New Jersey v. Macchia
Annotate this CaseIn the early morning hours of May 13, 2016, defendant Joseph Macchia, an off-duty police officer wearing his service revolver in an off-duty holster, became involved in a physical fight with Michael Gaffney outside a bar in Union. The two exchanged blows and separated twice. According to witnesses, Gaffney then went inside the bar, but defendant stayed outside and stared at Gaffney to entice him to come back out. Gaffney did so, and they began to fight a third time. Defendant fell to the ground, and Gaffney got on top of him, punching him repeatedly. Witnesses heard defendant’s gun fire as they tried to pull Gaffney off defendant. Union police arrived and arrested defendant, who stated that Gaffney was “going for his gun.” In a recorded statement, defendant said that when Gaffney was “straddling” and “pummeling” him, defendant believed Gaffney’s hand went to his gun. Defendant stated that he feared for his life and he “had no choice but to fire to stop the threat.” At trial, defendant testified on his own behalf, consistent with his recorded statement. The issue this case presented for the New Jersey Supreme Court's review centered on whether a unanimous verdict rejecting self- defense was sufficient to sustain defendant’s conviction for reckless manslaughter, or whether the jury was also required to unanimously agree as to why it rejected Macchia’s claim of self-defense. The Court disagreed with defendant’s contention that the jury’s questions showed tangible indication of jury confusion, or a fragmented verdict. After the trial court answered the jury’s questions and accurately explained the law, the Court found there was no tangible indication that the jury was confused about what facts it needed to decide to determine guilt. Judgment was therefore affirmed.
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