Opinion ID: 2157140
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: State v. Michael Anthony Prater

Text: The facts of Prater's offense were detailed in the case summary of Eugene Edwards discussed earlier in this Appendix A. We note that it was Prater who approached the crack-addicted prostitute to suggest the sex for drugs exchange. Also, it was Prater who was armed with a knife throughout the ordeal. When the parties entered Edwards' home, it was Prater who brandished his knife and forced the victim to remove her clothing. Prater had a prior drug conviction and three disorderly persons convictions. He was raised in a violent home, where his father emotionally, physically, and sexually abused Prater's mother and attempted to rape Prater's sister. Prater had a borderline intelligence level, had a limited ability to use judgment, and acted impulsively. He had been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. He began abusing alcohol when he was eleven-years-old and started using drugs five years later. A jury convicted Prater of capital murder, felony murder (two counts), aggravated sexual assault (three counts), theft, and a weapons offense. The jury found the c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factor and the c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factor. The jury rejected the c(4)(c) (torture or depravity) and c(4)(f) (escape detection) aggravating factors. The jury could not determine whether the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors so the court sentenced Prater to life imprisonment with a thirty-year parole disqualifier on the murder count. Prater's aggregate sentence was life plus twenty years, with a forty-year term of parole ineligibility. J. State v. John Seymour Reese On August 8, 1987, Reese came home to his apartment building after an evening of drinking. At some time that night, Reese noticed his neighbor's apartment door ajar. He went into the apartment and found his forty-two-year-old neighbor asleep in her bed, so he tied her hands behind her back and placed a shirt over her head. He raped her and afterward hit her over the head seventeen times with a claw hammer. Reese then returned to his apartment, cleaned up, and went to sleep. The next day, he threw the hammer away at a nearby farm. The victim died from her injuries. Hair, fingerprint, and DNA evidence connected Reese to the scene of the crime. Reese initially denied any involvement in the murder. Subsequently, Reese confessed, claiming that the victim was the aggressor. A jury convicted Reese of purposeful or knowing murder, felony murder, aggravated assault (two counts), kidnaping, criminal restraint, aggravated sexual assault (two counts), burglary, hindering apprehension, and a weapons charge. A jury found him guilty on all charges. At the penalty phase, Reese's parents testified that he took care of his brothers and was a role model for them. Reese also presented evidence that he worked on the inmate liaison committee and had been attending Alcoholics Anonymous while in prison. A deputy warden of his correction facility testified that Reese was a model inmate. Reese had no prior convictions, but he had been arrested in 1979 for assaulting a female co-worker at her home while drinking. At the time of his arrest, Reese was a full-time employee at a local farm where he had worked for five years. Reese was an alcoholic who became abusive toward women when he was intoxicated, and he emphasized the role of alcohol in this offense. Some of Reese's ex-girlfriends testified that he had often wanted to tie them up during intercourse and he abused them sexually on several occasions when he was drunk. The jury found the following aggravating factors applied: c(4)(c) (torture or depravity) and c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony). The jury rejected the c(4)(f) (escape detection) as an aggravating factor. The jury also found the following mitigating factors applied: c(5)(d) (diminished capacity) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. Reese was sentenced to life imprisonment with a thirty-year parole disqualifier because the jury could not reach a conclusion as to the death sentence. For the aggravated sexual assault charge, he received a consecutive twenty-year sentence with a ten-year parole ineligibility term. For the remaining counts, he received concurrent sentences. Among the concurrent sentences was a twenty-five-year sentence for kidnaping, which was merged with the criminal restraint charges. Thus, Reese's aggregate sentence was life plus twenty years, with a parole ineligibility term of forty years. K. State v. Rafael Rivera On July 16, 1983, Rafael Rivera murdered seventy-eight-year-old Elizabeth Cornwall in her Newark apartment. Rivera lived next door to Cornwall and had a close relationship with her. Cornwall often babysat for Rivera's children. They referred to Cornwall as their grandmother. In the early evening hours of July 16th, Rivera went into Cornwall's apartment and looked for money while Cornwall was visiting Rivera's