State v. Paden-Battle

• Decision Date: 16 June 2020
• Docket Number: DOCKET NO. A-1320-17T4
• Parties: STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Michelle PADEN-BATTLE, a/k/a Michelle A. Paden, Mama Michelle, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division

464 N.J.Super. 125

234 A.3d 332

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.Michelle PADEN-BATTLE, a/k/a Michelle A. Paden, Mama Michelle, Defendant-Appellant.

DOCKET NO. A-1320-17T4

Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.

Argued telephonically May 21, 2020¹

Decided June 16, 2020

Tamar Yael Lerer, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for appellant (Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney; Monique D. Moyse, Designated Counsel, on the brief).

Emily M.M. Pirro, Special Deputy Attorney General/Acting Assistant Prosecutor, argued the cause for respondent (Theodore N. Stephens II, Acting Essex County Prosecutor, attorney; Emily M.M. Pirro, of counsel and on the brief).

Sarah D. Brigham, Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause for amicus curiae Attorney General of New Jersey (Gurbir S. Grewal, Attorney General, attorney; Sarah D. Brigham, of counsel and on the brief).

Alexander R. Shalom argued the cause for amicus curiae American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey Foundation, attorneys; Alexander R. Shalom, on the brief).

Before Judges Fisher, Accurso and Gilson.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

FISHER, P.J.A.D.

At the conclusion of an eight-day trial, a jury convicted defendant Michelle Paden-Battle of kidnapping Regina Baker, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and felony murder. The jury acquitted defendant of Baker's murder, as well as conspiracy to commit murder and two weapons offenses, but the judge enhanced defendant's sentence because he determined that defendant "ordered" Baker's "execution."

In this appeal, defendant argues that: (1) the judge's instructions on the kidnapping charge were erroneous and that she was prejudiced by the judge's repeated reference in his jury charge to other participants as defendant's "kidnapping co-conspirators"; (2) the judge failed to charge either the affirmative defense of duress, N.J.S.A. 2C:2-9, or the felony-murder affirmative defense described in N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3(a)(3) ; and (3) the judge imposed an excessive sentence. We agree that the jury verdict did not allow the judge to sentence defendant as if she was convicted of first-degree kidnapping and that the verdict should have been molded to reflect a conviction of second-degree kidnapping. We otherwise affirm the convictions, but we remand for resentencing not only because the judge sentenced defendant as if she had been convicted of first-degree kidnapping, but also because he based his sentence on the facts as he found them, instead of the facts found by the jury.

To understand our disposition, it is necessary to consider the factual record. The jury heard testimony that at 4:30 a.m., on June 19, 2012, Essex County detectives received instructions to process a homicide in a structure on 15th Street in Newark.

In that vacant residence, police discovered the body of a deceased female. Jersey City Police Department detectives soon arrived to ascertain whether the deceased female was Baker, the victim of an alleged kidnapping that had occurred at approximately 10:15 p.m., on June 16, 2012, on Bidwell Avenue in Jersey City. The Jersey City detectives advised their Essex County colleagues that they had obtained a surveillance video, which appeared to show the kidnapping on Bidwell Avenue. The victim found in Newark was identified as Baker through fingerprint analysis.

During the investigation on 15th Street, a statement was taken from a woman in the area of Ocean and Bayview Avenues in Jersey City sometime after 9:00 p.m., on June 16, 2012, who was approached by four females and three males looking for Regina Baker. This woman provided Essex County detectives with a description of the seven individuals, one of whom was Omar Martin. Defendant was also identified as one of the seven.

Meanwhile, Jersey City detectives identified one of the females present during the kidnapping depicted on the video as Davia Younger, who was then arrested and charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Younger gave a statement that Karon Adams admitted to her that he shot and killed Baker. She also identified Adams' girlfriend, Frencheska DePena. All these individuals – Martin, Adams, DePena, and defendant – were arrested. Additional information led to the arrest of Damon Zengotita and Cierra Long.

Defendant and others were indicted. Defendant was charged with: second-degree conspiracy to commit kidnapping, N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2 ; first-degree kidnapping, N.J.S.A. 2C:13-1(b)(1) ; first-degree conspiracy to commit murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2 ; first-degree murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3(a)(1)(2) ; first-degree felony murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3(a)(3) ; second-degree possession of a handgun without a permit, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(b) ; second-degree possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4(a) ; and first-degree criminal gang activity, N.J.S.A. 2C:33-29.²

Martin and Adams pleaded guilty to kidnapping, conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated manslaughter, and unlawful possession of a handgun, and were sentenced to twenty-year prison terms. Younger pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and received a five-year prison term. Long pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and was sentenced to a term of 135 days.

