State v. Saunders

695 A.2d 722, 302 N.J. Super. 509, 1997 N.J. Super. LEXIS 281
CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedJune 23, 1997
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 695 A.2d 722 (State v. Saunders) 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. Saunders, 695 A.2d 722, 302 N.J. Super. 509, 1997 N.J. Super. LEXIS 281 (N.J. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

BRAITHWAITE, J.A.D.

Following a jury trial, defendant appeals from his conviction of third-degree stalking, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-10c. He was sentenced to a custodial term of five years. On appeal, he contends:

POINT I
BECAUSE IT CONTAINS NUMEROUS UNDEFINED PHRASES, THE STALKING STATUTE, N.J.S.A 2C:12-10, IS VAGUE AND OVERBROAD IN [514]*514VIOLATION OF THE DUE PROCESS CLAUSES OF THE FEDERAL AND STATE CONSTITUTIONS. (Not raised below)
POINT II
MR. SAUNDERS’ CONVICTION OF THIRD DEGREE STALKING WAS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE AS THERE WAS NO PROOF THAT HE “REPEATEDLY FOLLOWED” THE COMPLAINANT, THAT HE INTENDED TO ANNOY HER, AND THAT ANY ACTIONS HE MIGHT HAVE ENGAGED IN WERE “IN VIOLATION OF AN EXISTING COURT ORDER PROHIBITING THE BEHAVIOR.” (Not raised below)
POINT III
REVERSAL IS REQUIRED BECAUSE THE TRIAL JUDGE FAILED TO DEFINE CRITICAL ELEMENTS OF THE OFFENSE AND ERRONEOUSLY DEFINED AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT, THAT IS, THAT MR. SAUNDERS HAVE ACTED WITH THE INTENT TO ANNOY THE COMPLAINANT. (Partially raised below)
POINT IV
EVIDENCE THAT MR. SAUNDERS HAD WATCHED MS. WILLIAMS IN PRIOR YEARS AND THAT HE HAD AGREED IN 1989 “NEVER TO HARASS NURSE WILLIAMS AGAIN” WAS SO OVERWHELMINGLY PREJUDICIAL THAT ITS ADMISSION DEPRIVED SAUNDERS OF A FAIR TRIAL.
POINT VI
IN SENTENCING MR. SAUNDERS TO THE MAXIMUM TERM ALLOWABLE UNDER THE CODE, THE TRIAL COURT ABUSED ITS DISCRETION AND MISAPPLIED THE SENTENCING GUIDELINES.

We reject defendant’s contentions and affirm.

I

At trial, the State produced the following evidence. The victim, Javonda Williams, a registered nurse who worked at St. James Hospital in Newark, had known defendant since 1973. Their friendship ended the same year. Defendant and Williams were never romantically involved. Nonetheless, defendant would repeatedly stand at the gate of the hospital’s employee parking lot when Williams arrived for work at 7:15 a.m. and when she left work at about 4:00 p.m. During these times, defendant would stand and watch Williams. On one occasion in 1988, as Williams was going into the hospital, defendant “grabbed [her] by the arm” and “used profanity.” Williams was able to enter the building and called security.

[515]*515On May 20, 1989, Williams’ children saw defendant in the hospital cafeteria, and they called Williams and reported defendant’s whereabouts. Williams then notified security personnel, who removed defendant from the cafeteria. They also questioned defendant about his actions, and he signed a statement stating:

I declare I will not come on St. James premises, 155 Jefferson Street, Newark, N.J. Also I declare never to harrass [sic] Nurse Williams, JaVonda again. I know should I return to these premises I will be sent to jail for any of these act [sic]. Statements above on my free will.

In 1993, defendant stood outside the hospital and watched Williams on at least thirteen specific dates. Defendant’s actions frightened Williams, and she reported his conduct to the police. On August 30, 1993, while standing “at the emergency exit driveway where [Williams] had to cross the street everyday,” defendant mumbled something incoherent to Williams as he attempted to approach her. Williams was “afraid and frightened” by defendant’s conduct.

On March 21,1994, defendant sent Williams a letter. The letter listed defendant’s name, address, age, telephone number, religion, and social security number. He sent a similar letter to Williams in 1995. Following defendant’s telephone number, the letter stated, “ask for me.”

On January 13, 1995, defendant entered a guilty plea to a charge of harassing Williams. The judgment of conviction ordered that he avoid all contact with Williams as a condition of a suspended sentence.

In June and July 1995, defendant continued to stand and watch Williams. On July 26, 1995, he approached the passenger side of Williams’ vehicle. He got within five feet of her vehicle, which frightened Williams so much that she drove through a red light. Later that day, after work, defendant was standing and watching Williams. Williams then reported defendant’s conduct to the police.

Defendant testified and denied that he intended to harass, frighten, or annoy Williams. He explained that he frequented the [516]*516neighborhood to visit with co-workers of his father, who died in 1988. He also stated that he was in the area on several occasions because he had legitimate business at the hospital.

Defendant also contended that he had known Williams since 1974 and that she was his former girlfriend. He claimed that the relationship ended in 1977. Further, he testified that Williams attacked him in 1980 and cut him with a knife. On rebuttal, Williams denied that this incident occurred.

Defendant acknowledged that he signed the 1989 agreement not to enter the hospital or harass Williams. He testified that he sent the letters to Williams to correspond with her, not to harass or annoy her.

II

In point one, defendant contends that the stalking statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:12-10, violates both the Federal and New Jersey Constitutions because it is vague and overbroad. We note that this challenge was not raised below. See R. 2:10-2.

Defendant was convicted of violating the original version of N.J.S.A. 2C:12-10,1 the pertinent parts of which read as follows:

a. As used in this act:
(1) “Course of conduct” means a knowing and willM course of conduct directed at a specific person, composed of a series of acts over a period of time, however short, evidencing a continuity of purpose which alarms or annoys that person and which serves no legitimate purpose. The course of conduct must be such as to cause a reasonable person to suffer emotional distress. Constitutionally protected activity is not included within the meaning of “course of conduct.”
(2) “Credible threat” means an explicit or implicit threat made with the intent and the apparent ability to cany out the threat, so as to cause the person who is the target of the threat to reasonably fear for that person’s safety.
b. A person is guilty of stalking, a crime of the fourth degree, if he purposely and repeatedly follows another person and engages in a course of conduct or makes a credible threat with the intent of annoying or placing that person in reasonable fear of death or bodily injury.
[517]*517e. A person is guilty of a crime of the third degree if he commits the crime of stalking in violation of an existing court order prohibiting the behavior.
d. A person who commits a second or subsequent offense of stalking which involves an act of violence or a credible threat of violence against the same victim is guilty of a crime of the third degree.
e.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
695 A.2d 722, 302 N.J. Super. 509, 1997 N.J. Super. LEXIS 281, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-saunders-njsuperctappdiv-1997.