Tag: new jersey

NEW JERSEY ‘SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME’ RULING PUTS ‘JUNK SCIENCE’ DIAGNOSIS UNDER FIRE

Darryl Nieves’s wrongful prosecution began as many Shaken Baby Syndrome cases do—with a call for help.

On February 10, 2017, Nieves’s 11-month-old son, D.J., appeared to be having a seizure, Nieves told The Appeal. He called 911. The paramedics arrived, administered oxygen, and D.J. regained consciousness. They took him to St. Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the same hospital where D.J. had been born prematurely, at just 25 weeks gestation, according to a brief filed by Nieves’s attorneys with the Office of the Public Defender. (The Appeal is using the child’s nickname to protect his privacy.)

Despite D.J.’s well-documented medical conditions—he’d spent the first seven months of his life hospitalized and had already undergone two cardiac surgeries—a child abuse pediatrician at the hospital diagnosed him with abusive head trauma, or AHT, “as occurs with a shaking event with or without impact.” This diagnosis is often known as Shaken Baby Syndrome. 

Nieves was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and child endangerment. He was released after about four days in jail but was not allowed to have any contact with his son, he said. It would be more than four years until he could see D.J. again. 

“I was thinking the government fails everyone, especially Black African Americans, so I felt it was going to fail me,” Nieves told The Appeal.

Prosecutors offered him probation if he pleaded guilty, according to Danica Rue, a member of Nieves’s legal team at the public defender’s office. Nieves turned it down. 

The then-26-year-old father appeared to be on the same catastrophic path that has sent many parents and other caregivers to prison based solely on a doctor’s “shaken baby” diagnosis. 

“Detectives were saying the doctor has proof; the doctors are never wrong,” Nieves said. “That’s what they were saying to me. Basically trying to scare me into admitting something I didn’t do.”

But then something happened that changed the course of Nieves’s case and future Shaken Baby Syndrome prosecutions in New Jersey. 

On January 7, 2022, after years of delays, a trial judge sided with Nieves’s defense and ruled that prosecutors could not introduce testimony on Shaken Baby Syndrome in the case. The judge declared the controversial theory “akin to junk science” and, a few weeks later, dismissed the indictment against Nieves.

The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office appealed to the Superior Court of New Jersey. In a decision last month, the superior court affirmed the trial judge’s ruling. 

“The very basis of the theory has never been proven,” Judge Greta Gooden Brown wrote in the court’s opinion. “The State has not demonstrated general acceptance of the SBS/AHT hypothesis to justify its admission in a criminal trial.”

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Exclusive video captures smoke shop raid in Philadelphia

Authorities across the region are cracking down on illegal marijuana operations.

Law enforcement raided a total of five smoke shops in Philadelphia and South Jersey.

Police said some of the shops were allegedly selling to minors.

Only the Action News Investigative Team was there as officers with the Philadelphia Police’s Narcotics Unit raided a home and smoke shop on the 6000 block of Lansdowne Avenue in Overbook on Monday.

This shop was one of three in the city raided for allegedly selling illegal marijuana products.

The other two are on the 2200 block of South 21st Street in South Philadelphia and the 7900 block of Verree Road in Fox Chase.

Police took out boxes of evidence from the Overbrook shop, and two men were arrested and taken away in handcuffs.

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Democrat Senator Bob Menendez and his wife are indicted for ‘accepting $400,000 in gold bars from mob-linked New Jersey developer in return for favors – and giving Egyptian businessman highly sensitive U.S. information’

Democratic Senator Bob Menendez and his wife Nadine Arslanian have been indicted by a federal grand jury over corruption allegations in an investigation that focused on a luxury car, $400,000 in gold bars and an apartment allegedly received by Menendez and his wife.

The indictment claims the couple had an improper relationship with three New Jersey businessmen: Wael Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes, who allegedly paid the couple in exchange for Menendez to use his influence in Washington D.C. to their benefit.

The probe also looked at other bribes allegedly paid to the couple. A June 2022 raid on their home found ‘over $480,000 in cash – much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe,’ the indictment notes, adding Nadine had over $70,000 in a safe deposit box. 