girlfriend. Cornwall, while walking with the assistance of her cane, entered her apartment while Rivera was still there. A struggle ensued, and Rivera struck Cornwall many times in the face, forearms, ribs, and back. He tore her vagina with either his hand or her cane. Ultimately, he killed her by suffocating her with a pillow. Witnesses heard suspicious noises coming from Cornwall's apartment on July 16th. Specifically, the witnesses heard a bed squeaking and a man's voice coming from the area of the victim's bedroom. An autopsy revealed that Cornwall's face, neck, forearms, and mid-back were covered with bruises, probably caused by slapping, punching, or a series of blows. There were pressure marks on the left side of her jaw, and marks on the right side of her face indicated linear abrasions surrounded by bruising. Hemorrhaging was found under her tongue, behind her eye, and underneath her cheek. She had two fractured ribs. The autopsy also showed that Cornwall had been sexually assaulted. Her vagina was torn in the back and bleeding, and there was bruising of the mucous membrane and the area near the urethra. Rivera eventually confessed to killing her. Police arrested him and charged him with knowing or purposeful murder, felony murder, robbery, aggravated sexual assault and burglary. A jury convicted him of all counts, except for the felony murder charge. It was revealed at the penalty phase that Rivera had a history of abusing cocaine, marijuana and alcohol. He was seen drunk shortly before the murder. At the time of the murder, Rivera was living with his girlfriend and their three children, and was working as a truck loader. He had prior convictions for possessing a stolen car, entry with intent to steal, receiving stolen property, weapons possession and eleven disorderly persons offenses. The jury found the following aggravating factors applied: c(4)(c) (torture or depravity) and c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony). The jury found the following mitigating factors applied: c(5)(d) (diminished capacity) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. It rejected the c(4)(f) (escape detection) aggravating factor and the c(5)(c)(age) mitigating factor. The jury was unable to reach an unanimous verdict, thereby precluding the death penalty. The court sentenced Rivera to life imprisonment with a thirty-year parole disqualifier for the murder. He was also sentenced to a consecutive extended term of life imprisonment with a twenty-five-year period of parole ineligibility on the aggravated sexual assault count. Rivera was sentenced to concurrent custodial terms of twenty years for the robbery offense and ten years for the burglary offense. L. State v. Jerry Spraggins  On September 2, 1983, Jerry Spraggins saw a sixty-eight-year-old woman through her apartment window. He broke in through the window, and before she could scream he put a pillow over her face. He sexually assaulted her, took her pocketbook and a gold chain. An autopsy later showed that she had been smothered and strangled to death. Police arrested Spraggins in April 1985. He told the authorities about the sexual assault, but said that he did not know she died. Eventually, Spraggins was linked to the murders of two other women in the victim's apartment building. With regard to the September 2nd offense, Spraggins was charged with murder, felony murder, burglary, aggravated sexual assault and theft. The State served notice of aggravating factors c(4)(c) (extreme suffering), c(4)(f) (escape detection) and c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony). A jury convicted Spraggins of burglary, aggravated sexual assault, purposeful or knowing murder and felony murder. During the penalty phase, Spraggins's mother testified about his good behavior as a child. A psychiatrist testified that Spraggins suffered from voyeurism (an uncontrollable need to view women), and that the voyeuristic thoughts would diminish with age. There was evidence that defendant did not seek professional help for his voyeurism for fear of embarrassment, but had had some mental health counseling in the past. Spraggins is a high school graduate and has a son. He was 28 and lived with his parents at the time of the offense. His prior record consists of convictions for invasion of privacy, larceny, criminal trespass, criminal sexual contact and indecent exposure. The jury found the following aggravating factors: c(4)(f) (escape detection) and c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony). The jury found mitigating factors c(5)(d) (mental disease or defect or intoxication) and c(5)(f) (no significant criminal history), and rejected factors c(5)(c)(age) and c(5)(h) (catch-all). For the murder charge, Spraggins was sentenced to a life term with a thirty-year term of parole ineligibility. The felony murder charges were merged with the murder charges. Spraggins also received a consecutive twenty-year sentence with a ten-year parole ineligibility term, for the aggravated sexual assault conviction. Finally, for the burglary charge, Spraggins was sentenced to