State v. Timmons
| Decision Date | 07 January 2020 |
| Docket Number | DOCKET NO. A-2843-17T4,DOCKET NO. A-2567-17T4,DOCKET NO. A-4138-17T4 |
| Parties | STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. SHANE TIMMONS, a/k/a SHANE JAMILL TIMMONS, Defendant-Appellant. STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. JOSEPH D. KEARNEY, Defendant-Appellant. STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. DANA S. KEARNEY, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division |
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.
Before Judges Sabatino, Sumners and Natali.
On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Middlesex County, Indictment No. 16-10-1645.
Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant Shane Timmons in A-2567-17 (Michael James Confusione, Designated Counsel, on the brief).
Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant Joseph D. Kearney in A-2843-17 (Frank M. Gennaro, Designated Counsel, on the brief).
Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant Dana S. Kearney in A-4138-17 (Jay L. Wilensky, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, of counsel and on the brief).
Christopher L. C. Kuberiet, Acting Middlesex County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Joie D. Piderit, Special Deputy Attorney General/Acting Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the briefs).
These three related appeals, which we consolidate for purposes of this opinion, are pursued by defendants Dana S. Kearney, his cousin Joseph Kearney,and Shane Timmons. Defendants were tried together in this homicide case, and found guilty of numerous crimes.
The State's proofs showed that the victim, Christopher Sharp, was stabbed to death after an altercation at a house party in Perth Amboy at the home of Alicia Boone. During the course of the party, an argument erupted between Sharp and the three defendants. Dana Kearney went upstairs and grabbed an object and returned. The victim was then stabbed fatally three times in the chest. Outdoor surveillance footage showed the three defendants leaving the house in the middle of the night. A bloody palm print of Joseph Kearney was found on the porch railing.
Boone and other witnesses provided testimony corroborating the altercation. Boone fled the house with her children in the middle of the night because the argument appeared to be escalating. When she returned later that early morning, Sharp had been killed.
The jury found Joseph and Dana Kearney were both guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and aggravated assault, that all three defendants were guilty of hindering the prosecution, and that Dana Kearney was guilty of endangering an injured victim and witness tampering.
The trial court sentenced Dana Kearney, the apparent stabber, to a fifty-year aggregate custodial term. It imposed an aggregate thirty-year sentence upon Joseph Kearney, and seven years upon Timmons.
Defendants raise a host of arguments challenging their convictions and respective sentences. Having considered those arguments in light of the law and the record, we affirm.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. Background ......................................................................................... 5
B. Events Surrounding the Killing ........................................................... 6
C. The EMT Response and Crime Scene Investigation ........................... 11
D. Autopsy Findings .............................................................................. 14
E. The Officers' Interviews .................................................................... 16
F. The Indictment .................................................................................. 18
G. Trial Testimony ................................................................................. 19
H. Motions ............................................................................................. 24
I. Verdict and Post-Trial Motions ......................................................... 25
J. Sentencing ........................................................................................ 25
A. Timmons ........................................................................................... 30
B. Joseph ............................................................................................... 34
C. Dana ................................................................................................. 40
A. Timmons ........................................................................................... 46
B. Joseph ............................................................................................... 48
A. Substitution of Juror Ten ................................................................... 59
B. Length of Deliberations ..................................................................... 60
A. Curran ............................................................................................... 82
B. Napp ................................................................................................. 83
A. Timmons ........................................................................................... 92
B. Dana ................................................................................................. 97
The State's evidence at trial adduced the following facts pertinent to our review.
A. Background
As noted in our introduction, this case arises from the stabbing death ofChristopher Sharp at the home of Alicia Boone. Boone lived on William Street in Perth Amboy with her three children, and the youngest child's father, Dana.1
Boone's home had front steps leading to a porch. The front door opened into a small vestibule with steps leading upstairs. To the right, there was a living room area with a small coffee table and three couches, followed by a dining room area, another living room area, which Boone called the "kids' room," with another set of stairs, and the kitchen. The second level had bedrooms.
B. Events Surrounding the Killing
Boone testified that on August 17, 2013, Dana and Joseph were at her house when she arrived home from work with her children. At approximately 5:00 p.m., she left to take her children and her goddaughter, N.B., who was staying with them that night, to a local festival.
Tori Evelyn testified that on that same day, he and his cousin, Shane Timmons, also known as Jamel, went to Boone's home for a party to celebrate Timmons's birthday. Evelyn drove Timmons there in his mother's minivan. He did not recall the time they arrived in Perth Amboy.
Joseph (also known as "Hood") and Dana (also known as "Moose") wereat the house when Timmons and Evelyn arrived. They were playing cards, and Timmons joined them. Evelyn said other people also were present. At some point, a tall individual wearing a black t-shirt, later identified as Sharp, joined the card game. People were drinking alcohol at the party.
By the time Boone returned home with her children and N.B., there were "quite a few" people at her house. Dana, Joseph, Timmons, and Sharp were playing cards at a table in the living room area. Sharp, who was Boone's cousin, lived in another house in Perth Amboy with Boone's mother, Beverly Williams, and grandmother. Boone described Sharp as "very tall." Alcoholic beverages were present and Boone was "sure they were drinking."
Barry Gibbons, who lived with Boone's mother, arrived at her home before 9:00 p.m. to drop off Boone's sister Bria2, her stepsister, B.G., and Bria's friends. Evelyn testified he was at the house when the "girls" arrived.
After entering the home, Gibbons saw Sharp asleep on a couch. Earlier that day, Dana told Gibbons that Sharp and Joseph had been drunk and "passed out" at Boone's house. Gibbons stayed at the house for about twenty minutes. Around 9:00 p.m., Boone and her children went upstairs to bed.
At 12:30 a.m. Boone went downstairs to get a drink of water. She saw Sharp passed out on the couch next to the coffee table in the living room. She also saw Joseph lying on the floor in his own vomit. Boone noticed the front door was open. Boone called Dana, who had left the house earlier with Timmons and Evelyn to go to "someone else's...
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