Friday, August 14, 2009

New Jersey in The News

Gang Member Pleads Guilty in Death of Teen
FRANKLIN -- A Somerset County teenager today pleaded guilty to beating a Franklin Township resident before the young man was fatally shot in 2007.
Michael Covil was 16 when he played a role in the attack on 18-year-old Ammar Simmons on July 15, 2007, after Simmons falsely claimed to be a member of the Bloods street gang. Covil, a Franklin resident, was slated to be tried this fall as an adult for second-degree aggravated assault and third-degree terroristic threats.

Hockett Jury Dismissed, Mistrial Declared
by Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal
After a week of jury deliberation a judge has declared a mistrial and dismissed the jury in the murder trial of Kason Hockett, of Bartholdi Avenue, in Jersey City, because one of the jurors appeared to be having emotional problems, officials said.
Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Stephanie Davis Elson, who is prosecuting the case, said a juror had to be excused and although there was an alternate, after a certain length of deliberation it is is no longer appropriate to send in an alternate.
"She was clearly upset when she arrived today and based on her emotional state through the morning, she was excused," Davis Elson said of the juror who was excused. "She was having issues."
Hockett is charged with fatally stabbing Jason Sharpe, 24, of Wilkinson Avenue, on May 13, 2008, at 7 a.m. at Ocean Avenue and Wegman Parkway, officials said. Superior Court Judge Michael L. Raven declared the mistrial before 1 p.m. today.
After Hockett and Sharpe argued on the street, Hockett walked away but came back minutes later and stabbed Sharpe once in the chest, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said at the time.
Sharpe was pronounced dead about an hour later at the Jersey City Medical Center. Hockett surrendered on the murder charge three weeks after Sharpe died.
A pretrial hearing hearing has been set for Sept. 14, where a new trial date will be discussed.

U.S. Transporation Secretary gives $300M check to N.J.
by Ryan Hutchins/For The Star-Ledger
EDISON -- In more than one way, it was a huge check that U.S. Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood signed today at the Metropark train station in Edison.
At several feet wide, the check was big in the literal sense. So big, actually, that the cabinet member looked a bit odd as he endorsed it as political figures and transit workers in bright-neon vests and hard hats watched -- a long line of TV cameras, still photographers and recorder-wielding reporters in the background.

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