a concurrent ten-year term. M. State v. Christopher Thomas (2) Seven days after his release from prison, thirty-one-year-old Christopher Thomas entered a tailor shop and attacked the owner, a fifty-six-year-old woman. He fractured her skull with a heavy thirteen-inch steel wrench and she died from the head injuries. Thomas took items from the victim's pocketbook and stole rings from her fingers. He also attempted to sexually assault her. The State charged Thomas with purposeful or knowing murder, felony murder (two counts), robbery (two counts), attempted sexual assault, and weapons offenses. Thomas waived his right to a jury trial. The court convicted him of all charges. At the penalty phase, a psychiatrist testified that Thomas suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, has an anti-social personality, is subject to fits of violence and has auditory and visual hallucinations. A second defense expert corroborated the diagnosis. A year before this murder, Thomas was admitted to Trenton Psychiatric Hospital after an attempted suicide. Thomas never knew his father, and Thomas' mother was an alcoholic. As a child, Thomas was mentally abused. He had a long history of drug and alcohol abuse, for which he received treatment two years before the murder. Thomas had prior convictions for robbery, aggravated assault, larceny (four convictions), shoplifting (two convictions), and tampering with an automobile. Over a year before this crime, he had murdered an elderly woman. He had been unemployed for seven years prior to the offense. The trial judge found the c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factor applied. The jury found the following mitigating factors applied as well: c(5)(a) (extreme emotional disturbance), c(5)(d) (diminished capacity) and c(5)(h) (catchall). Thomas was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder, with a thirty-year parole disqualifier term. The court also sentenced Thomas to a consecutive twenty-year term with a ten-year minimum for the robbery. In addition, Thomas was sentenced to a consecutive ten-year term with a five-year minimum for the attempted sexual assault. The remaining counts were merged for sentencing, thus, his aggregate sentence was life plus thirty years with a forty-five-year parole bar. N. State v. James Williams Twenty-three-year-old Beverly Mitchell worked part-time as a receptionist at a Trenton nursing home in addition to her full-time position as a teacher at Trenton High School. She reported to work at the nursing home at approximately 4:00 p.m. on December 30, 1982, and was later seen at her typewriter later at 6:05 p.m. A nurse noticed her missing at 6:45 p.m. and walked into an office that adjoined the reception area. As she turned on the light, she noticed Ms. Mitchell's body lying on the floor. She was dead. The nurse described the scene as gruesome. The victim's body was lying face down and naked. Her clothes were strewn about the room. There was blood all over the room. Under the body, an undergarment, some pieces of jewelry and a steak knife were found covered in blood. The autopsy determined that she had been stabbed thirty-six times, including twenty-one wounds in her back. There were bruises, contusions and abrasions in numerous areas of her body, and her throat was slashed. The medical examiner concluded that it was the wounds to the victim's back that probably were fatal. James Williams' brother, Floyd Williams, had accompanied the defendant to the nursing home the evening of December 30, 1982. [3] Two days after the murder, Floyd informed the police what had happened. Floyd testified that the two brothers drank beer at James Williams' apartment prior to the killing. Williams spoke and acted aggressively at one point during their drinking binge. He specifically spoke of going to make money that night and possibly beat up some white boys. He then placed a knife in his belt. Floyd did not believe he was serious, but accompanied Williams to the nursing home. When the two entered the nursing home, the victim was sitting at the receptionist desk. Williams told her that he wanted to see a Mr. Hoffman. She indicated that Mr. Hoffman was located on the second floor. Floyd then walked to the elevator, but Williams instead approached the receptionist and pushed her into a back room. Floyd followed them. Williams closed the door, shut the lights and ordered the victim to take off her clothes. She first complied, but then stopped. Williams became angry and began hitting her. Williams, a 6'6 male, forced the victim, who stood at 5'2, to the floor, while Floyd stood by and watched Williams rape the victim. She screamed, so Williams placed his hands over her mouth and started to cut her with the knife he had brought with him. The victim managed to stand up, but Williams stabbed her in the back. As she fell to the floor, defendant got down on one knee and started stabbing her in the back. Williams attempted to give the knife to Floyd to stab her, but Floyd refused. On the way out, Williams took her pocketbook. Williams was charged with knowing