In an unpublished opinion, the New Jersey Appellate Court rejected a claim on appeal that the defendant’s case should be remanded in light of Carpenter. The defendants were charged with: first-degree kidnapping, two counts of first-degree robbery, first-degree felony murder, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, and second-degree aggravated arson.
In this case, “the State relied at trial on CSLI for cell phones attributed to defendants and to Bond, Lowery, and Worthy, as well as on contemporary call records for the same phones, to piece together its case.”
The appellate court specifically noted that “CSLI revealed that defendants and their cohorts converged at approximately 10:15 p.m., when their phones connected with a cell site in Newark about a mile from where Worthy was found burned inside her car.”
After all the briefs were filed, the defendants petitioned the Court to consider Carpenter. The appellate court refused to do so, noting that Carpenter was decided long after trial and the submission of the appellate briefs due to timeliness. They considered the issue not properly preserved.
The case is State v. Lewis, 2019 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 40,
2019 WL 149907 Sup. Ct. N.J. App. Div. (January 7, 2019)