Dwayne Flourney stood expressionless during the brief appearance, which was attended by several relatives and friends on both sides

Essex County Prosecutor's OfficeLeft to right: Sandra Flourney, Brian Flourney and Dwayne Flourney. Dwayne is accused of fatally stabbing his father, Brian Flourney, and his grandmother, Sandra Flourney. Dwayne Flourney pleaded not guilty to the killings during a brief court appearance this morning.

MAPLEWOOD — The 26-year-old man charged with fatally stabbing his father and grandmother in their Maplewood home, then throwing a party there later that night, pleaded not guilty to murder charges this morning in a Newark court.

Dwayne Flourney stood expressionless during the brief appearance, which was attended by several relatives and friends on both sides.

Authorities say on March 10, Flourney repeatedly stabbed his 76-year-old grandmother, Sandra Flourney, in the same Northview Terrace home where he had grown up, then stuffed her body in a car trunk. When his father returned home, the defendant allegedly fatally stabbed the 52-year-old man, Brian Flourney, authorities said.

Dwayne Flourney then allegedly hid the body in the home’s sun porch, and invited friends over for a party. He was arrested three days later and charged with the killings.

The 5-foot-5, 155-pound Flourney appeared in court this morning wearing a green Hudson County Jail uniform, and with short-cropped hair and a beard. His court-appointed attorney, Olubukola Adetula, addressed the judge, saying his client was pleading “not guilty to each and every single count.”

Flourney was returned to jail with bail remaining at $1 million.

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray attended the two-minute appearance. The prosecutor’s office has not offered a possible motive for the killing. Flourney has been arrested twice previously, but has no record of violence.

Outside the courtroom, Adetula indicated more information may be forthcoming that may shed light on the case.

“There is more to this than has been previously reported,” he said, without explaining further. “I think that as the case progresses more facts and information will be begin to come out.”

The defendant is being held in Hudson County Jail instead of Essex because his father worked with as an investigator for the Union County Public Defender's Office, and had been an officer at the Essex County Juvenile Detention Center. Part of Brian Flourney’s job involved working with troubled youths and families, officials have said.

Related coverage:

• Maplewood officials to address public safety following slayings, beating

• Bizarre chill surrounds tale of Maplewood man accused of fatally stabbing father, grandmother

• Prosecutor: Maplewood man held party after fatally stabbing father, grandmother

Superior Court Judge David Ironson, refused today to reduce the murder charge to “passion/provocation manslaughter”

Mitsu Yasukawa/For The Star-LedgerMurder defendant Kleber Cordova appears in court in Morristown earlier this month.

MORRISTOWN — The judge in Kleber Cordova’s murder trial on charges of drowning his wife refused today to reduce the murder charge to “passion/provocation manslaughter.”

Superior Court Judge David Ironson, sitting in Morristown, ruled that all the charges against Cordova will stand and will go to the jury.

Cordova, 32, is also charged with child endangerment, hindering apprehension and tampering with evidence. He is accused of drowning his wife, Eliana Torres, 26, in a bathtub in their Morristown home on May 9, 2008.

Cordova’s public defender, Jessica Moses, had filed a motion to acquit Cordova on all charges, and to reduce the murder charge to manslaughter, after the prosecution finished presenting its case on Wednesday.

In upholding the murder charge, Ironson cited last week’s testimony by Cordova’s now 12-year-old daughter, who said she saw her father “on top” of her mother, “holding her down” in the bathtub and “preventing her from getting out” while she was being submerged in running water. “A reasonable jury” could find Cordova guilty of murder if it believes that testimony, Ironson said.

Moses had argued there was “no evidence to support a murder conviction.” She cited Wednesday’s testimony by the victim’s sister, who said Cordova told her he drowned his wife after she told him she had a boyfriend and “wanted a divorce.”

Moses had also argued for acquittal on the child endangerment charge, saying that there was no evidence Cordova harmed his daughter and that she testified he was “a good father to me.”

The judge pointed out that the child allegedly witnessed the father preventing the mother from getting out of the bathtub. He noted that under the law, child endangerment includes performing any “indecent, immoral or unlawful deed” with a child present.

The hearing took place without the jury present. The jury is scheduled to return this afternoon, when the defense is to begin presenting its witnesses.

Related coverage:

• Accused Morristown killer asks for murder charge to be reduced

• Sister-in-law of accused Morristown killer says he admitted drowning wife

• Daughter of Morristown man accused of drowning wife in bathtub provides heart-wrenching testimony

• Testimony: Morristown girl was told to keep quiet after allegedly witnessing father drowning mother

• Judge rules Morristown man's alleged confession to sister-in-law of drowning wife is admissible

• Prosecution denies Miranda violation in Morristown man's alleged confession of wife's bathtub drowning

On Wednesday, police had chased but lost sight of a gold Jeep carjacked shortly after 7 p.m. on Valley Street when authorities suddenly spotted the residents chasing the suspects, Newark police spokesman Detective Todd McClendon said.

Google MapsA group of Newark residents on South 8th Street, near 15th Avenue, chased two suspects in a carjacking, helping police eventually capture them, police said.

NEWARK — A group of Newark residents foiled the getaway of a pair of carjacking suspects by chasing them until police arrived, officials said yesterday.

On Wednesday, police had chased but lost sight of a gold Jeep carjacked shortly after 7 p.m. on Valley Street when authorities suddenly spotted the residents chasing the suspects, Newark police spokesman Detective Todd McClendon said.

It was the second SUV carjacked that evening by the two men, later identified as David Manning, 20, of East Orange and Malik Manning, 21, of Newark, the spokesman said.

Members of the Essex County Carjacking Task Force had flooded the area in search of the men after finding the Jeep abandoned at South Eighth Street and 15th Avenue, McClendon said. The suspects were found minutes later being chased down South Eighth by a group of residents. Once captured, they were charged with carjacking offenses.

The men’s arrests were the fifth that day of carjacking suspects, McClendon said.

“Although that level of (civilian) involvement is not recommended, it should serve as a message to the criminal element that many hard-working, tax-paying citizens of Newark are quite frankly fed up and will not sit back idly and permit lawlessness in their community,” city Police Director Samuel DeMaio said in a statement.

