State of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Appellant and Cross-Respondent v. Walter Townsend, Defendant-Respondent and…

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey reversed the Appellate Division, reinstated the murder conviction, and remanded for resentencing, holding that the twenty‑year pre‑indictment delay did not violate due process, that expert testimony on battered women and battered‑woman’s syndrome was properly admitted, and that the failure to give a limiting instruction on that testimony was harmless error. Justice Rivera‑Soto, concurring in part and dissenting in part, agreed on the delay issue but would have excluded the expert testimony and reversed the conviction.