State v. Henderson and the New Model Jury Charges - New Jersey ...

a-8-08.opn.html
II. Facts and Procedural History
A. Facts
In the early morning hours of January 1, 2003, Rodney Harper was shot
to death in an apartment in Camden. James Womble witnessed the murder but
did not speak with the police until they approached him ten days later.
Womble and Harper were acquaintances who occasionally socialized at
the apartment of Womble’s girlfriend, Vivian Williams. On the night of the
murder, Womble and Williams brought in the New Year in Williams’ apartment
by drinking wine and champagne and smoking crack cocaine. Harper had
started the evening with them but left at around 10:15 p.m. Williams also left
roughly three hours later, leaving Womble alone in the apartment until Harper
rejoined him at 2:00 to 2:30 a.m.
Soon after Harper returned, two men forcefully entered the apartment.
Womble knew one of them, co-defendant George Clark, who had come to
collect $160 from Harper. The other man was a stranger to Womble.
While Harper and Clark went to a different room, the stranger pointed a
gun at Womble and told him, “Don’t move, stay right here, you’re not involved
in this.” He remained with the stranger in a small, narrow, dark hallway.
Womble testified that he “got a look at” the stranger, but not “a real good look.”
Womble also described the gun pointed at his torso as a dark semiautomatic.
Meanwhile, Womble overheard Clark and Harper argue over money in
the other room. At one point, Harper said, “do what you got to do,” after which
Womble heard a gunshot. Womble then walked into the room, saw Clark
holding a handgun, offered to get Clark the $160, and urged him not to shoot
Harper again. As Clark left, he warned Womble, “Don’t rat me out, I know
where you live.”
Harper died from the gunshot wound to his chest on January 10, 2003.
Camden County Detective Luis Ruiz and Investigator Randall MacNair were
assigned to investigate the homicide, and they interviewed Womble the next
day. Initially, Womble told the police that he was in the apartment when he
heard two gunshots outside, that he left to look for Harper, and that he found
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