NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-5005-18

STATE OF NEW JERSEY,

Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

SUPREME LIFE, a/k/a

CHARLES E. HOSKINS, III,

Defendant-Appellant.

_________________________

Argued April 4, 2022 – Decided July 7, 2022

Before Judges Messano, Rose and Marczyk.

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, 

Law Division, Burlington County, Indictment No. 18-

04-0537.

Alison Gifford, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, 

argued the cause for appellant (Joseph E. Krakora, 

Public Defender, attorney; Alison Gifford, of counsel 

and on the briefs).

Alexis R. Agre, Assistant Prosecutor, argued the cause 

for respondent (Scott A. Coffina, Burlington County 

Prosecutor, attorney; Alexis R. Agre, of counsel and 

on the brief).

The opinion of the court was delivered by

MESSANO, P.J.A.D.

APPROVED FOR PUBLICATION

July 7, 2022

APPELLATE DIVISION
A-5005-18 2

A Burlington County grand jury indicted defendant, Supreme Life a/k/a 

Charles E. Hoskins, III, and his son, Antoine L. Ketler, for the first-degree 

murder of Moriah Walker, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3(a)(1), and 2C:11-3(a)(2); firstdegree attempted murder of Raheem Williams, N.J.S.A. 2C:5-1(a)(3) and 

2C:11-3(a)(1); and defendant alone for two counts of third-degree possession 

of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4(d); and fourth-degree 

unlawful possession of a weapon, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(d). The jury acquitted 

Ketler of all charges but convicted defendant of the lesser-included offense of

second-degree passion/provocation manslaughter, the attempted murder of 

Williams, and the weapons offenses.1 After appropriate mergers, the judge 

sentenced defendant to consecutive terms of seven years' imprisonment on the 

manslaughter conviction and thirteen years' imprisonment on the attempted 

murder conviction, both subject to the No Early Release Act (NERA), N.J.S.A. 

2C:43-7.2.

Before us, defendant raises the following arguments:

POINT I

IT WAS REVERSIBLE ERROR FOR THE 

PROSECUTOR TO REPEATEDLY CALL THE 

TESTIFYING DEFENDANT A LIAR IN 

SUMMATION. (Not Raised Below).

1

 The judge had earlier dismissed the murder charge against Ketler.
A-5005-18 3

POINT II

THE JURY INSTRUCTION ON SELF-DEFENSE 

IMPROPERLY LIMITED SELF-DEFENSE TO THE 

CRIME OF MURDER. (Not Raised Below).

POINT III

THE TRIAL COURT OMITTED A CRUCIAL 

PORTION OF THE MODEL JURY CHARGE ON 

POSSESSION OF A WEAPON FOR AN 

UNLAWFUL PURPOSE WHICH INSTRUCTS THE 

JURY ON PROTECTIVE PURPOSE. (Not Raised 

Below).

POINT IV

DEFENDANT WAS DEPRIVED OF HIS RIGHTS 

TO DUE PROCESS AND A FAIR TRIAL 

BECAUSE THE STATE INTRODUCED A PRIOR 

INCONSISTENT STATEMENT OF ITS OWN 

WITNESS WITHOUT SATISFYING THE 

REQUIREMENTS OF N.J.R.E. 803(A)(1).

POINT V

THE CUMULATIVE IMPACT OF THE ERRORS 

DENIED DEFENDANT A FAIR TRIAL. (Not Raised 

Below).

POINT VI[2]

DEFENDANT'S SENTENCE IS EXCESSIVE 

BECAUSE THE COURT ERRED IN ITS FINDINGS 

OF AGGRAVATING AND MITIGATING 

2

 We eliminated the subpoints of this argument contained in defendant's brief.
A-5005-18 4

FACTORS, AND THE COURT INCORRECTLY 

CONDUCTED ITS YARBOUGH ANALYSIS.[3]

Having considered these arguments in light of the record and applicable legal 

standards, we reverse.

I.

On February 4, 2018, Raheem Williams, his girlfriend, Niani Skinner, 

and his roommate, Moriah Walker, rented a car and drove from their residence 

in New York City to Lumberton to attend a Super Bowl party at the home of 

Vera VanKline, Williams' aunt. After the game, the trio intended to drive into 

Philadelphia to celebrate the Eagles' victory, but they soon realized their cell 

phones needed to be charged to access their GPS. As they tried to find their 

way back to VanKline's house, they passed defendant's home, which was just 

around the corner. Defendant, his wife, and other Eagles fans were outside 

celebrating. Ketler, a Dallas Cowboys fan, was also outside. 

