State v. Bakka

826 A.2d 604, 176 N.J. 533, 2003 N.J. LEXIS 683
CourtSupreme Court of New Jersey
DecidedJuly 1, 2003
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 826 A.2d 604 (State v. Bakka) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Bakka, 826 A.2d 604, 176 N.J. 533, 2003 N.J. LEXIS 683 (N.J. 2003).

Opinions

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

ZAZZALI, J.

The primary issue in this appeal is whether a defendant’s operation of a vehicle with a revoked license, absent any indication of the reasons for that revocation, is probative of recklessness within the meaning of the aggravated manslaughter, N.J.S.A. 2C:ll-4a, or vehicular homicide, N.J.S.A 2C:ll-5, statutes.

This matter arose after defendant Benhart Bakka was involved in a vehicular accident on the Garden State Parkway that killed his friend Wayne Teague. A jury convicted defendant of first-degree aggravated manslaughter, N.J.S.A 2C:ll-4a(l), second-degree vehicular homicide, N.J.S.A. 2C:ll-5, and third-degree unlawful taking of a means of conveyance, N.J.S.A. 2C:20-10(e). The Appellate Division reversed defendant’s convictions, finding that the trial court improperly admitted evidence that defendant was driving with a revoked license at the time of the accident. State v. Bakka, 350 N.J.Super. 43, 55-56, 794 A.2d 260 (2002). The panel below found that the improper evidence “clearly had the [538]*538capacity to influence” the jury’s verdict and therefore remanded for a new trial on all counts. Id. at 58-59, 794 A.2d 260.

We agree with the Appellate Division that evidence that defendant’s license has been revoked by itself cannot be probative of recklessness. We conclude, however, that evidence concerning defendant’s revocation was not clearly capable of producing an unjust result in respect of defendant’s aggravated manslaughter, vehicular homicide, and unlawful taking by a means of conveyance convictions. We therefore reverse.

I

On January 2,1997, at approximately 4:00 p.m., Eileen McCray, defendant’s estranged girlfriend, was driving to meet defendant following his release from jail. McCray stopped her car when she saw defendant flagging her down at an intersection in Toms River. After a short discussion, McCray asked defendant to enter her vehicle, a black 1989 Acura Integra. Once in the car, defendant told McCray that he wanted to drive, but McCray refused. McCray testified that defendant appeared intoxicated.

Defendant then forcibly took control of the car and drove to the Lakehurst Motel where the couple discussed their relationship. After an argument with defendant, McCray left the motel, returning about an hour later to find defendant with an almost-empty pint of vodka. Defendant took McCray’s car keys, leaving the motel at about 10:45 p.m. Shortly thereafter, McCray called the Lakehurst police to report the incident, and later went to the police station to sign a complaint against defendant for taking her car without her permission.

Edwin Leugo, one of defendant’s roommates, testified that defendant arrived home around midnight. According to Leugo, defendant was visibly intoxicated, agitated, and argumentative. Another roommate, Wayne Teague, awoke after an argument ensued between Leugo and defendant. Thereafter, defendant and Teague began drinking vodka heavily. Leugo went back to bed [539]*539around 5:00 a.m. and when he awoke around 7:30 a.m. defendant and Teague were gone.

Around 11:00 a.m., motorist Jane Gross was traveling approximately 55 m.p.h. northbound in the center local lane of the Garden State Parkway when a black Acura “zoomed” past her at a high rate of speed. She witnessed that vehicle drift into the left lane, striking the left guardrail. Subsequent to the Acura’s collision with the left guardrail, the vehicle moved abruptly across the two local lanes and hit the right guardrail. The State’s accident reconstruction expert, Reginald Grant, indicated that the abrupt movement to the right was an “over corrective” measure consistent with the actions of a driver under the influence of alcohol. The car then spun around and crossed over the grassy median of the Parkway into the inner express lanes of traffic. There, the car collided at a low rate of speed with the rear passenger-side of a GMC Yukon SUV. The driver of the Acura did not apply the brakes during the entire collision sequence. Moreover, the occupants of the vehicle were not wearing seatbelts. The force of the second impact caused Teague to be partially ejected through the open window of the vehicle’s passenger side. Teague’s head and arm struck an “I” beam that supported the guardrail.

Immediately after the collision, the driver of the Yukon, Eric Haberstroh, exited his vehicle and walked back to the Acura, which was located approximately fifty feet away. Haberstroh testified that as he approached the vehicle he observed the top half of Teague’s body hanging out of passenger’s side of the vehicle. Teague’s head was bleeding profusely and Haberstroh “knew there was no help for him.” Haberstroh then walked around to the driver’s side of the car and saw a man, later identified as defendant, in a semi-prone position in the driver’s seat. Defendant’s feet were beneath the brake and accelerator pedals. After determining that defendant did not need immediate assistance, Haberstroh stepped away from the vehicle and waited for the police to arrive.

[540]*540New Jersey State Troopers James Miani and Richard Laverty arrived at the scene at approximately 11:15 a.m. Trooper Miani approached the Acura and, like Haberstroh, saw that Teague was “hanging out of the passenger’s side window from the waist up” and “had catastrophic head trauma.” He stated that defendant appeared conscious and had his back leaning against the legs and buttocks of Teague. Defendant’s left foot was partially across the seat and his right foot was “hanging down where the normal driver foot would be.” The accelerator and brake pedals were located approximately ten inches away from defendant’s right foot.

On entering the vehicle, Miani “detected the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming directly from [defendant’s] breath.” Defendant informed Miani that he had hurt his neck and back. Miani then asked defendant to identify the driver of the vehicle, and defendant replied: “I know it wasn’t me. I’m not a bad guy. I didn’t do anything wrong.” After defendant was removed from the car, Miani examined the car’s interior and found a “small bottle of vodka that was partially full” and a twelve-ounce empty beer bottle in the backseat of the vehicle.

Trooper Richard Laverty testified that when he approached defendant he “immediately detected a strong odor of alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath.” Laverty stated that defendant “began to speak in a rambling and slurred manner,” “claimed to have no identification on his person,” and “continued to ramble on about using pain medication and drinking alcohol prior to the accident.” Medical personnel at Riverview Medical Center later turned over defendant’s personal belongings to Trooper Laverty, which included two pill bottles. One bottle contained Meprobamate, an anti-anxiety prescription drug, and the other contained Paxil, an anti-depressant prescription drug. Labels were affixed to both bottles, indicating that the prescriptions were defendant’s and that the drugs “may cause drowsiness.”

The paramedics arrived, immobilized defendant on a stretcher, and placed him in an ambulance for transportation to Riverview Medical Center. Paramedic John Shook conducted a trauma [541]*541assessment of defendant in the ambulance.

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State v. Bakka
826 A.2d 604 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
826 A.2d 604, 176 N.J. 533, 2003 N.J. LEXIS 683, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bakka-nj-2003.