State of New Jersey v. Jaron D. Reevey

New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division·Decided July 1, 2026·No. A-2105-24·Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited . R. 1:36-3.

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-2105-24

STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent,

v.

JARON D. REEVEY, a/k/a JONATHAN LEE and JARONE REEVEY,

Defendant-Appellant.

Submitted March 17, 2026 – Decided July 1, 2026 Before Judges Susswein and Chase.

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Monmouth County, Indictment No. 03-11-

2080.

Jennifer N. Sellitti, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Frank M. Gennaro, Designated Counsel, on the brief).

Raymond S. Santiago, Monmouth County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Monica do Outeiro, Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief).

PER CURIAM This prosecution has a long history of direct and collateral appeals arising from a murder committed in May 2000. Defendant Jaron Reevey was convicted in 2005 of the murder of George Lockhart, a Rite Aid pharmacist. The crime involved a plan to steal Lockhart's vehicle, during which a struggle ensued and Lockhart was fatally shot. The State's key witness was codefendant Sabrina Wright, defendant's then seventeen-year-old girlfriend. Wright pled guilty to second-degree armed robbery and agreed to testify against defendant in exchange for a reduced sentence. In 2018, Wright gave a statement to a defense investigator recanting her trial testimony.

In the matter before us, defendant appeals a December 13, 2024, Law Division order denying reconsideration of his motion for a new trial. 1 Defendant's primary contention is that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a new trial based on Wright's 2018 recantation statement. Defendant seeks a new trial or in the alternative, a remand for an evidentiary hearing. Defendant

1 Defendant filed a petition for post-conviction relief (PCR) on May 24, 2012. Because more than a year had transpired since the PCR court's ruling on June 19, 2019, defendant was time barred from filing a subsequent PCR petition pursuant to Rule 3:22-4(b). Consequently, rather than filing a second PCR petition, defendant filed the present motion for a new trial.

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also argues that proffered alibi affidavits constitute newly discovered evidence establishing an alibi and warranting a new trial.

After reviewing the record in light of the governing legal principles, we affirm the motion court's 2 holding that the proffered alibi affidavits do not warrant a new trial. However, we deem it necessary to remand for an evidentiary hearing with respect to Wright's 2018 recantation. The court concluded that her recantation would not have altered the trial outcome because her credibility had been impeached at trial. The applicable legal test, however, is whether Wright's testimony at trial was probably false. No court has yet had an opportunity to observe Wright's testimony regarding her 2018 recantation statement. We therefore deem it prudent to remand for an evidentiary hearing at which Wright can testify and be subject to cross-examination so that the motion court can determine whether her trial testimony was probably false.

We acknowledge the skepticism that is accorded under the law to belated recantations, and we offer no opinion on her veracity. However, considering the stakes, we believe the motion court should make the determination as to when she was not telling the truth—at the jury trial or thirteen years later when

2 We use the term "motion court" to refer to the judge who denied defendant's present motion for a new trial.

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speaking with the Public Defender's investigator—after having an opportunity to observe and assess her live testimony.

I.

We presume the parties are well acquainted with the proofs presented at the murder trial and the ensuing direct and collateral appeals. We therefore only briefly summarize the facts and procedural history pertinent to the issues presently before us.

No physical evidence was presented at trial linking defendant to the murder. The State's case hinged on Wright's testimony. She testified that she and defendant planned to steal Lockhart's Mercedes automobile. Wright explained that she approached Lockhart as he left the pharmacy to distract him, then walked away. She further testified that, when defendant approached Lockhart, she observed a "slight struggle," heard a gunshot, and saw defendant running away.

Wright testified that immediately following the shooting, she and defendant met in the woods near the crime scene and defendant admitted to her that he had shot Lockhart because he would not give him the car key and had seen defendant's face. She testified that defendant had a black revolver and told her it did not leave shell casings.

A-2105-24

On cross-examination, Wright was questioned about the plea agreement she made with the State in exchange for her testimony. Defense counsel also questioned Wright about statements she made that, after initially pleading not guilty, she decided to take a plea offer because she had no chance of success at trial as a black defendant in front of what was likely to be an all-white jury. It was also revealed on cross-examination that Wright lied in her initial statement to police inculpating defendant. Wright was also cross-examined about a March 31, 2004, letter she wrote to defendant where she described wanting to "get home as soon as possible by any means necessary."

In addition to Wright's testimony, the State presented several jailhouse informants who reported on defendant's inculpatory admissions to them. The jury found defendant guilty of knowing/purposeful murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:11 - 3(a)(l)-(2) (count one); felony murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3(a)(3) (count two); armed robbery, N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1 (count three); second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-4(a) (count four); third-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(b) (count five); and second- degree conspiracy, N.J.S.A. 2C:5-2 (count six). On direct appeal, we affirmed the murder conviction but reversed several lesser convictions due to improper jury instructions. State v. Reevey, No. A-1414-05 (App. Div. Apr. 10, 2008).

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The State did not retry the vacated counts. Defendant was re-sentenced to life imprisonment with a thirty-five-year period of parole ineligibility. We affirmed the sentence and the New Jersey Supreme Court denied defendant's petition for certification. State v. Reevey, 196 N.J. 85 (2008).

In May 2012, defendant filed a PCR petition alleging ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel. Defendant specifically claimed that both failed to advise him of the five-year time limit for seeking PCR relief, pursuant to Rule 3:22-12(a)(1), and that trial counsel failed to introduce exculpatory documents and to subpoena alibi and other defense witnesses. The PCR court denied defendant's petition without an evidentiary hearing. We reversed that decision in part and remanded for an evidentiary hearing regarding counsel's failure to investigate and present alibi witnesses. State v. Reevey, No. A-5882-13 (App. Div. Nov. 4, 2016).

An evidentiary hearing was held on separate dates between November 2017 and April 2019. On June 13, 2019, the PCR court issued an oral opinion again denying defendant's petition, finding no ineffective assistance. We affirmed that decision. State v. Reevey, No. A-5379-18 (App. Div. Aug. 9, 2021).

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