The testimony at trial diverged as to what happened next. Undisputedly, 

Williams, Walker, Ketler, and defendant got into a physical altercation. The 

State's witnesses painted defendant and his son as the aggressors, continuing 

the altercation after Williams and Walker tried to leave, and following them 

back toward the VanKline house. When eventually Williams and Walker 

3

 State v. Yarbough, 100 N.J. 627 (1985).
A-5005-18 5

returned to safety inside VanKline's residence, everyone saw Williams and 

Walker had both been stabbed.

VanKline called 9-1-1, and both men were taken to the hospital for 

emergency surgery. Williams survived, but despite medical attention, Walker 

did not. The medical examiner testified Walker died from multiple stab 

wounds to the chest. The autopsy revealed that in addition to being stabbed 

twice in the chest, Walker was stabbed once in the back of the leg, and once in 

the arm. The medical examiner characterized the wound to Walker's arm as a 

defensive wound.

Defendant testified at trial. He said he was inside his house after the 

game when he saw Ketler being assaulted by two men. He ran across the street 

to defend his son and break up the altercation. Defendant claimed he carried a 

knife on his belt every day for work as a landscaper. When defendant heard 

his wife say one of the men had a gun, defendant took his knife from his belt. 

Defendant testified he was only defending himself from Walker as the 

two wrestled on the ground. He never intended to stab Walker, but Walker's 

own body weight caused the knife to penetrate his chest. Defendant said that 

Williams, who was assaulting Ketler, soon came at him, and defendant held 

out his knife to ward off Williams. Defendant never intended to stab Williams 

either.
A-5005-18 6

Defendant provided a statement to police on the night of the stabbings, 

which the prosecutor used during cross-examination.4 Defendant admitted he 

lied to police, telling them he had not seen his son since noontime on the day 

of the Super Bowl, and he never told police that Ketler was at the scene. 

Defendant also never told police that he heard his wife mention a gun, nor did 

he admit in his statement to stabbing Williams or Walker.

II.

Defendant contends that the prosecutor's repeated statements during 

summation accusing defendant of lying in his testimony and calling him a liar, 

combined with a passing reference to the prosecutor's personal belief in 

defendant's guilt, denied defendant a fair trial. It is axiomatic that "[t]he duty 

of the prosecutor 'is as much . . . to refrain from improper methods calculated 

to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring 

about a just one.'" State v. Williams, 244 N.J. 592, 607 (2021) (alteration in 

original) (quoting State v. Smith, 212 N.J. 365, 403 (2012)). "While 

'prosecutors in criminal cases are expected to make vigorous and forceful 

closing arguments to juries' and are 'afforded considerable leeway,' 'their 

4

 The State did not introduce defendant's statement during its case-in-chief, 

and although the statement was marked for identification at trial during 

defendant's direct testimony, it was not introduced into evidence and is not in 

the appellate record.
A-5005-18 7

comments [should be] reasonably related to the scope of the evidence 

presented.'" Ibid. (alteration in original) (quoting State v. Frost, 158 N.J. 76,

82 (1999)).

Furthermore, even when a prosecutor's remarks 

stray over the line of permissible commentary, our 

inquiry does not end. Rather, we weigh "the severity 

of the misconduct and its prejudicial effect on the 

defendant's right to a fair trial," and we reverse a 

conviction on the basis of prosecutorial misconduct 

only if "the conduct was so egregious as to deprive 

defendant of a fair trial."

[State v. McNeil-Thomas, 238 N.J. 256, 275 (2019) 

(quoting State v. Wakefield, 190 N.J. 397, 437 

(2007)).]

"In deciding whether prosecutorial conduct deprived a defendant of a 

fair trial, 'an appellate court must take into account the tenor of the trial and 

the degree of responsiveness of both counsel and the court to improprieties 

when they occurred.'" Williams, 244 N.J. at 608 (quoting Frost, 158 N.J. at 

83). "To warrant the remedy of a new trial, there must have been 'some degree 

of possibility that [the prosecutor's comments] led to an unjust result.'" 

McNeil-Thomas, 238 N.J. at 276 (alteration in original) (quoting State v. R.B., 

183 N.J. 308, 330 (2005)). Defense counsel never objected during the 

prosecutor's summation, so we review the alleged impropriety for plain error. 

R. 2:10-2.
A-5005-18 8

Defendant admitted lying to police in his statement after the stabbings 

— the prosecutor's opening salvo early in summation was defendant "lied his 

rear end off" — but the prosecutor did not limit his characterization of 

defendant as a liar to the falsity of that version of events. Instead, the 

prosecutor used defendant's admission that he lied to police as a cudgel to 

explicitly argue defendant's testimony at trial was more lies told by an 

admitted liar. 