The indictment accuses Menendez and his wife of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for using the senator’s influence to protect and enrich the businessmen.

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Ex-Chris Christie aide arrested on suspicion of sex crimes

A former Chris Christie aide has been charged in connection with a child sex investigation, New Jersey Globe reports.

Kevin Tomafsky, 41, was arrested Aug. 15 after a grand jury indicted him in July, the report said. He was charged with engaging in sexual conduct with a child, conspiracy to endanger the welfare of a child, permitting a child to engage in pornography, and the possession of child pornography, the report said.

Tomafsky’s arrest culminated a probe that began in October 2022 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alerted the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s office it received a report from Snapchat of an alleged incident depicting child sex was uploaded to the platform.

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NJ Adopting Same Gun Control Technology That Failed in Maryland

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin (D) outlined the state’s plan to require guns sold in the state be outfitted with micrcostamping technology to leave an “identifying marker” on spent shell casings.

Two things: 1) The technology only applies to semiautomatic firearms, as they are the guns that eject shell casings after each shot. Therefore, criminals who use revolvers will immediately circumvent the microstamping issue. 2). Maryland had a microstamping requirement for 15 years and ended it after spending $5 million to maintain the microstamping database but solving no crimes.

Yet NJ AG Platkin said, “This amazing yet straightforward technology – imprinting unique identifiers on the firing pin of firearms – will have a profound impact on public safety across the state,” according to The Center Square.

He added, “Its adoption will aid our law enforcement officers in swiftly identifying crime guns and holding perpetrators accountable.”

Thus far in U.S. history, microstamping has not resulted in a windfall of otherwise unsolvable gun crimes being solved. As noted above, Maryland tried for 15 years to make microstamping work and ended up shuttling the program.

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Innocent Homeowner Calls 911 to Report Burglary, Cops Show Up and Execute Him

In an appalling incident that shatters the illusion of safety ostensibly provided by America’s mandatory security force, a man in Mantua, found himself fatally shot by the very people he called for help. Charles Sharp III, 49, dialed 911 in the early morning of Sept. 14, 2021, to report a couple of intruders lurking in his backyard. The emergency response he anticipated took a deadly turn when one of the officers arriving at the scene shot him dead — within seconds. This disturbing sequence of events serves as a potent reminder of the inherent risk involved in reaching out to law enforcement agencies, even in moments of dire need.

Mantua Township Police Officer Salvatore Oldrati, who fired the fatal shots, now faces a manslaughter charge. A state grand jury handed the indictment on Tuesday, which was publicized the following night. If found guilty, Oldrati could face up to 10 years behind bars. But for Sharp’s family, this potential sentencing offers little consolation for their unexpected loss.

Sharp had reported seeing two burglars in his yard, one of whom appeared to be armed. Two officers, Officer Oldrati and Cpl. Robert Layton arrived on the scene in separate vehicles. Sharp, still on the line with the 911 dispatcher, was in his front yard when the officers pulled up.

Officer Oldrati arrived shortly after Layton. As he stepped out of his vehicle, Layton shouted, “He’s got a handgun on him, right there,” according to a statement from the attorney general’s office. Oldrati reacted by opening fire on Sharp, hitting him multiple times. Despite being rushed to the hospital, Sharp succumbed to his injuries.

While a replica .45-caliber firearm was recovered near Sharp, Layton did not discharge his service weapon. Moreover, investigators found that Oldrati did not issue any verbal warning or command before filling the innocent man with taxpayer-funded lead.

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New Jersey factory imports cocaine plant that flavors Coca-Cola thanks to DEA arrangement

Guess you really can’t beat the real thing.

Coca-Cola gets its iconic taste thanks in part to a chemical processing factory in a sleepy New Jersey neighborhood that has the country’s only license to import the plant used to make cocaine.

The Maywood-based facility, now managed by the Stepan Company, has been processing coca leaves for the soft-drink giant for more than a century and had its license to import them renewed by the Drug Enforcement Agency earlier this year.

The coca leaves are used to create a “decocainized” ingredient for the soda and the leftover byproduct is sold to the opioid manufacturing company Mallinckrodt, which uses the powder to make a numbing agent for dentists, DailyMail reported.