The neighborhood heroics capped a day in which three other carjacking suspects were arrested after a lengthy midday chase through three Essex County municipalities and onto two highways, McClendon said. That pursuit ended with a crash into a police car.

The trio, in an Acura reported carjacked in Newark the day before, led police on a chase that looped out of Newark into Irvington, then onto the Garden State Parkway and Interstate 280 before ending on Munn Street in East Orange when the car hit a marked Newark police car and the three occupants attempted to run away, the spokesman said.

The driver, Rosendo Perez, 23, of Irvington, and passengers Louis Holmes, 23, of Newark and a 17-year-old Newark resident were all arrested and charged with numerous offenses related to the chase and theft of the car, McClendon said. A handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets was also confiscated.

According to a court document obtained by The Star-Ledger, it now appears the man charged with murdering his father and grandmother may not have even been related to them

Star-Ledger fileDwayne Flourney, left, is accused of fatally stabbing his father, Brian Flourney, right, and his grandmother, Sandra Flourney, center.

MAPLEWOOD — When police found two bodies hidden inside a Maplewood home three weeks ago, it seemed like a ghoulish but straightforward case of a son killing his father and grandmother.

In the 19 days since that grisly discovery, the case has become far more complex, and even more disturbing.

According to a court document obtained by The Star-Ledger and a series of interviews with relatives and law enforcement officials, it now appears the man charged with their murder, Dwayne Flourney, may not even have been related to the victims.

Interviews suggest Dwayne Flourney was taken into care by the two victims, Brian and Sandra Flourney, more than 20 years ago and raised as their own. Dwayne always believed that Brian was his father.

On March 13, Dwayne Flourney admitted to police that he stabbed the people he believed to be his father and grandmother inside the family’s Northview Terrace home, according to a police affidavit obtained by The Star-Ledger. The document described Dwayne’s alleged confession.

Police have said the 26-year-old hosted a party after the killings and interviews with two officials, who have intimate knowledge of the investigation but requested anonymity, revealed Dwayne took extra precaution to clean up the crime scene before the party, where he played drinking games just a few feet from Brian Flourney’s body.

But the parentage is the new shocker in this strange case.

In interviews over the past two weeks, Newark residents Linda Smith, 52, and Cornelius Morton, 58, revealed they are the real parents of Dwayne Flourney.

According to Smith and Morton, Dwayne was placed into the custody of Smith’s sister, Jaclyn, nearly 20 years ago. Jaclyn was Brian’s girlfriend at the time. It remains unclear how Dwayne came to be in Brian’s care, or why he was placed in Jaclyn’s custody in the first place. Jaclyn Smith refused to comment on the situation.

"My son ain’t had no right to do that to him, or his mother," said Linda Smith, referring to the two victims.

Dwayne Flourney’s attorney, Bukie Adetula, confirmed that Dwayne never met his biological mother, but knew that her name was Linda or Lynn. Dwayne believed Brian Flourney was his father, and knew nothing about Morton, said the attorney, who plans to have a "complete family workup" done, suggesting the facts of the case go far beyond the prosecutor’s allegations.

"There is more to this than has been previously reported," he said. "I think that as the case progresses more facts and information will be begin to come out and we will begin to have a clearer picture."

Dwayne’s last name, which had been Smith on his birth certificate, was legally changed to Flourney years ago, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray said Thursday. But Murray added that the relationship between Dwayne and the two victims does not change the allegations.

"The evidence to date, indicates to us that there is probable cause that Dwayne stabbed the two victims, and they died as a result," she said. "That’s the central issue in our investigation, which is ongoing."

The Flourney family declined to comment on this story. Obituaries for the victims list them as Dwayne’s father and grandmother.

Despite Dwayne’s admission, Adetula said his client was "not guilty to each and every single count" Thursday.

Wearing a green Hudson County Jail uniform, Dwayne Flourney stood expressionless Thursday. He glanced briefly at the court gallery, where relatives of both the victims and suspect sat quietly, and spoke barely above a whisper when asked if he understood the charges against him.

Investigators have yet to reveal a motive in the slayings, but the way Dwayne committed the murders and set the stage for the party were made clearer by the affidavit and interviews with two officials with knowledge of the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Dwayne Flourney first stabbed Sandra and placed her remains in the trunk of her Nissan Maxima, according to the affidavit. He cleaned the knife, waited for Brian Flourney to return home, then killed him with the same weapon, the document said. Dwayne dragged Brian’s body to a sun porch in the back of the house, covering it with pillows and blankets before placing a plastic bag over the victim’s head, according to the affidavit.

In the hours after the killings, authorities allege Dwayne invited friends over for drinks, and turned the crime scene into a party space. He pushed a table in front of the door to the sun porch, intending to keep his guests from discovering Brian’s body, the officials said.

A beer pong table was setup in the living room, according to the officials and 20 empty beer cans were discovered scattered throughout.

But details about motive and the man behind the killings remain unclear. Dwayne graduated from Columbia High School in Maplewood, took classes at Essex County College and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. According to military officials, he served as an airman recruit on March, 9, 2006 and was discharged two weeks later. Officials refused to provide a reason.

The years after led him to trouble. Dwayne was arrested twice on drug and theft offenses, but the charges were either downgraded or dismissed and he had no history of violence.

Despite their surrogate son’s murky past, Brian and Sandra Flourney had strong ties to the Maplewood and Newark communities, having spent years serving children in Essex and Union counties.

Brian was an officer at the Essex County Youth House and an investigator with the Union County public defender’s office who worked with troubled children, according to records. Sandra had been a Newark public schools employee until her retirement. A funeral for both is scheduled for Saturday at the Zion Temple in Newark.

Bryant Ali, a Newark pastor who was friends with Brian Flourney, believes the man was tricked into thinking Dwayne was his biological son.

"I think Brian was under the illusion that the child was his, and he stepped up to the plate because that’s the type of guy he was," Ali said. "Even with the possibility of him not being his, once he made the commitment, he decided to ride that commitment out. He still tried to give Dwayne a better life."

