State v. Richardson

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Sullivan, J.

These two appeals grow out of a single criminal episode in which both Leon Richardson and Emory Johnson, defendants herein, were involved. They were jointly indicted on several counts but were tried separately. Each was found guilty. The basic issue in each case was and is identical with the question involved in State v. Moran, also decided by us this date. 73 N. J. 79 (1977).

The State’s proofs at the separate trials may be summarized as follows. On December 15, 1971, at about 1:45 a.m., Officer John Papa of the Roselle Police Department…