It is unclear how much coca leaves the Stepan Company imports annually, although the New York Times reported in 1988 that it brought in between 56 and 588 metric tons of coca leaves from Peru and Bolivia each year, citing DEA figures.

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‘Duped’: Newark Dems Fell for Scam That Made Them ‘Sister City’ to Phony Country

Newark, New Jersey’s Democratic-run city hall admitted last week to falling for a fraud when officials held a “Sister City” ceremony with the Hindu nation of “Kailasa”—a country that does not exist, created by an Indian cult leader on the run from the law over rape charges.

In a city hall ceremony in January, Newark mayor Ras Baraka (D.) and other officials met with delegates of the fake country to sign an agreement of partnership.

“I pray that our relationship helps us to understand cultural, social, and political development and improves the lives of everybody in both places,” Baraka said at the time.

After city hall realized “Kailasa” doesn’t exist, however, Newark Democrats were forced to admit they were duped and resort to damage control.

The city of Newark in a statement told CBS News the fraud was a “regrettable incident” but insisted no money was exchanged in the agreement. Councilman Luis Quintana (D.) said, “This is an oversight, cannot happen any longer.”

“Kailasa,” the made-up country, has a website describing itself as the “greatest Hindu nation on Earth,” but it is recognized by no nation and controls no territory. The concept of the fake nation was created by Indian cult leader Swami Nithyananda, who claims to have supernatural powers, including the ability to see through walls.

Nithyananda has been a fugitive from Indian law enforcement since 2019. The swami has faced charges of raping a former disciple.

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‘Mystifying And Troubling’: Attorney Advising Family Of Slain GOP Councilwoman Blasts Authorities For Lack Of Info On Case

Sayreville, New Jersey, Republican Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour was murdered 34 days ago, and her family says that authorities have left them in the dark. 

Attorney John Wisniewski, a former Democratic state legislator and gubernatorial candidate, is advising Dwumfour’s parents, Ghanaian immigrants Prince Kofi and Mary Dwumfour, and said the family is concerned with the lack of updates from authorities investigating their daughter’s murder. The Dwumfours will reportedly meet with investigators this week after Wisniewski helped set up a meeting. 

“The silence about this and the absence of outreach prompted them through their pastor to reach out to me to help facilitate, and there will be an opportunity this week for them to sit down and learn that everything is being done and no stone is being left unturned,” Wisniewski said Monday, according to NorthJersey.com. 

The attorney said the lack of info from authorities on the case is “mystifying and troubling” when compared to smaller cases, such as vandalism, that police immediately posted rewards for information. Authorities still have not come up with a suspect or motive and have not held a press conference on Dwumfour’s murder. 

“Here there’s a homicide and their daughter’s taken from them and in comparison, it’s crickets,” Wisniewski charged.

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What happened to the story of the two murdered NJ councilmen?

We are being told it is a coincidence, and that there don’t appear to be any political motivations behind the murders. Perhaps that is true. I have no reason one way or another to believe otherwise.

But it sure is odd that not one, but two Republican councilmen in New Jersey were murdered in a week, and both had been elected since 2020.

The first murder was of Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour of Sayreville; the second of Milford Borough Councilman Russell Heller. The second murder may have been work-related, as his killer shared the same employer. However, nobody is saying “boo” about what happened and it isn’t even clear that the killer and the councilman knew each other.

On a whim, I searched the Googles and found a distinct dearth of stories about the killings, neither of which has an apparent motive. The police indicated that each was a targeted killing, but the reasons behind the murders are unknown.

It has been two weeks since the first murder and a week since the second. Both briefly made national news, and then the story was memory-holed. A brief update was covered locally when the 911 call for the first was released. But the initial flurry of stories died out almost immediately.

Everybody has chalked it up to coincidence and…that’s it.

Maybe. But it sure seems weird that we haven’t been given much of an explanation about what happened in either case, and the coincidence is rather striking.

One thing is certain: if these were two Democrats we would be enduring endless lectures about insurrections, political violence, violent rhetoric, and gun control.

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