STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. JAMES E. JONES AND LIKISHA JONES AND GODFREY J. GIBSON
A-3600-13T2/A-4230-13T1
Co-defendants were indicted for the offenses resulting from their conduct in 2002, when they drove their sister to woods near the New Jersey Turnpike so she could hide her dead child's body. The Law Division judge applied the DNA exception to the five-year statute of limitations in denying defendants' motion to dismiss the indictment. See N.J.S.A. 2C:1-6(c).
The conspiracy count of the indictment, which alleged obstruction in that the co-defendants intimidated the victim's sister into silence, survived because it was a "continuing offense." See State v. Diorio, 216 N.J. 598 (2014). We found, however, that the DNA exception did not apply to any charge as the DNA match only identified the victim, and not the "actor" as required by the statute. See State v. Twiggs, ___ N.J. Super. ___, (App. Div. 2016) (slip op. at 9). The denial of the motion to dismiss the indictment was reversed, except for the conspiracy count.
