The Jersey Lawyer

After an 11 day trial, an Essex County jury found Rodolfo Godinez guilty on every count of a 17 count indictment, including murder, felony murder, robbery, and weapons charges.  Godinez is one of six defendants charged in the schoolyard killings, which occurred at the Mount Vernon School in Newark, New Jersey.  Godinez, as well as five other individuals are charged with the killing of three college students who were killed execution style while hanging out in the schoolyard.

This is a significant victory for the prosecution because it sets the stage for the trial of the other five defendants, who will all be tried separately.  The prosecution considered the case against Godinez as the most difficult, and after securing a conviction in this case, they are confident that they will be able to secure convictions in the cases against the other defendants.  This case was the most difficult for the prosecution because there was no evidence linking this particular defendant to the murder weapons and the lone survivor of the incident could not identify Godinez as being at the scene.

Even though Godinez did not pull the trigger or wield the machete that killed the three students, prosecutors relied on the concept of “vicarious liability” to argue that Godinez was also responsible for the killings.  That theory, which is codified in the New Jersey Criminal Code as N.J.S. 2C:2-6, provides that a person is responsible for the criminal conduct of another person is when: (1) Acting with the kind of culpability that is sufficient for the commission of the offense, he causes an innocent or irresponsible person to engage in such conduct; (2) He is made accountable for the conduct of such other person by the code or by the law defining the offense; (3) He is an accomplice of such other person in the commission of an offense; or (4) He is engaged in a conspiracy with such other person.”  Also, under the statute, “a person is an accomplice of another person in the commission of an offense if: (1) With the purpose of promoting or facilitating the commission of the offense; he (a) Solicits such other person to commit it; (b) Aids or agrees or attempts to aid such other person in planning or committing it; or (c) Having a legal duty to prevent the commission of the offense, fails to make proper effort so to do.”

The prosecution’s theory in this case was that the killings were part of a group effort to initiate a member into the MS-13 street gang.  The prosecution was able to present evidence at trial that Godinez was a recruiter for the MS-13 gang, and as part of that position he urged other members of the gang to commit these killings.  In addition, Godinez’ DNA was found on a beer bottle retrieved from the scene.  Godinez’ attorney stated that he will appeal the conviction.  Anyone charged with a crime in New Jersey should contact a New Jersey criminal defense lawyer for counsel and representation.