By James Queally and Alexi Friedman/The Star-Ledger

The lawyer for a New Jersey man convicted as a teenager of burning of an American flag in 2003 says his client fought for ten years to clear his name

Amanda Brown/The Star-Ledger A judge on Thursday cleared Declan Devlin, now 25, of a 2003 charge he burned an American flag.

MORRISTOWN — The lawyer for a New Jersey man convicted as a teenager of burning of an American flag in 2003 says his client fought for ten years to clear his name.

A judge on Thursday cleared Declan Devlin, now 25, of the charge.

Devlin was 16 when the judge found him guilty of a disorderly persons offense and sentenced him to 50 hours of community service.

Devlin always denied he was responsible for torching the flag in Madison ten years ago.

Attorney Ronald Kuby says his client fought to clear the charge, not wanting his family or community to think he was unpatriotic.

During Thursday's hearing, 22-year-old Michael Sullivan of Chatham testified he had set the flag on fire when he was 13 and never knew that Devlin was charged.

More Morris County news

At least 24 people were sent to the hospital, with more treated on the scene for minor injuries, and seven men were arrested following the chaotic mob scene that developed in downtown Montclair

Vickie St. Martin/Star-Ledger StaffPeople standing outside the Wellmont Theatre, after six people were arrested and 10 sent to nearby hospitals before the Barstool Blackout tour show on Thursday night.

MONTCLAIR — Police released more details today about the unruly crowd that prompted the shutdown of a sold-out dance party at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair last night.

At least 24 people were sent to the hospital, with more treated on the scene for minor injuries and seven men were arrested following the chaotic mob scene that developed in downtown Montclair, police said.

Around 7:35 p.m. Montclair police arrived at the theater on Seymour Street after numerous calls about a large crowd outside. About 2,500 people, mostly college-aged, were lined up waiting for the 9:45 p.m. sold-out, Barstool Blackout tour, a rave-style electronic dance party put on by the website barstoolsports.com.

The Barstool Blackout Tour’s Facebook page described the event as: “Touring the nation leaving nothing but a path of destruction in its wake. Lazers, Fog, Blacklights, Stroked and Everything that Glows right in your eyeball. An absolute orgy of sound and lights for all your senses.” The series of shows that began in February has been held at venues all along the East Coast.

Police described the scene outside of the theater as drunken chaos, with people stumbling, unable to speak and under the influence of drugs or alcohol. A 22-year-old Bedminster resident told police she'd been bitten on the calf by someone, according to police.

Another female told police her friend was unconscious and police found the young woman passed out against a fence with the crowd beginning to trample her. She was carried to an ambulance and treated for injuries at Mountainside Hospital, police said.

In total, 24 people were taken to the hospital, the majority treated for symptoms related to alcohol poisoning, police said.

The crowd of intoxicated coeds, many clad in neon, became unruly around 9 p.m. as people started shoving their way to the front of the line causing injuries, police said.

"Based upon the crowd losing control and the number of already intoxicated individuals in the area, police decided that for the safety of all involved the event would be cancelled," the release said.

Officers from 11 nearby towns and departments were called in to help disperse the large crowd. That's when the real trouble began.

Four men were arrested for allegedly assaulting police officers, including Louis Garcia, 20, of Fairview who lashed out at an officer after he was asked to leave, according to the release.

Another man, Ernest Pereira IV, 22, of Fairview, spat in the face of one of the detectives, while Cody Russo, 19, of West Caldwell jumped on the back of one of the officers to prevent another individual's arrest.

At least two other men were arrested at the scene for simple assault.

Dave Portnoy, owner of barstoolsports.com, the website that puts on the Barstool Blackout tour, said this is the second time a show has been cut short in about 40 performances. The first was at the Paramount Theater in Long Island. "The major similarity between the two is they were both in more residential areas, not in college towns," Portnoy said.

The event, an electronic dance party, was booked through Bowery Presents, Portnoy said. His organizers were inside preparing for the show when it was shut down.

Portnoy said it's typical for crowds to wait in line, sometimes as long as two hours. "It's like before a sporting event, there's a lot of excitement and unfortunately things got out of hand," he said. Most attendees drink before they get to the event, which also serves alcohol, he said.

"Literally they come in, they cram in, and they just dance the entire night. It's not a lounge concert. Everyone is on their feet," Portnoy said.

All tickets for the Barstool Blackout Tour will be refunded, said Katie Schroeder, who works with Rubenstein Communications Inc., handling public relations for Wellmont Theatre.

She said when the event was shut down there were 500 people outside of the theatre and 765 inside, well within the theatre's legal capacity of 2,000+.

The theatre had added security for the event, including electronic identification scanning and body searches. There was also an 18+ minimum age for entry and a midnight curfew in accordance with Montclair's town law.

Police officers reported to the scene from departments in Nutley, Belleville, Bloomfield, Glen Ridge, West Orange, Verona, North Caldwell, Fairfield and Montclair State University, as well as the Port Authority Police Department and New Jersey Transit Police. MVAU, Verona, and Glen Ridge medical units also responded to the scene.

Related coverage:

• Montclair police shut down show at Wellmont Theatre due to drunken patrons

Passaic County sheriff's detectives arrested 50-year-old Rabbi Gabriel Toledo at a kosher food distribution company in Moonachie

Google MapsPassaic County sheriff's detectives arrested 50-year-old Rabbi Gabriel Toledo at a kosher food distribution company in Moonachie on Thursday.

PASSAIC — Authorities in New Jersey have arrested a rabbi from Argentina on child pornography charges.

Passaic County sheriff's detectives arrested 50-year-old Rabbi Gabriel Toledo at a kosher food distribution company in Moonachie on Thursday.

The Record newspaper reports Sheriff Richard Berdnik issued a statement saying the rabbi was in possession of more than 1,000 images.

Toledo does not lead a local congregation and is in the U.S. on a visa. He's been living in Passaic.

Authorities say his roommate, 22-year-old Joseph Vasquez, fled from detectives. He's wanted as a fugitive.

The sheriff's office says Vasquez is from Honduras and is in the United States illegally.

It's not clear if the rabbi has hired a lawyer.

