State v. Frost

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

COLEMAN, J.

The issue presented in this appeal is whether certain prosecutorial comments made during the closing-argument phase of defendants’ criminal trial deprived them of a fair trial. The Appellate Division in an unpublished opinion concluded that the prosecutor’s comments were inappropriate, but harmless. We granted defendant Albert Frost’s petition for certification. 153 N.J. 217, 708 A.2d 68 (1998). We now grant defendant Barry Frost’s late petition for certification and reverse both defendants’ convictions.

I

On November 16, 1995, cousins Albert…