STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. JACOB R. GENTRY
A-2481-11T4
Defendant was acquitted of murder but convicted of
aggravated manslaughter and endangering an injured victim. We
reversed the conviction and remanded for retrial due to several
trial errors. We found plain error, where the trial judge
failed to instruct the jury that self-defense applied to
manslaughter as well as murder, and the evidence, viewed
favorably to the defense, would support a claim of self-defense.
In the course of our discussion, we addressed the issue of self-
defense in the context of mutual combat. During mutual combat, a
defendant may use deadly force in self-defense, when he has not
previously used or threatened deadly force against his opponent
but the opponent begins using deadly force, defendant cannot
safely retreat, and defendant reasonably believes he needs to
use deadly force to save himself from death or serious bodily
injury.
We also found reversible error where the prosecutor improperly cross-examined defendant about a statement made by an absent co-defendant. When defense counsel attempted, in his closing argument, to mitigate the prejudicial impact of that cross-examination, the trial judge erroneously permitted the prosecutor to tell the jury, in summation, that the court had precluded the co-defendant's statement from being admitted in evidence.