More Passaic County news

Although Moreta, described as "street- and jail-savvy" was able to fend off the initial attack, Carlos Ramos-Roque, 24, of Wharton jumped into the fray and the two assailants "started whaling away on his head and kicking," Corrente said.

The site of the Morris County jail, where a man was attacked by fellow inmates, authorities said.

MORRIS TOWNSHIP — Two inmates of the Morris County jail, including a man imprisoned in the murder of his father, attacked another inmate as they lined up for dinner, officials said today.

The two men allegedly planned the Wednesday beating of Alex Moreta, 34, of Wharton, to get him out of their unit in the 370-inmate jail, said Undersheriff Frank Corrente, the facility’s administrator.

Moreta was standing in line for food along with about 60 other inmates when Brendon Matos, 26, punched him in the face, Corrente said.

Although Moreta, described as "street- and jail-savvy" was able to fend off the initial attack, Carlos Ramos-Roque, 24, of Wharton jumped into the fray and the two assailants "started whaling away on his head and kicking," Corrente said.

After hitting an alarm, a corrections officer got the other inmates into their cells and within a minute eight other officers were on the scene and split the men up, the jail administrator said.

Moreta was taken to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment of a broken eye socket and other injuries, Corrente said. He then was returned to the jail.

Ramos-Roque, who is jailed on kidnapping and robbery charges, and Matos were each charged with aggravated assault and $15,000 was added to their bail requirements, Corrente said. He also said the two are described as Latin Kings gang members.

Matos was jailed in the July shooting of his father in their Randolph home and was being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Moreta is imprisoned on robbery conspiracy charges, Corrente said.

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Police began to receive several 911 calls just after 6 a.m. by witnesses saying a woman walking down Rutgers Street near Livingston Avenue was grabbed by a man and forced into a van, authorities said.

Google MapsA man was arrested in connection with an early morning abduction and attempted sexual assault on Rutgers Street near Livingston Avenue, police said.

NEW BRUNSWICK — A man who grabbed a woman off a street in New Brunswick at gunpoint and then tried to sexually assault her early this morning has been captured, officials said late tonight.

Police began to receive several 911 calls just after 6 a.m. by witnesses saying a woman walking down Rutgers Street near Livingston Avenue was grabbed by a man and forced into a van, authorities said.

As city police searched for the victim, she called police about 7 a.m. to say she was safe, they said.

The woman, who was not identified, had been released from a Jersey Avenue apartment where her alleged attacker, Porfirio Nunez-Mosquea, 24, had taken her at gunpoint and tried to sexually assault her, said Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan and city police director Anthony Caputo in a statement.

The man is also believed to have robbed the woman, they said.

At 11:30 a.m., Nunez-Mosquea was arrested at his North Brunswick home, and at 7:30 p.m. he was charged, they said.

Held in lieu of $500,000 bail at the Middlesex County jail, Nunez-Mosquea is charged with kidnapping, robbery, attempted aggravated sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, criminal restraint, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon, officials said.

The investigation was conducted by Investigator Tracy Lackey of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and Detective Thierry Lemmerling of the New Brunswick Police Department.

Anyone with information is asked to call Investigator Lackey at (732) 745-3600, or Detective Lemmerling (732) 745-5200.

Follow @tomasdinges

Brian Aitken, who now lives in Georgia, had his sentence commuted by Gov. Chris Christie in 2010

NJ Department of CorrectionsBrian Aitken, shown in here in a mugshot, was convicted on gun charges for legally-purchase handguns. The charges were later commuted by Gov. Chris Christie. On Friday, an appellate court overturned two of the three convictions Aitken had been imprisoned for.

TRENTON — A state appellate court has overturned two convictions for a New Jersey man who was sentenced to seven years in prison after being found with guns he had purchased legally in Colorado.

However, the two-judge panel upheld another conviction in the case of Brian Aitken, who served almost four months in state prison before Gov. Chris Christie commuted his sentence in December 2010. By then, Aitken’s case had become a cause-celebre among gun-rights advocates.

The case began in 2009, when Aitken muttered to his mother that life wasn’t living and left her home in Mount Laurel. She called police, who found two handguns in the trunk of his car.

Aitken said he was in transit in a move to Hoboken — which he said should have exempted him from weapon-registration laws. But Judge James Morley would not allow the argument at trial, and a jury convicted Aitken.

In a ruling made public Friday, the appellate court overturned Aitken’s conviction for possessing the guns, saying Morley erred and that jurors should have been allowed to consider the exemption argument. The panel also overturned Aitken’s conviction for possession of a large-capacity ammunition magazine, saying the prosecution had failed to show the magazines were operable.

However, the judges upheld Aitkin’s conviction for possessing hollow-point bullets, rejecting his argument that ammunition should also fall under the exemption for weapons being moved.

Lawyers for both sides are mulling whether to appeal any of the appellate court decisions to the state Supreme Court. Aitken, who now lives in Atlanta, could not be reached for comment today.

Related coverage:

• Gun owner Brian Aitken is released from prison after Gov. Christie commutes sentence

• Mulshine: Gun advocates ask if Christie's a straight shooter

The 29-year-old Lopatcong Township resident, who taught physical education in the North Warren Regional school district, also surrendered his teaching certificate and will be barred from public employment in New Jersey

Google MapsThe approximate location of the North Warren Regional school district, where a former physical education teacher swapped heroin for a school computer he stole.

BELVIDERE — A former northwestern New Jersey teacher who stole a school district computer and swapped it for $150 in heroin will not have to serve a prison term.

Instead, Justin Mannick will serve four years probation under a sentence imposed Friday.

The 29-year-old Lopatcong Township resident, who taught physical education in the North Warren Regional school district, also surrendered his teaching certificate and will be barred from public employment in New Jersey as part of the plea deal reached with Warren County prosecutors.

In return, they dismissed an official misconduct charge.

The Express-Times of Easton, Pa. reports that prosecutors had sought a tougher sentence for Mannick, noting that the computer he stole and traded in March 2011 contained student information, such as grades and student records.

More Warren County news

The Supreme Court ruled recently that a Jersey City boy was the victim of a 911 operator's negligence, but he couldn't sue for wrongful death and survival pain and suffering

Dylan Wilson/The Jersey JournalParis Wilson, who survived a stabbing attack is pictured in this file photo.