At trial, Long, Martin and Younger testified for the State. Defendant testified on her own behalf.

Long testified she was a member of the Mob Piru set of the Bloods. Defendant was known to her as "Mama L," a First Lady in the Looters³ Park Piru set of the Bloods. According to Long, a First Lady is the highest rank that can be attained by a female member of the Bloods and that those beneath a First Lady are required to follow her commands.

Long lived with defendant at her home on Littleton Avenue in Newark. She testified about a call she received from defendant on the night in question, ordering her to return home and then go with defendant to Jersey City. Long overheard defendant arguing on the telephone with Baker, an alleged First Lady of the MOB Piru set of the Bloods in Jersey City. She also testified that Baker had been labeled "food," meaning other gang members are permitted to beat or kill that person so labeled. Baker was "food" because, in defendant's view, she had been falsely claiming she held a higher rank in the gang than in reality.

According to Long, when she arrived at the Littleton Avenue residence, defendant, DePena, and Adams were there; Martin and Zengotita soon arrived in the latter's car. They all rode together – after a stop to get a brake light fixed – to Jersey City. On the ride, defendant was on the phone, advising they were on the way to Jersey City to get Baker, that Baker was "food," and that defendant "wasn't going another day without handling the situation."

Once in Jersey City, they received information that Baker was at Natassia Hernandez's residence on Bidwell Avenue. On arriving, Hernandez came out and defendant told her, "[g]o get Rage,^{[4 ]} tell her to come downstairs." Baker stepped into the doorway, and defendant began to argue, telling Baker she was "here to fight you" and that Baker was going to come back with them to Newark.

During the argument, Martin "got in [Baker's] face" and then walked to the corner where Long saw Adams give Martin a gun. Martin then returned and held the gun to Baker's head while he and Adams pulled Baker toward Zengotita's car to force her into the trunk. Baker resisted and Martin hit her in the face with the gun and, along with DePena and Younger, Martin and Adams forced Baker into the trunk. They all then entered the vehicle and drove off.

According to Long, during the ride from Jersey City to Newark, defendant realized that Baker might have had a phone in her possession, so they stopped the car along a nearby waterway; defendant Martin, who was still armed, got out of the car to retrieve Baker's phone. Baker handed her phone to defendant, who threw it in the nearby river. The group then resumed their trip to Newark. Once there, the car stopped at defendant's residence, where defendant, Long, Younger, and DePena exited and then walked to the Ville, the location where Martin, Adams and Zengotita had brought Baker and were displaying her to others. Long overheard defendant say to Martin and Adams, "[y]ou know what y'all got to do," which Long understood as an instruction for Martin and Adams to kill Baker.

Long testified that she, defendant, DePena, and Younger returned to defendant's residence where defendant said to them, "[t]his could be any one of y'all." Later, Martin and Adams arrived and told defendant, "it's done." Defendant asked who shot Baker, and Adams admitted he did.

Martin testified as well, acknowledging that he held a rank equal to defendant's First Lady rank. Two days before the killing, he was told that defendant wanted to speak to him, so he and Zengotita went to defendant's residence – Long, Adams, DePena, and defendant were already there – and found that defendant was angry and talking about a dispute on Facebook in which Baker was falsely claiming her gang status. Defendant expressed her plan to go to Jersey City and bring Baker back to Newark. She asked Martin for a gun, so he left one at her residence.

Martin also testified that on June 16, he, Long, DePena, Adams and Zengotita met defendant at her Newark residence, drove first to get a brake light fixed, and then traveled to Jersey City, where they looked for Baker; they then also met up with Younger and another. They learned Baker was at Hernandez's residence on Bidwell Avenue and drove there.

Martin testified that during defendant's encounter with Baker on Bidwell Avenue, he felt "they [were] taking [too] long to handle the situation," so he retrieved the gun, held it to Baker's head, and when she further resisted, he hit her on the head with the gun, following which he and Adams forced Baker into the trunk. He also corroborated what Long said about the ride to Newark, including the stop on...