In this vehicular homicide case, the State contended that defendant recklessly caused a pedestrian's death by speeding excessively. Defendant denied excessive speed and disputed that he caused the death of a pedestrian, alleging the pedestrian unexpectedly crossed the roadway outside the crosswalk and against the light. The court reverses defendant's conviction because the trial court should have delivered the model jury charge on causation, consistent with N.J.S.A. 2C:2-3(c), and it also should have instructed the jury, as defendant requested, that the motor vehicle code, N.J.S.A. 39:4-36(a)(4), requires pedestrians outside a crosswalk to yield to vehicles in the roadway.