TRENTON — For 33 hours, Paris Wilson lived an indescribable horror, lying in the same blood-soaked room in Jersey City with his dead mother and sister and his dying brother after his uncle had gone on a stabbing rampage.

During those harrowing hours, two 911 operators took calls from a concerned neighbor but because of a series of errors, police went to the wrong address — just 200 feet away — and failed to find them.

The sole survivor of that Sept. 20, 2005, massacre, Paris, now 13, was the victim of negligence, but a state law granting immunity to 911 operators in certain cases means he can’t sue for wrongful death and survival pain and suffering, a unanimous state Supreme Court ruled recently.

Cash-strapped municipalities are hailing the decision, saying allowing such lawsuits could cost millions to towns across New Jersey. But victims’ rights advocates say immunity laws merely enforce a miscarriage of justice.

"Immunity laws have been stretched to the point where I don’t think it’s become rational in today’s society," said Richard Pompelio, executive director of the New Jersey Crime Victims’ Law Center. "The other side to a town not having a big payout is you have a victim’s family who is now going to be uncompensated as a result of someone’s negligence."

Lawsuits against 911 operators are not uncommon, but most settle before going to trial. Paris Wilson’s is the first case to reach the Supreme Court, attorneys from both sides said. In 2010, an appellate court panel ruled Newark’s 911 operators were not immune in the death of Seton Hall University student Sohayla Massachi, who was shot to death by her former boyfriend in 2000. While the appellate case was pending, Newark settled out of court by paying the family $1 million.

As Paris’ guardian and administrator of his siblings’ estates, his aunt, Sonya Manzano, sued the 911 operators and Jersey City, but a lower court dismissed the claim based on the 911 Immunity Act. An appellate panel reinstated the case, leaving Jersey City to face a possible $15 million payout to the family, said municipal attorney William Matsikoudis.

"The decision is very important not only because it’s enabled the city to likely be able to escape a $15 million demand, but also because it’s important public policy for cities like Jersey City that provide for 911 call takers to address emergencies and not be liable," Matsikoudis said.

Matthew Weng, staff attorney for the state League of Municipalities, said the law was crafted to give towns assurance and flexibility in developing, testing and expanding 911 systems without fear of being sued. Without the protection, communities would choose to eliminate 911 call centers rather than face costly lawsuits, he said.

Paris’ attorney, Brian Harris, said if that was a credible argument, towns would also consider eliminating police and fire departments because of their potential for lawsuits.

He contends the court instead wrongly focused on the economic impact successful lawsuits of this kind would have on financially struggling communities.

"I think it’s born by the economic times," Harris said. "I think the court was very concerned about that."

The court made reference to that rationale in its decision.

"The tragic events underlying the lawsuit in this case naturally evoke sympathy," Justice Barry Albin wrote. "However, the Legislature has decided that the overall benefits to our state from an enhanced 911 system require shielding telecommunications and public entities, and their personnel, from potentially costly lawsuits for mistakes, even negligent ones."

The Supreme Court didn’t dismiss the case outright. Instead, it sent the matter back to the Appellate Division to determine whether the call-takers’ actions were "wanton and willful," a higher level of negligence that would exempt them from immunity — and one that Pompelio, an attorney, said is almost impossible to prove.

Harris said that’s his only chance at getting a resolution for Paris.

"We thought we had a case. Now we don’t," Harris said. "He will be — and is — scarred as a result of these events.’’

Scott Harris, 43, of Byram, was shot in the head with a real bullet while portraying frontier lawman Wyatt Earp during a performance of 'The Sundance Kid' at the Wild West City theme park where he worked

Jerry McCrea/The Star-LedgerScott Harris of Byram looks over family photos of himself from better days before his shooting accident while working at the Wild West City park. Jury selection in Harris' trial against the owners of the park is set to begin Tuesday.

Jury selection is expected to start Tuesday in the trial of an owner of a Western theme park accused of illegally allowing cowboy actors at the Sussex County park to shoot a live weapon during a staged gunfight.

As a result of the incident, prosecutors say, Scott Harris, 43, was shot in the head with a real bullet while portraying frontier lawman Wyatt Earp during a performance of "The Sundance Kid."

The shooting on July 7, 2006 left Harris partially paralyzed.

First Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Mueller said he will call about 20 witnesses to the stand to testify against Wild West City owner Michael Stabile Jr. and the park’s parent firms, Western World and Cheyenne Corp.

"The use of operable guns at the park without permits is illegal," said Mueller, explaining the main thrust of his legal arguments.

"Guns were prohibited at Wild West City without a permit."

Stabile, 62, is facing eight criminal charges, including second-degree aggravated assault — the most serious — a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison; possessing a handgun without a permit; and supplying weapons to an unsupervised juvenile. He is also charged with tampering with evidence after allegedly hiding live bullets after the shooting.

According to Mueller, the state’s witness list includes:

• DeSean Sears, who as a 17-year-old cowboy actor and high school student accidentally loaded his park-owned gun with live bullets instead of blanks while running late for the shootout skit. He pleaded guilty in 2007 to causing bodily injury with a deadly weapon and served a six-month probationary sentence.

• Harris’ fiancée, Kathi-Jo Unangst, 36, who is employed as a medical assistant and lives with Harris in Livingston;

• Harris’ mother, 83-year-old Betty Harris, who lives on Lackawanna Drive in Byram next door to the theme park.

• Adalberto Morales, who brought the live ammo to the park that was used by Sears to shoot Harris. He was described by Mueller as being a "potential witness" at the trial.

Morales brought into a locker room two boxes of ammunition, one with blanks and one with live rounds he had fired at a shooting range that Sears accidentally used to shoot Harris, prosecutors say. As part of a plea deal, Morales was entered into the state’s pre-trial intervention program — which is for nonviolent, first-time offenders — for his role in the freak shooting.

Star-Ledger file photoA family photo of Scott Harris, the 42-year-old Byram man who was accidentally shot while working at the Wild West City park. He is seen performing in character at a time before his accident while working at Wild West City.