In addition to simply calling defendant a "liar" numerous times, the 

prosecutor wove the accusation into an attack on defendant's claims of selfdefense and defense of another, seemingly blurring which party had the burden 

of proof:

I also want to include an explanation of selfdefense and defense of others and why they don't 

apply in this case. Because for any of those things to 

apply, there's one thing that you would have to find. 

You have to find that this man is not a liar. 

Something he got on that stand and admitted to you he 

was. You'd have to believe him in order to believe the 

lesser includeds. You would have to believe him in 

order to find self-defense or that he acted in the 

defense of others. 

You can't believe a word that man says. Based 

on his testimony yesterday we know he's a liar.

. . . .
A-5005-18 9

Well, we know that is a lie because he g[ot] on 

the stand and t[old] you he lied. 

. . . .

. . . Then he takes the stand yesterday, his story 

changes completely.

That's what liars do. When they get caught in a 

lie, they have to come up with something to justify it. 

. . . They lie to get out of trouble. 

. . . .

It's a story that's created by a liar.

. . . .

. . . Again, he's a liar, he's not worthy of belief. 

You have to believe him to find passion/provocation. 

You have to believe him to find self-defense or 

defense of others.5

[(Emphasis added).]

5

 The prosecutor made only passing reference later to the State's burden of 

disproving the elements of passion/provocation manslaughter. See Model Jury 

Charges (Criminal), "Murder, Passion/Provocation and Aggravated/Reckless 

Manslaughter (N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3(a)(1) and (2); 2C:11-4(a), (b)(1)and (b)(2))" 

(rev. June 8, 2015) at 4–6. During his summation, the prosecutor did not 

remind jurors that the State bore the burden of proving defendant did not act in 

self-defense or in defense of another. See Model Jury Charges (Criminal), 

"Justification-Self Defense In Self-Protection (N.J.S.A. 2C:3-4)" (rev. June 13, 

2021) at 4; Model Jury Charges (Criminal), "Justification — Use of Force in 

Protection of Others (N.J.S.A. 2C:3-5)" (approved Oct. 17, 1988) at 2. 
A-5005-18 10

At another point, early in the summation, the prosecutor told jurors his 

personal opinion that defendant "is definitely guilty of the murder of Moriah 

Walker."

"It is improper for a prosecutor to express his personal opinion on the 

veracity of any witness." State v. Rivera, 437 N.J. Super. 434, 463 (App. Div. 

2014) (citing State v. Marshall, 123 N.J. 1, 154 (1991)). A prosecutor may 

attempt to persuade the jury that a witness is not credible and in doing so, 

"may point out discrepancies in a witness's testimony or a witness's interests in 

presenting a particular version of events." State v. Johnson, 287 N.J. Super. 

247, 267 (App. Div. 1996) (citing State v. Purnell, 126 N.J. 518, 538 (1992)). 

It is, however, improper for a prosecutor to use derogatory epithets to 

describe a defendant. State v. Pennington, 119 N.J. 547, 576–77 (1990). 

"[B]y no stretch of the imagination can it be said that describing defendant as a 

'coward,' 'liar,' or 'jackal' is not derogatory. . . . Epithets are especially 

egregious when . . . the prosecutor pursues a persistent pattern of misconduct 

throughout the trial." Wakefield, 190 N.J. at 466–67 (quoting Pennington, 119 

N.J. at 577); see also State v. Acker, 265 N.J. Super. 351, 356 (App. Div. 

1993) ("'A prosecutor is not permitted to cast unjustified aspersions' on 

defense counsel or the defense." (quoting State v. Lockett, 249 N.J. Super. 

428, 434 (App. Div. 1991))).
A-5005-18 11

Defendant's false statements to police on the day of the incident were 

undoubtedly fair game for cross-examination and summation commentary. 

The Court has said "whether the asserted inconsistencies by a defendant are 

between two or more statements or between a statement and testimony at trial,

the State may seek to impeach the validity of those statements." State v. 

Tucker, 190 N.J. 183, 190 (2007). The "use of such evidence [is limited] to 

issues of credibility and not substantive evidence on the issue of defendant's 

guilt or innocence." Id. at 191 (citing State v. Brown, 190 N.J. 144, 158 

(2007)). The court is required to give a limiting instruction, which it did not 

do here. Ibid.; see Model Jury Charges (Criminal), "Credibility — Defendant's 

Statements at or Near Time of Arrest (To Be Used Only When Defendant 

Testifies)" (approved June 21, 2020).

Our point is that while the prosecutor was entitled to draw the jury's 

attention to defendant's false statements to police when assessing the 

credibility of defendant's trial testimony, he was not permitted to tip the scale 

in the State's favor by repeatedly telling jurors that defendant's trial testimony 

was not worthy of belief because defendant lied before, was lying again and 

was, simply put, therefore a liar. Nor was it permissible to tell the jury that it 

must believe a liar — defendant — in order to credit claims of self-defense or 
A-5005-18 12

defense of others and passion/provocation manslaughter. The State always 

bore the burden to disprove those defenses whether or not defendant testified. 

