State v. Hightower

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

*386CLIFFORD, J.

A jury convicted defendant, Jacinto K. Hightower, for the murder of Cynthia Barlieb and for several offenses related to the murder. Following the penalty phase, the trial court sentenced defendant to death. He appeals directly to this Court as of right, R. 2:2-1(a)(3), from the murder conviction and death sentence. We affirm his conviction for murder. The Attorney General concedes that defendant’s death sentence must be vacated because the trial court’s charge requiring juror unanimity on a mitigating factor violated the principles…