It hasn’t been determined whether Harris will take the stand in what could be highly emotional testimony, said Mueller. Harris uses a wheelchair and has limited speaking ability due to the severe brain injuries.

"We don’t know if he could handle it," he said, adding Harris is expected to be in the courtroom several times as a spectator during the course of the three to four- week trial.

Although he is expected to require medical care for the remainder of his life, Unangst said Harris has made some strides in recent months with walking.

"His goal was to do 250 feet, he has surpassed that, so now his goal is 750 feet and he has done up to 700 but is EXHAUSTED when he gets home from therapy," Unangst wrote in an e-mail.

Charges are still pending in connection with the shooting against park manager Nathan McPeak, 57, of Newton.

Stabile’s attorney, William O’Connell of Blairstown, a pool attorney in the county public defender’s office, did not return a call or e-mail seeking comment.

Stabile, who has been represented by at least two different private attorneys, was approved for a public defender in 2010 after reporting he had an adjusted gross income of less than $18,000 the previous year. In 2009, he rejected a plea bargain deal that would have required him to enroll in the PTI program.

This month’s trial won’t signal the end of Stabile’s legal woes as a civil trial is still pending to hear a lawsuit filed by Harris and his mother against him. A guilty verdict in the criminal case would greatly bolster Harris’ attempts to collect monetary damages against Stabile and the corporations, Harris’ attorney said.

"A guilty verdict would be significant. It is evidence of negligence in the civil case and we would likely not have to prove that aspect of the case" if a guilty verdict is reached, said Lauren Fraser of Sparta, who with her husband, Andrew, is representing Harris in the civil case. Win or lose, Unangst said she and Harris are anxiously awaiting the end of the legal proceedings so they can get on with their lives.

"This has been weighing on the both of us, we need to get it over and done with," she said.

Related coverage:

• Slow recovery for cowboy actor shot in head at Sussex County Wild West theme park

• More Sussex County news

Vince Franklin, 49, was shot on the 600 block of South 13th Street

Google MapsA Newark man was fatally shot early today on the 600 block of South 13th Street.

NEWARK — A 49-year-old man was fatally shot early this morning while walking on a Newark street, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said.

Vince Franklin, of Newark, was shot on the 600 block of South 13th Street at 12:30 a.m., said Katherine Carter, a prosecutor's office spokeswoman.

Franklin, who worked for New Jersey Institute of Technology in food services, was taken to University Hospital where he died less than 30 minutes later, Carter said.

Authorities are still investigating.

Mother and child were forced onto railroad tracks by two men, police say

Google MapsDover authorities believe a woman and her child were walking on Sammis Avenue Wednesday when they were attacked by two males.

DOVER — Police in Dover believe that a woman and her 3-year-old child were specifically targeted and beaten on Wednesday.

The mother and child, whose names have been withheld, were walking on Sammis Avenue when they were attacked by two males, according to Detective Sgt. Richard Gonzalez. The attackers covered the child's and mother's mouth and forced them onto the railroad tracks, Gonzalez said.

The child was held by one of the attackers while the other beat the woman with an electrical cord or cable, Gonzalez said. The attackers told the victim that this was just the beginning before releasing the two and fleeing east on the tracks. The two victims sustained bruising but are expected to be okay.

The victim described the male who assaulted her as 5-foot, 5-inches, medium-skin tone, black hair worn in a pony tail, some facial hair, black and blue checkered shirt and black dress pants. The male holding the child was described as 5-foot, 5-inches medium skin tone, short black hair, wearing a black tee-shirt and black pants.

The victim believes the attackers are Honduran natives, Gonzalez said. Anyone with information regarding this attack is asked to call Detective Joe Camacho at (973) 366-2200 ext.4179.

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Sean Banks, 26, of Englewood and three other men were arrested Aug. 5 following a high-speed chase in a stolen SUV after allegedly burglarizing a home in Sparta

File photoSean Banks, pictured in this file photo, pleaded not guilty today to burglarizing homes in Sparta and Jefferson.

BERGEN COUNTY — A pro basketball player who most recently played in the NBA’s Development League pleaded not guilty today to burglarizing homes in Sparta and Jefferson.

Sean Banks, 26, of Englewood and three other men were arrested Aug. 5 following a high-speed chase in a stolen SUV after allegedly burglarizing a home in Sparta. More than $20,000 of stolen jewelry was recovered from the vehicle, authorities said.

During an arraignment before Superior Court Judge N. Peter Conforti, First Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Mueller offered Banks a plea bargain deal that would require him to plead guilty to two burglary charges in exchange for a 180-day jail sentence, an unspecified probationary term and his cooperation in the cases pending against his three co-defendants.

Aasim Boone, 29, his brother, Akeem Boone, 27, both of Englewood, Jerry Montgomery, 31, of Teaneck and Banks were allegedly part of an organized burglary ring known as the James Bond Gang that targeted homes in affluent neighborhoods in northern New Jersey and New York.

The gang, which dates back to the late 1980s, got its name from a tricked-out BMW used by a group of Bergen County-based burglars that had secret compartments and a flip-up license plate that hid a blinding light used to thwart police.

Banks, a former basketball standout at the University of Memphis who graduated from Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, played for the Idaho Stampede in the NBA Development League last year.

Related coverage:

• Bergen County brothers plead not guilty to burglaries in Sparta, Jefferson

• Former pro basketball player among 4 Bergen County members of 'James Bond Gang' arrested last week

• Four men arrested in burglaries after high-speed police chase through Sparta that led to crash

• Bergen authorities believe recent burglaries may be resurgence of James Bond Gang

NEWARK — City police arrested nine men and confiscated half-a-dozen firearms in a series of operations ranging from motor vehicle stops to investigating reports of gang activity, officials said Monday. "Each of these arrests and weapons recoveries represents another potential tragedy or violent crime averted," Police Director Samuel DeMaio said in a statement. Police spokesman Detective Todd McClendon gave...

Jennifer Brown/The Star-LedgerNewark Police Director Samuel A. DeMaio speaks at a press conference in January.

NEWARK — City police arrested nine men and confiscated half-a-dozen firearms in a series of operations ranging from motor vehicle stops to investigating reports of gang activity, officials said Monday.

