Crime & Safety

Newark Man Gets 30 Years for 2011 Murder

Mosley trial included tougher rules affecting eyewitness testimony

A city man who shot and killed and another man during a 2011 robbery was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in jail, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office announced.

The October trial of Maurice Mosley, 22, also served as a test of stricter court rules governing how juries may  weigh eyewitness identification testimony. Judges must now instruct juries that the reliability of eyewitness identification can be diminished due to the passage of time, witness stress, poor lighting and other factors—including when the person making the identification is of a different race than the suspect. The rules took effect in September.

On July 16, 2011, Mosley forced three people -- 29-year-old Newark resident Douglas Brown and two women-- from a van near Orange and Gray streets. Mosley shot Brown and shot at, but missed, the women. Brown was pronounced dead at University Hospital shortly afterwards. 

Following his trial in October, Mosley was convicted on one count of murder, one count of felony murder, two counts of attempted murder, three counts of robbery and two weapons offenses.

“In this case, the jury was convinced based on good old fashion police work and two solid eyewitness identifications, even with the more stringent rules,” said Assistant Prosecutor Jessica Guarducci who tried the case along with Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Fetterman.


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