State of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Nathan Cotto, Defendant-Appellant

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the defendant's convictions, holding that the trial court did not err in its jury instruction on identification, that the admission of the sisters' statements as excited utterances was erroneous but harmless, that the exclusion of third‑party guilt evidence was proper, and that the use of out‑of‑court statements in redirect and summation was harmless. The Court also rejected the defendant's post‑trial claim that Crawford v. Washington barred the statements attributed to a third party.