"Each of these arrests and weapons recoveries represents another potential tragedy or violent crime averted," Police Director Samuel DeMaio said in a statement.

Police spokesman Detective Todd McClendon gave the following descriptions of the suspects and of the episodes leading to their arrests:

Two men were arrested in each of three incidents, while three were arrested in a fourth. There was no gunfire and no one was injured.

The arrests began Thursday afternoon when police in an unmarked vehicle from Newark’s 5th precinct approached an area along Stratford Place where there had been numerous complaints and a tip of gang activity in the area, as well as people who were armed.

Getting out of their car, officers saw a man later identified as Jayden Jackson, 22, of Newark, slip a silver handgun under his pants leg near his ankle. Simultaneously, his companion, Tony Johnson, 26, yelled "5-0" to alert Jackson of the police presence.

The pair took off running with officers in pursuit, Jackson running into a nearby house and dumping his gun, and Johnson, towards a nearby bodega, but police caught them both.

Jackson had been arrested previously six times and was charged with gun possession, and Johnson was charged with obstruction of the administration of law for alerting his partner to the police presence and resisting arrest.

That night, units from the Gang Enforcement Unit nabbed two gun-wielding men who had been hanging out on the corner of South Orange and Poe avenues.

When the officers left their car, the two men, Tamir Scott, 30, and Terrence Lane, 36, took off running.

Lane discarded a loaded .380-caliber gun that was later identified as having been stolen in Alabama in 2004.

Scott was also captured and found with a .22-caliber gun in his jacket pocket.

The two men, who between them have been convicted of felonies seven times, were charged with weapons possession counts and resisting arrest.

In another gun confiscation just before midnight Thursday, officers pulled up on a double-parked car on South 15th Street and ordered the two occupants out of the car.

The handle of a gun was seen in the center console, and the two occupants, Xavier Wright, and Ramal Gibbs, both 23 and from Newark, were arrested on weapons and drug charges.

Then early Friday morning, three men were arrested after the car they were driving in was seen driving erratically in the city’s North Ward. In addition to marijuana found inside the car, officers confiscated a loaded .380 handgun.

The occupants of the car, Sharief Gilmer, 27, of East Orange, Alfateem Johnson, 22, of Newark and a 16-year-old juvenile from Newark, were all charged with weapons possession. Gilmer was charged with motor vehicle offenses, including driving without a license.

Earlier that week, on Wednesday, police arrested two men who had crashed a car into a utility pole at 15th Avenue and South Seventh Street and led police on a brief foot pursuit before being captured.

Kervin Derlphonse, 28, was charged with weapons possession after police found a .38-caliber revolver on him; Howard Banks, 25, who was found with a small amount of marijuana was charged with drug possession.

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Jashawn Snowden of Paterson shot a man who he felt had disrespected him

Passaic County Prosecutor's OfficeJashawn Snowden pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter Monday.

PATERSON — A Passaic County street gang member whose murder conviction was overturned last year has been resentenced after agreeing to a plea deal with Passaic County prosecutors.

Jashawn Snowden of Paterson was serving a 45-year state prison term when an appellate court tossed the conviction last May. The panel found the trial judge erred in allowing a prosecution witness to testify after the witness refused to be sworn in.

The case was remanded for retrial, but the 26-year-old Snowden accepted a plea bargain last month. He pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in return for the 18-year sentence imposed on Monday.

Prosecutors say Snowden shot a man who he felt had disrespected him. The victim was shot in the chest at point-blank range at his own birthday party.

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One L. Goh was upset with administrators at the school, and also with several students.

View full sizeEPA/Peter DaSilvaOakland Police crime scene investigators stand over of dead bodies at Oikos University after a gunman allegedly opened fire inside the Oakland, Calif., school Monday.

OAKLAND, Calif. — A former student expelled from a small Christian university and upset about being teased over his poor English skills went to the school to find a female administrator, then opened fire when she was not there, killing at least seven people, police said today.

One L. Goh "then went through the entire building systematically and randomly shooting victims," at Oikos University Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said at a news conference. Goh forced a secretary into a classroom and asked people to line up, Jordan said.

"Not everyone was cooperative, and that's when he began shooting," he said. The dead included six students and the secretary, he said.

Jordan said Goh appeared to have planned the attack for several weeks.

Those connected to the school, including the founder and several students, said the gunman had studied nursing. He was upset with administrators at the school, and also with several students.

"They disrespected him, laughed at him. They made fun of his lack of English speaking skills. It made him feel isolated compared to the other students," Jordan said.

The 43-year-old South Korean national had been expelled, possibly for behavioral problems, according to Jordan.

Goh left behind a string of debts and minor traffic citations in his former home state of Virginia and was evicted from one apartment complex. His brother was killed in a car accident last year in Virginia while on active duty in the U.S. Army, according to Stars and Stripes newspaper.

"We've learned that this was a very chaotic, calculated and determined gentleman that came there with a very specific intent to kill people, and that's what his motive was and that's what he carried out," Jordan told ABC's "Good Morning America."

Soon after the shooting Monday, heavily armed officers swarmed the tiny college of fewer than 100 students in a large industrial park near the Oakland airport. For a time, police believed the gunman could still be inside. But he wasn't.

Instead, officers said he apparently drove about three miles from campus before surrendering to officers inside a supermarket.

Police first received a 911 call at 10:33 a.m. reporting a woman on the ground bleeding. As more calls came in from the school, the first arriving officer found a victim suffering from a life-threatening gunshot wound, he said.

More officers then arrived and formed a perimeter around the school on the belief that the suspect was still inside, he said.

"Potential victims remained inside the building either trapped by a locked door which officers were unable to open," Jordan said. Others were unable to flee because they were injured, he said.

Jordan said there were about 35 people in or near the building when gunfire broke out. Of the seven fatalities, five died at the scene and another two at the hospital. The wounded victims are in stable condition, and at least one person was released from the hospital. They were from various countries, including Nigeria, Nepal and the Phillipines.

He told GMA today the victims ranged in age from 21 to 40.

Gary Reyes/San Jose Mercury News/MCTA SWAT team from the Oakland Police Department leaves the scene of a shooting at Oikos University on Edgewater Dr. in Oakland, California on Monday.

