Something to consider before becoming a 'good witness' to a crime.
NEWARK STAR LEDGER
Dec. 17, 2005
Yesterday, NJ Superior Court Judge Paul Vichness ordered the release of accused murderer Louis Bey, an alleged Bloods gang member, because the star witness had been killed.
The witness, Carmen Estronza, was one of four people found shot to death in a vacant Newark lot the day after Thanksgiving. Those slayings are unsolved, and authorities have not ruled out that Estronza's status as a witness played a role in her killing.
Bey, 18, was charged with the September killing of Edwin Reyes-Cruz, 23, who was robbed and shot in the head.
Estronza told investigators she watched the shooting from the window of her apartment in 963 Frelinghuysen, and she was expected to testify, according to police.
After Estronza and three others were found dead the day after Thanskgiving on nearby Ludlow Avenue, police first said they doubted it was to silence her testimony, but later said it is one of the possible motives for the killings.
Under court rules, defense attorneys -- and the defendants themselves -- are entitled to immediate access to probable cause information used to justify an arrest. Often, the only probable cause is the statement of a witness.
On Tuesday, Dec. 14 four more were killed execution style in the ongoing Crips-Bloods war in Newark.
NEWARK STAR LEDGER
Dec. 17, 2005
Yesterday, NJ Superior Court Judge Paul Vichness ordered the release of accused murderer Louis Bey, an alleged Bloods gang member, because the star witness had been killed.
The witness, Carmen Estronza, was one of four people found shot to death in a vacant Newark lot the day after Thanksgiving. Those slayings are unsolved, and authorities have not ruled out that Estronza's status as a witness played a role in her killing.
Bey, 18, was charged with the September killing of Edwin Reyes-Cruz, 23, who was robbed and shot in the head.
Estronza told investigators she watched the shooting from the window of her apartment in 963 Frelinghuysen, and she was expected to testify, according to police.
After Estronza and three others were found dead the day after Thanskgiving on nearby Ludlow Avenue, police first said they doubted it was to silence her testimony, but later said it is one of the possible motives for the killings.
Under court rules, defense attorneys -- and the defendants themselves -- are entitled to immediate access to probable cause information used to justify an arrest. Often, the only probable cause is the statement of a witness.
On Tuesday, Dec. 14 four more were killed execution style in the ongoing Crips-Bloods war in Newark.