Because there were no objections to the summation at trial, the 

prosecutor's attack went unabated. And, given the lack of any objections, the 

only close issue is whether the prosecutor's impropriety justifies reversal. See, 

e.g., State v. Smith, 212 N.J. 365, 407 (2012) (noting the absence of any 

objection indicates defense counsel "perceived no prejudice") (citing State v. 

Timmendequas, 161 N.J. 515, 576 (1999)). We think it does.

It was undisputed there was mutual combat in this case. Both Skinner 

and Williams testified that Walker stopped the car at some point either because 

someone hit the car or threw something at the car. Both said Walker got out of 

the car, approached the others and a fight ensued, initially with Ketler, but 

soon joined by defendant. Neither Skinner nor the other State's witnesses saw 

defendant stab either man. Williams clearly said defendant stabbed him in the 

abdomen, but he did not see defendant stab Walker. In short, defendant's 

credibility as to the circumstances of the stabbing was the critical issue at trial. 

The Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) apply to assistant prosecutors. 

See, e.g., Marshall, 123 N.J. at 237 (applying RPC 3.4 to criticize the 

prosecutor's references to matters not supported by the evidence at trial); see 

also RPC 3.8 (setting forth special responsibilities of the prosecutor). RPC 
A-5005-18 13

3.4(e) specifically prohibits an attorney in trial to "assert personal knowledge 

of facts in issue . . . or state a personal opinion as to the justness of a cause, the 

credibility of a witness, . . . or the guilt or innocence of an accused."

Additionally, we evaluate the prosecutor's repeated assertions that 

defendant lied during his testimony, and his decision to go one step further and 

call defendant a "liar" several times during his summation, with recognition of 

the special role of the prosecutor, and the additional weight accorded that role 

in the eyes of the jury. See Wakefield, 190 N.J. at 437 (noting "improper 

suggestions, insinuations, and, especially, assertions of personal knowledge 

[by the prosecutor] are apt to carry much weight against the accused when they 

should properly carry none" (quoting Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78, 88 

(1935))). In this case, the prosecutor's improper summation comments compel 

reversal.

III.

Even if we accord undue prejudicial effect to the prosecutor's 

summation, there were other trial errors that, combined with the prosecutorial 

impropriety, compel reversal. See, e.g., State v. Blakney, 189 N.J. 88, 97 

(2006) (holding improper summation comments, together with defective 

limiting instructions, resulted in harmful error compelling reversal).
A-5005-18 14

The judge charged the jury on the substantive elements of murder and 

passion/provocation manslaughter as to Walker's death, and attempted murder, 

attempted passion/provocation manslaughter and aggravated assault as to 

Williams, including principles of accomplice liability. The judge then charged 

the jury regarding the weapons offenses but omitted entirely that portion of the 

model charge for possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose that deals 

with the lawful use of a weapon for a protective purpose. See State v. Kille, 

___ N.J. Super. ___, ___ (App. Div. 2022) (slip op. at 16–17) (reversing 

conviction for possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose because judge 

failed to provide instructions on protective purpose). 

The judge then told the jury, "The indictment charges [defendant] with 

murder and attempted murder." Using the model jury charge, he explained 

self-defense and defense of another, but he never told the jury it also should 

consider those affirmative defenses if or when it considered the lesser-included 

charge of passion-provocation manslaughter.

We agree that having acquitted defendant of Walker's murder, it was 

imperative for the jury to understand the very same principles of self-defense 

and defense of another applied to their consideration of the lesser-included 

manslaughter offense. It was plain error for the judge to omit specific 

instructions advising the jury that it should consider the affirmative defenses 
A-5005-18 15

as to all the lesser-included offenses. See State v. Gentry, 439 N.J. Super. 57, 

67 (App. Div. 2015) ("Where there is sufficient evidence to warrant a selfdefense charge, failure to instruct the jury that self-defense is a complete 

justification for manslaughter offenses as well as for murder constitutes plain 

error."). 

The failure to charge the jury with that portion of the model charge 

dealing with use of a weapon for a protective purpose when providing 

instructions on defendant's possession of the knife for an unlawful purpose was 

also plain error. Kille, slip op. at 16–17. 

The combination of errors in this case, together with the prosecutor's 

improper summation, require reversal of defendant's convictions. In light of 

our disposition, we need not consider the balance of defendant's arguments, 

including his claims of errors in the sentence.

Reversed and remanded for a new trial.