Howard described Goh as cooperating with authorities although he said he has not been "particularly remorseful."

Art Richards said he was driving by the university on his way to pick up a friend when he spotted a woman hiding in the bushes. He pulled over, and when he approached her, she said, "I'm shot" and showed him her arm.

"She had a piece of her arm hanging out," Richards said, noting that she was wounded near the elbow.

As police arrived, Richards said he heard 10 gunshots coming from inside the building. The female victim told him that she saw the gunman shoot one person point-blank in the chest and one in the head.

Tashi Wangchuk, whose wife witnessed the shooting, said he was told by police that the gunman first shot a woman at the front desk, then shot randomly in classrooms.

Wangchuk said his wife, Dechen Wangzom, was in her vocational nursing class when she heard gunshots. She locked the door and turned off the lights, Wangchuk said he was told by his wife.

The gunman "banged on the door several times and started shooting outside and left," he said. Wangchuk said no one was hurt inside his wife's classroom, but that the gunman shot out the glass in the door. He said she did not know the man.

"She's a hero," he said of his wife.

At Highland Hospital, Dawinder Kaur's family told the Oakland Tribune that she was being treated for a gunshot to her elbow. The 19-year-old U.S. Army Reservist told her family that that the gunman was a student in her nursing class who had been absent for months before returning Monday.

The gunman entered the classroom and ordered students to line up against the wall.

When he showed his gun, students began running and he opened fire, her family said.

"She told me that a guy went crazy and she got shot," brother Paul Singh told the newspaper. "She was running. She was crying; she was bleeding, it was wrong."

Pastor Jong Kim, who founded the school about 10 years ago, told the newspaper that he did not know if the shooter was expelled or dropped out. Kim said he heard about 30 rapid-fire gunshots in the building.

EPA/Peter DaSilvaAlameda County Coroners and Oakland Police prepare five bodies for removal from the street median in front of Oikos University after a gunman opened fire inside the university Monday.

"I stayed in my office," he said.

Deborah Lee, who was in an English language class, said she heard five to six gunshots at first. "The teacher said, 'Run,' and we run," she said. "I was OK, because I know God protects me. I'm not afraid of him."

Goh fled from the school in a Honda Accord that belonged to one of the victims, Jordan said. The suspect was detained at a Safeway supermarket about three miles from the university, about an hour after the shooting.

Police today were still looking for the gun used, which Jordan described as a semiautomatic handgun.

A security guard at the supermarket approached the man because he was acting suspiciously, KGO-TV reported. The man told the guard that he needed to talk to police because he shot people, and the guard called authorities.

"He didn't look like he had a sign of relief on him. He didn't look like he had much of any emotion on his face," said Lisa Resler, who was buying fruit at Safeway with her 4-year-old daughter when she saw the man.

Goh also called his father soon after the shooting and told him what happened, the police chief said. The father called authorities, Jordan said.

"We don't believe he intended on having a confrontation with police," Jordan said today.

Police went to the Westlake Christian Terrace senior housing complex on Monday afternoon to speak with a relative of Goh, Nam Ko Young, who's believed to be the man's father, said Young's neighbor, Barbara Ferguson.

Ferguson said she's seen Goh and Young in the lobby and exchanged hellos in the past but that she doesn't know them well.

Jerry Sung, the university's accountant, said the school offers courses in both Korean and English to less than 100 students. He said the campus consists of one building. Sung said many of its students go on to work in nursing and ministry.

"The founder felt there was a need for theology and nursing courses for Korean-Americans who were newer to the community," Sung said. "He felt they would feel more comfortable if they had Korean-American professors."

Related coverage:

• 7 dead, suspect detained in California school shooting

The suspect was 15 at the time of the killing and under juvenile law in 1976 his name cannot be released

Westfield policeA 53-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly killing a woman in 1976.

WESTFIELD — The Union County Prosecutor’s office made an arrest Monday in a 36-year-old Westfield homicide case.

Lena Triano, 57, was found brutally raped and murdered in her home on Ripley Place in Westfield on March 15, 1976, Union County Prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow said.

Triano, a quiet woman who lived alone and worked at a lawyer's office in Newark, had been bludgeoned, raped, stabbed and hogtied, Romanow said. Her back door was left unlocked and prosecutors believe the suspect entered through the back door and killed her sometime between March 14 and March 15, 1976.

A medical examiner listed her cause of death as asphyxiation due to strangling and multiple stab wounds that punctured her lungs, Romankow said.

Detectives Vinny Byron and Sgt. Harvey Barnwell of the Union County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Task Force investigated the cold case after Byron noticed a connection between Triano’s death and a cold case he had been investigating out of Springfield, which is still unsolved.

Byron and Barnwell interviewed neighbors and secured forensic evidence that showed Triano had been raped by the suspect. All the evidence, including Triano's clothing at the time of the murder, was well preserved at the Westfield Police Department and critical to breaking the case, Byron said.

The cold case is the oldest the prosecutor’s office has broken, Romankow said. That's not the only thing that makes it unique.

The suspect, a 51-year-old Union County resident, was 15 at the time of the murder. Under juvenile law in 1976, his name cannot be released to the public.

In 1978 the law changed so that juveniles 14 years and six months or older could be waived up and charged as adults, their names then becoming public record, Romankow said. But prior to 1978 no such waiver existed.

Romankow said his office has filed a motion to release the man’s name.

"I think in this case the public’s right to know is more important than protecting a 51-year-old accused murderer," Romankow said.

Under juvenile law in 1978 a suspect could be sentenced to “An undetermined term not to exceed life,” Romankow said. It’s unclear right now what the minimum sentence would be.

Today a juvenile who is convicted of knowingly or purposefully committing murder faces 20 years with a minimum of 1/3 of that time served.

“Some people are going to be very critical of the law,” Romankow said. “The law is what it is. But this does tell the public you have departments who will continue to search you out. These cases re never closed. It’s frustrating but ti gives solace to know we think we’ve determined who Lena Triano’s murderer is.”

The suspect is being held at the Union County Jail and is awaiting a release hearing to determine bail.

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