STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. FIRICIN AUGUSTIN STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. GREGORY TORRES (15-06-0468, UNION COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (CONSOLIDATED), A-5864-17/A-2506-18

Background

Dec. 12, 2014 shooting at Pierce Manor (Elizabeth, NJ) left Bilal Fullman dead; shell casings and bullets (.25 and .38/9mm) recovered and security video showed three people running from the building.
Victim’s acquaintances placed several men in the lobby/hallway that evening: Brockington saw an argument and observed Augustin with a handgun; Tyrone Dozier later told police he saw Torres, Augustin, and Mosby shooting Fullman.
Jumani Terrell and Michael Luciano gave prior statements implicating Torres (Terrell to police; Luciano that Torres confessed to him). Terrell recanted in-court but prior recorded statements were admitted.
Trial (Feb–Apr 2018) tried defendants Torres, Augustin, and Mosby together: jury convicted Torres of murder and weapons offenses, convicted Augustin of unlawful possession of a weapon, acquitted Mosby.
Trial court denied mistrial motion after a witness blurted that defendants "sell drugs out there," denied motions for acquittal/new trial, and imposed prison terms; appellate division affirmed convictions but remanded for reconsideration of imposition of consecutive sentences.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Motion for mistrial after witness said defendants "sell drugs" at building	State: remark was inadvertent, prosecutor did not elicit it, curative instruction cures any prejudice	Defendants: comment impermissibly suggested other bad acts and was highly prejudicial requiring mistrial	Court: denial of mistrial not an abuse of discretion; witness' remark struck and a strong curative instruction given, which was adequate (Winter/Harvey standard)
Sufficiency of evidence / motions for acquittal or new trial	State: multiple witnesses placed defendants at scene; Dozier, Terrell, Luciano, physical evidence and video permit reasonable inferences of guilt	Defendants: key witnesses inconsistent/unreliable; lack of physical corroboration (no gun produced, ballistics not matching Brockington's .40 description); Luciano confession uncorroborated	Court: applied Jackson/Kluber standard, gave State favorable inferences, found evidence sufficient to let a reasonable jury convict; motions denied
Failure to charge lesser-included offenses and self-defense sua sponte	State: (requested aggravated manslaughter instruction)	Torres: trial judge should have instructed on aggravated manslaughter, manslaughter, passion-provocation manslaughter, and self-defense	Court: no plain error—record did not "jump off the page" to clearly indicate lesser-included or self-defense charges; defendant had declined such instructions and evidence did not warrant sua sponte charge (Carrero/Alexander standards)
Admissibility of Terrell's prior statements (Gross factors)	State: prior recorded inconsistent statements admissible under N.J.R.E. 803(a) and Gross reliability factors	Defendants: statements unreliable and coerced; should have been excluded	Court: trial judge applied Gross factors, found statements sufficiently reliable by preponderance, instructed jury on Gross factors; no abuse of discretion
Sentencing: imposition of consecutive terms to previously imposed sentences	State: consecutive terms permissible; judge determined consecutive sentence appropriate	Defendants: judge failed to state Yarbough factors and explain reasons for running sentences consecutively	Held: convictions affirmed, but remanded for the sentencing judge to reconsider and make explicit Yarbough findings addressing consecutive-term decision

Key Cases Cited

State v. Harvey, 151 N.J. 117 (1997) (trial judge's discretion on mistrial decisions)
State v. Winter, 96 N.J. 640 (1984) (adequacy of curative instruction to cure prejudicial testimony)
State v. Gross, 121 N.J. 1 (1990) (fifteen-factor reliability inquiry for admitting prior inconsistent statements)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (standard for sufficiency review: evidence viewed in light most favorable to prosecution)
State v. Kluber, 130 N.J. Super. 336 (App. Div. 1974) (Rule 3:18-1 acquittal standard and giving State favorable inferences)
State v. Rose, 112 N.J. 454 (1988) (no rational basis for lesser-included manslaughter where defendant fired at close range)
State v. Bunch, 180 N.J. 534 (2004) (conviction for unlawful possession may rest on eyewitness testimony without producing the weapon)
State v. Yarbough, 100 N.J. 627 (1985) (factors required and need for articulated reasons when imposing consecutive sentences)
Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012) (juvenile sentencing considerations)
Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005) (distinguishing juvenile characteristics at sentencing)
State v. Zuber, 227 N.J. 422 (2017) (applying Miller factors for juvenile offenders at sentencing)