State v. Baker

The opinion of the court was delivered by

PRESSLER, P.J.A.D.

This is a capital case in which defendant Scott Baker was found guilty of both purposefully and knowingly causing serious bodily injury resulting in death while demonstrating reckless indifference, N.J.S.A, 2C:ll-3a(l) and (2), and felony murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:ll-3a(3), as well as other related crimes. Because of the extraordinary and untoward events that followed the conclusion of the guilt-phase trial — events that involved prosecutorial misconduct found by the judge to have substantially prejudiced defendant’s right to a fair…