STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. TYWAUN S. HEDGESPETH (16-07-2215 AND 16-07-2216, ESSEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE)(A-0850-18T3)
In this direct appeal from a judgment of conviction, the court addressed several issues raised by defendant in a longer unpublished opinion affirming defendant's convictions. The two issues of first impression in New Jersey addressed in its published opinion are: (1) whether discharge from probation constitutes "release from confinement" for the purpose of triggering the ten-year time limit under N.J.R.E. 609(b)(1)'s more stringent standard for the admissibility of prior convictions for impeachment purposes; and (2) whether a "no-permit" affidavit prepared by a non-testifying police witness is testimonial and thereby subject to the Confrontation Clause. As to the former, the court held that the plain language of N.J.R.E. 609, coupled with the construction of identical language by the federal courts and sister states, as well as prior interpretation of confinement by New Jersey State courts in related and unrelated contexts, compel the conclusion that probation does not qualify as confinement as required under N.J.R.E. 609(b)(1). As to the latter, the court determined that the "no-permit" affidavit was not testimonial under the primary purpose test, and its admission without the testimony of the affiant who conducted the permit search did not violate the Confrontation Clause. The court reasoned that the affidavit established the absence of an objective fact, rather than detailing the criminal wrongdoing of defendant.
