JERSEY CITY - A Superior Court judge will not unseal the juvenile records of a 17-year-old who was fatally shot at a church hall party last summer.
Defense attorney Joseph Russo argued the documents should be unsealed to help with discovery before trial. His client, Daequan Jackson, is charged with murdering Leander Williams on Aug. 9.
During the hearing before Judge Mitzy Galis-Menendez Friday afternoon, Russo said Williams' juvenile record likely would be a "treasure trove" of information that would help his client pursue a self-defense case.
Williams, who had just turned 17 before he was killed, was carrying a loaded gun at the time of his death. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop said Williams had "several similar (gun) charges" over the past two years at a press conference after the teen was murdered.
Russo cited two Jersey Journal articles, one quoting Fulop and the other quoting Williams' mother Hessie, that addressed the 17-year-old's criminal history.
"It's not my custom to attach Jersey Journal articles," Russo said. "But judge in this particular case, it's very significant."
The attorney argued that some aspects of Williams' juvenile record were already in the public domain through the newspaper's publication and that confidentiality should not apply because the victim is dead. Galis-Menendez described the reporting as "hearsay."
"You're asking for documents that, I think is speculative relevance at best," she said.
Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Najma Rana argued juvenile records are "sealed for good cause," emphasizing the records do not contain convictions.
"It is a juvenile," she said. "At the end of the day, he was a child. A 17-year-old teenager."
Hessie Williams sat two rows behind Rana, sighing with relief when the prosecutor defended the mother's public comments of her son's history of gun arrests. Rana said the mother was speaking on the larger issue of gun violence in Jersey City.
Galis-Menendez told Russo the defense doesn't need Williams' juvenile records to make a self-defense claim.
"To seek discover-ability of a confidential record to see if maybe something can be used, I don't know how we get there," she said before denying the request. "I just simply don't know how we get there."
Hessie Williams said she was happy with the judge's ruling, though she never thought the judge would rule the other way. The hardest part, for her, was listening to details about her son's death.
"It was really the first time hearing my son was shot and killed," she said.
Jackson is due back in court March 22, when the defense is expected to file a motion to dismiss the indictment.
Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
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