State v. Bragg

685 A.2d 488, 295 N.J. Super. 459
CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedDecember 2, 1996
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 685 A.2d 488 (State v. Bragg) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Bragg, 685 A.2d 488, 295 N.J. Super. 459 (N.J. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

295 N.J. Super. 459 (1996)
685 A.2d 488

STATE OF NEW JERSEY, PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT,
v.
JOHN T. BRAGG, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.

Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.

Submitted November 6, 1996.
Decided December 2, 1996.

*461 Before Judges MUIR, Jr., KLEINER and COBURN.

Susan L. Reisner, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (William Welaj, Designated Counsel, on the brief).

Peter Verniero, Attorney General, attorney for respondent (Debra A. Owens, Deputy Attorney General, of counsel and on the brief).

The opinion of the court was delivered by COBURN, J.S.C. (temporarily assigned).

*462 The first two counts of the indictment charged defendant with offenses allegedly occurring on June 27 and 28, 1993. Count one charged kidnapping, N.J.S.A. 2C:13-1b, and count two charged second degree aggravated assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1b(1). The theory of the assault was that defendant was attempting to cause the victim serious bodily injury.

The events relating to these charges occurred over many hours, to some extent in New Jersey, but primarily in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The jury acquitted defendant of kidnapping but found him guilty of third degree criminal restraint, N.J.S.A. 2C:13-2a, as a lesser included offense, and of second degree aggravated assault. These convictions must be reversed because the trial court failed to charge the jury correctly with respect to its fact-finding responsibilities on the jurisdictional issues.

The remainder of the indictment related to July 6, 1996. The jury found defendant guilty of both offenses as charged, third degree terroristic threats, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-3b (count three) and second degree witness tampering, N.J.S.A. 2C:28-5a (count four). In essence, defendant threatened violence if the victim testified against him. These convictions, as well as those under the first two counts of the indictment, must be reversed because of the trial court's erroneous charge on other-crime evidence.

I

On June 27, 1993, at about 11:30 p.m., the victim, DeYonka Fletcher, had just returned to the area of her home in Trenton, New Jersey, from a dance recital when the defendant John T. Bragg, a resident of Morrisville, Pennsylvania, drove up in his automobile. Fletcher and Bragg had begun dating around March, 1993. Their testimony with respect to what occurred thereafter differed sharply.

According to Fletcher, on numerous prior occasions, which she described in graphic detail, the defendant had committed acts of *463 physical violence against her, including restraining her in a hotel room. She further testified that during one of the confrontations defendant had punched and attacked her mother. As a result, she had decided to terminate the relationship. The defendant denied the prior violent acts and asserted that on June 27, 1993, he had come to see Fletcher to maintain their relationship.

Fletcher testified that the defendant forced her into his automobile and locked the windows and doors so that she could not get out. Initially he drove briefly around Trenton, during which time he cursed at her and struck her a number of times with his right fist. The defendant claimed she came with him willingly and that he did not strike her in New Jersey.

Defendant drove the victim to his apartment in Morrisville, Pennsylvania. According to her, he forced her upstairs, placed a sofa up against the apartment door, and terrorized her throughout most of the night. She said he punched her and kicked her repeatedly, choked her, and threatened to kill her. The defendant said they initially engaged in sexual relations, that she was always free to leave, and that, at most, he may have slapped her four or five times.

In the morning, they drove back to New Jersey, then to Philadelphia or New York, finally returning to Trenton in the afternoon. She claimed that he hit her a number of times during this part of their trip. At one point he purchased cocaine which he then sold in Bordentown, New Jersey. Defendant let the victim off on the Trenton side of the Morrisville bridge. She ran into her uncle, who sent her home. Thereafter she was taken to the police department where she filed a complaint but refused medical treatment for her swollen face.

On July 6, 1993, defendant entered Fletcher's home. He found her alone on a couch and, according to the victim, threatened to have her and her children killed if she pursued the criminal charges against him. Defendant admitted speaking to her on that date in her home, but he denied making any threats. According to the victim, on two subsequent occasions defendant again threatened *464 harm to her and to her family if she did not withdraw the criminal charges. The defendant denied those threats as well.

II

Defendant contends the trial court lacked jurisdiction of any offenses which might have occurred in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Consequently, he asserts the court erred in failing to instruct the jury that in determining guilt it could only consider defendant's actions in New Jersey. Although defendant did not submit a charge on this point, before testifying he asked the court whether he could be convicted based on what he was alleged to have done in Pennsylvania. The court responded: "What happened in Morrisville as well because it is all part of a continuing course of conduct, and the state line does not make any difference." That view to the extent it is based on the broad concept of "continuing course of conduct" is inconsistent with the law of this State.

In State v. McDowney, 49 N.J. 471, 474, 231 A.2d 359 (1967) (citations omitted), the Court noted the common law rule "that an essential element necessary to the invocation of jurisdiction in criminal cases is that the crime be committed in the state in which the case is tried." However, with the introduction in 1978 of the New Jersey Code of Criminal Justice, the law of jurisdiction was substantially modified. N.J.S.A. 2C:1-3. That section is lengthy and covers many aspects of jurisdiction which are not pertinent to this case. We are concerned with the following language in section 3a:

[A] person may be convicted under the law of this State of an offense committed by his own conduct . .. if:
* * * * * * * *
(2) Conduct occurring outside the State is sufficient under the law of this State to constitute an attempt to commit a crime within the State;
* * * * * * * *
*465 (4) Conduct occurring within the State establishes... an attempt ... to commit an offense in another jurisdiction which also is an offense under the law of this State.

Since this statute relates jurisdiction to the concept of attempt, our next point of reference must be N.J.S.A. 2C:5-1, which defines "attempt" expansively, providing in pertinent part:

a. Definition of attempt. A person is guilty of an attempt to commit a crime, if, acting with the kind of culpability otherwise required for commission of the crime, he:
(3) Purposely does or omits to do anything which, under the circumstances as a reasonable person would believe them to be, is an act or omission constituting a substantial step in a course of conduct planned to culminate in his commission of the crime.
b. Conduct which may be held substantial step under subsection a.(3).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State of New Jersey v. Jonathan M. Marvine
New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 2025
Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited v. S.A.C.
160 A.3d 44 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 2017)
State v. Michael Sumulikoski / State v. Artur Sopel (072957)
110 A.3d 856 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 2015)
State v. Vallejo
965 A.2d 1181 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 2009)
State v. Denofa
898 A.2d 523 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 2006)
State v. Denofa
867 A.2d 1247 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 2005)
State v. Casilla
829 A.2d 1095 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 2003)
People v. Betts
126 Cal. Rptr. 2d 64 (California Court of Appeal, 2003)
State v. Savage
799 A.2d 477 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 2002)
State v. Hernandez
784 A.2d 1225 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 2001)
Toler v. McGinnis
23 F. App'x 259 (Sixth Circuit, 2001)
State v. L. P.
768 A.2d 795 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 2001)
State v. LP
768 A.2d 795 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 2001)
State v. Butler
724 A.2d 657 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1999)
State v. Brooks
706 A.2d 757 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 1998)
State v. Ishaque
711 A.2d 416 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
685 A.2d 488, 295 N.J. Super. 459, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bragg-njsuperctappdiv-1996.