State of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Samuel Erazo, Defendant-Appellant

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey reversed Samuel Erazo's capital murder conviction and death sentence and remanded for a new trial, holding that the trial court's jury instructions improperly shifted the burden of proving passion and failed to distinguish between knowingly causing death and serious bodily injury, and that the aggravating factor of torture was unsupported by the evidence. The conviction for possession of a weapon was affirmed. The majority opinion was joined by two separate opinions: Handler, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part, and Garibaldi, J., concurring.