henderson was selling drugs in his territory and possibly because Norman was angry about having been robbed previously by Henderson. Henderson and Holmes drove away, and Caldwell and Clarence went to their apartment at 71 Farley Avenue.

Norman, Douglas Sherman, and Edward Duncan, the other defendant in this case, ¹ were already at the Moodys' apartment when Caldwell and Clarence arrived. Duncan, who was angry at Caldwell because Caldwell owed him money related to their drug dealing, assaulted Caldwell. While that argument was ongoing, Henderson and Holmes arrived outside the building and honked their car horn. Duncan, after identifying Henderson, instructed Caldwell to go downstairs and send Henderson up. Duncan apparently intended to ambush Henderson. As a part of that ambush, Duncan instructed Sherman to hand out guns; Sherman gave an Uzi to Norman and a Mach 10 to Duncan.

Henderson, with Holmes trailing, went upstairs, but when Henderson spotted Duncan holding a gun, the two fled. Norman and Duncan pursued. After crashing through the glass-plated front door and running across the porch and down to the street, shots were fired, and Holmes was hit. After he was struck and while lying on the ground, Holmes asked, "why did you shoot me?" Holmes was pronounced dead at a hospital later that morning. At trial, a forensic pathologist would testify that Holmes had died from a single gunshot wound to the abdomen that had caused internal hemorrhaging and blood loss. After the shooting, Norman and Duncan ran back upstairs, put the guns in Sherman's black bag, and fled to East Orange.

Duncan was eventually arrested and made a statement. In the statement, which was introduced at his trial but not at Norman's trial, Duncan admitted that he had been at the apartment with a gun, but he stated that it was Norman who had chased and shot Holmes. Duncan claimed that he had grabbed his Mach 10 and followed Holmes, Henderson, and Norman outside, but that Holmes had been shot by the time he made it to the street.

Upon his arrest, Norman also made a statement. Norman said that when Holmes and Henderson came upstairs, he was hiding behind the apartment door with a gun while Duncan was standing in front of the door with a gun. Norman admitted that he and Duncan had given chase when Holmes and Henderson had run, and he admitted that he had been closer to Holmes and Henderson. Norman claimed, however, that both Duncan and he had fired their guns.

Norman, Duncan, Sherman, and Caldwell were indicted for the purposeful-or-knowing murder of Holmes, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3a(1) and/or (2); unlawful possession of firearms, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5b; possession of firearms for an unlawful purpose, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4a; and aggravated assault of Henderson, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1b.

Upon confinement in county jail, Duncan or Duncan's family contacted an attorney, Richard Roberts, who previously had represented Duncan in a separate criminal matter. Roberts's unwritten fee arrangement with Duncan provided that his fee would be paid out of the $25,000 bail that Duncan's family had posted. Accordingly, Roberts obtained a bail assignment from Duncan's family.

When Roberts was first contacted, Duncan told him that his codefendant, Norman, also needed an attorney. Roberts apparently recommended Michael Pedicini, a friend of his from the 1970s when they were assistant prosecutors together, and Roberts discussed with Pedicini whether he would be interested in the case. At the time, Roberts and Pedicini shared office space but were not partners nor even associated; they each had separate secretaries, phones, trust accounts, and expense accounts. Norman did in fact come to be represented by Pedicini, with Roberts and Pedicini reaching an agreement between themselves to split equally Duncan's $25,000 bail money.

On June 7, 1989, it was Roberts, though, and not Pedicini who appeared at Norman's arraignment. Roberts stated at the arraignment that Pedicini was representing Norman, but that Pedicini was trying a case in federal court and could not attend the arraignment. Roberts also stated that Norman had received a copy of the indictment and waived its reading. The court then entered pleas of not guilty.

The trial court severed the cases for trial, with Norman's case proceeding first. At issue in both cases was the identity of the shooter--Norman or Duncan--and the admissibility and reliability of the confessions.

On February 13, 1990, the day prior to Norman's trial, the trial court heard and evaluated testimony and arguments by the parties concerning Norman's confession to the police. The court concluded that Norman had been read his Miranda ² rights, understood those rights, and voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently waived them. The court disbelieved Norman's contention that he had been under duress and that he had been drinking and ingesting drugs to such an extent that he could not understand or voluntarily waive his rights. The court also denied Norman's motion to admit Caldwell Moody's statement to the police; in the statement, Caldwell stated that Duncan had been the person who shot Holmes and that although Norman had fired his gun, he "didn't hit anyone [because] he can't handle the gun that well." The court reasoned that because Caldwell was a codefendant and, therefore, could not be questioned about the statement, its admission would constitute unreliable hearsay and would be cumulative to other expected testimony.

Norman's trial proceeded from February 14 to February 16, 1990. Dr. Pierre-Louis testified that he had performed the autopsy on Holmes and that the autopsy had revealed that Holmes died from a single gunshot wound to the abdomen. He stated that the bullet's trajectory as indicated by the wounds was consistent with the bullet having been fired by someone who had been above the victim, such as on some stairs or on a landing. He further stated that because of the absence of powder burns, the shooter must have been standing at least eighteen inches away.

Henderson, the intended victim of the shooting, testified that Holmes had been shot as Holmes and he ran down the stairs and out of the apartment building. Henderson did not know who had fired the shots because he had not looked back, but he testified that numerous shots had been fired, including one that had grazed his hand, and that several people had pursued them out of the apartment building. He identified Duncan as the person who had been in the apartment and threatened him with...