and purposeful murder, felony murder, robbery while armed, sexual assault while armed, and burglary while armed. The jury convicted Williams on all counts. The State relied on the following aggravating factors: c(4)(c)(intent to cause suffering) and c(4)(a) (committing a murder during a robbery, aggravated sexual assault, or burglary). The State also presented photographs of the victim's body and testimony from the medical examiner that demonstrated that the victim remained conscious after the frontal wounds were inflicted and she had lived several minutes after sustaining the fatal back wounds. The defense presented the following mitigating factors: c(5)(h)(extreme mental or emotional disturbance), c(5)(d)(mental disease or defect or intoxication), c(5)(c)(age) and c(5)(h) (catch-all). The jury found the catch-all factor applied as a mitigating factor, but that it was outweighed by the aggravating factors. Williams was sentenced to death. The three felony murder counts merged with the murder charge and he was sentenced to a twenty-year term for the robbery with a ten-year minimum. For the aggravated sexual assault count, Williams received twenty years with a ten-year minimum. He received a ten-year term with a five-year minimum for the burglary. On appeal, Williams' sentence and conviction were overturned because this Court found that the voir dire questioning of the prospective jurors was inadequate, combined with the decision not to dismiss a prospective juror for cause, required a reversal and a remand of the matter. State v. Williams, 113 N.J. 393, 550 A. 2d 1172 (1988). Williams pled guilty to felony murder instead of being subjected to a new trial. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. O. State v. James Zola On the morning of January 17, 1983, a neighbor was worried because she feared that there was something wrong with a nearby tenant. She noticed that approximately a week's worth of newspapers had piled up outside the door of seventy-five-year-old Barbara Berrisford. The apartment complex's superintendent entered the apartment and found Mrs. Berrisford spread-eagled on her bed, clothed only in a girdle and wrapped in a sheet. The victim was tied to the corners of her bed by leather thongs. Her throat, left temple and nose were wounded, and her throat and neck also were bruised. It was later determined that sixty-percent of the victim's body was missing skin due to scalding. No sign of trauma to the victim's sexual organs was detected. No evidence of semen was found in her body. She died from asphyxiation by manual strangulation. The State sought to prove sexual penetration of the victim by emphasizing all the circumstantial evidence: her unclothed body was discovered bound and spread-eagled; the defendant's underwear was found under her pillow and the apparent presence of saliva in her genital cavity. The estimated date of death was January 13th. The victim's purse was missing and never recovered. An investigation led authorities to James Zola, a former maintenance man at the apartment complex. Mrs. Berrisford had complained to Zola's supervisor about his work. He was eventually fired from that position. Defendant did not testify at trial. Instead, a psychiatrist and a psychologist introduced defendant's account of the killing. He claimed to be under the influence of alcohol and drugs and was imagining that he was being chased by police and police dogs. He took refuge in the basement of the victim's apartment complex, and later broke into Mrs. Berrisford's while she was not home. When Mrs. Berrisford arrived home, Zola grabbed her and asked her where the police were. He tied her up and hit her head to prevent her from signaling the police. Zola then thought he inflicted a fatal wound. To attempt to revive her, he tried to give her food and drink. He then took her clothes off and put her in the bathtub. He left scalding water running for a period of time and left to check on the door. When he returned, he was panicked by her condition and placed her on the bed to cover her up. He then went home to go to sleep. Zola was charged with knowing and purposeful murder, burglary, aggravated sexual assault, kidnaping and robbery. Evidence was presented during trial that indicated Zola came from a broken home and a troubled past. Zola was found guilty on all charges. At the penalty phase, the State relied on the following aggravating factors: c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) and c(4)(c)(torture or depravity). Both aggravating factors were found to apply. The jury also found two mitigating factors applied: c(5)(a)(extreme emotional disturbance) and c(5)(h)(catch-all). The jury concluded that they did not outweigh the aggravating factors. Zola was sentenced to death. This Court reversed the death sentence because the trial court failed to instruct the jury that the aggravating factors must outweigh the mitigating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Zola, 112 N.J. 384, 390-91, 548 A. 2d 1022 (1988). On remand, Zola pled guilty to murder and received a life sentence.