By Ben Horowitz
The Star-Ledger
December 5, 2011
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/12/judge_jury_may_learn_names_of.html
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| Jose Feliciano pictured testifying in late Nov. The judge said today that jurors may learn the names of earlier charges the defendant faced. |
The jury in the Jose Feliciano murder trial may be learning more information about prior charges the former church custodian faced in Pennsylvania.
A Superior Court judge said today in Morristown that the prosecution may tell the jury the names of the earlier charges – including indecent assault – that were lodged in Philadelphia against Feliciano in 1988.
Feliciano, 66, a former custodian at St. Patrick Church in Chatham, is on trial on murder charges in the Oct. 22, 2009 stabbing death of the Rev. Edward Hinds, the church pastor.
The prosecution is seeking to prove that Feliciano stabbed Hinds after the priest fired him upon learning he faced criminal charges from Pennsylvania less than five months before he would have retired.
Under an agreement between the prosecution and the defense, the prosecution has already told the jury that Feliciano was a fugitive from a warrant issued in Philadelphia after he failed to appear in court on three charges involving a minor. The nature of the charges was not disclosed.
The jury was not present when Judge Thomas Manahan said today the prosecution may tell the jury the names of the charges, which included corrupting the morals of a minor and simple assault along with indecent assault.
Manahan said naming the charges will “provide clarity” to the jury without “unduly prejudicing” the panel.
But Manahan said the prosecution may not tell the jury the age of the alleged victim, who was a 7-year-old girl. “Let’s remember these are charges, not a conviction,” Manahan said.
Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi had asked to be allowed to say the alleged victim’s age. He said that given “the gravity” of the charges and Feliciano’s own testimony, the fact that the allegations involved “sexual offenses involving a 7-year-old child” are “extremely relevant at this time.”
Feliciano has testified that back in 2004, he told Hinds the charges he faced during confession. However, Hinds agreed to keep the charges secret as long as Feliciano let him keep touching his genitals, the janitor testified. Feliciano said he killed Hinds in 2009 after the priest fired him just before his retirement after blackmailing him for more than four years. Feliciano contends the stabbing was a “passion/provocation manslaughter,” not a murder.
Feliciano’s public defender, Neill Hamilton, opposed letting the jury know either the names of the charges or the age of the alleged victim.
Hamilton pointed out that the attorney for the Diocese of Paterson has testified during the trial that the charges would have required Hinds to fire Feliciano. The prosecution has already provided a motive to the jury, Hamilton said.
The prosecution “wants (the charges) to be sexual so they can unduly prejudice” the jury, Hamilton argued.
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