State appellate court throws out murder conviction of Trenton Latin Kings gang leader

Now, both the murder and attempted murder charges must be retried, according to an opinion released by a three-judge appellate panel today.

TRENTON — A state appellate court has tossed out the 2009 murder conviction of Latin Kings gang leader Jose “Boom Bat” Negrete after he successfully argued that a juror in his trial was compromised by relationships with people associated with the victim.

The jury had found Negrete guilty of murder in the 2004 death of Jeri Lynn Dotson, a 23-year-old Latin Queen and mother of two, who was executed by the gang because she had witnessed their attempts to lure another gang member to his death.

The other gang member was Alex “Al-Key” Ruiz, 25, who was strangled and left for dead in a garbage container but managed to survive. Negrete was convicted of attempted murder in that case, and for both convictions he has been serving a minimum 80 year prison sentence.

Now, both the murder and attempted murder charges must be retried, according to an opinion released by a three-judge appellate panel today.

One juror, identified as juror number eight, told the others that he had known Dimas Peralta, the father of Dotson’s two young children, in high school and that the juror’s girlfriend knew Peralta’s sisters, who were taking care of Dotson’s children after her death, the opinion said.

In overturning Negrete’s conviction, the appellate court said that this juror should not have been on the jury because he was influenced by information that was not presented at trial and because he disclosed that information to other jurors, also potentially influencing them.

During Negrete’s trial members of the Latin Kings and the Netas street gangs said that Ruiz, originally a Neta, had sparked a war between the rival gangs after he defected to the Latin Kings.

The gangs fought during the summer of 2004, gang members said, until Negrete agreed to turn Ruiz over to the Netas for a “beat down.” While Negrete claims that he never agreed that Ruiz should be killed, witnesses said Negrete later gave an order for the Latin Kings to “finish him,” after the Netas failed to kill him.

Negrete was worried that Dotson was a “security risk,” gang member Joey Martinez of Hamilton had testified. Three gang members entered Dotson’s house, allegedly on Negrete’s orders, and killed her in her basement by shooting her once in the back of the head. Dotson’s body was found by her 3-year-old daughter.

Juror number eight told the jury that he’d heard that a piece of candy found on Dotson’s dead body had been placed there by her 3-year-old daughter. Prosecutors had not mentioned the candy during the trial. The appellate panel said that learning about this from juror No. 8 could have prejudiced the jury.

“It conveyed a picture of a 3-year-old putting candy on her mother’s body,” the decision said. “A truly disturbing image.”

During the trial, the jury sent a note to Superior Court Judge Darlene Pereksta alerting her that one juror had offered up information that was not introduced during the trial. After meeting with each juror, Pereksta denied a motion for a mistrial by defense attorney Mark Fury, and said that the jury indicated that they would not take any of the outside information into their decision.

In its opinion this week, the appellate panel said that the juror’s actions undermined the defense’s argument.

Now, the case will be returned to Mercer County Superior Court, and it will be up to the prosecutor’s office to decide how to pursue it, but they have not made that call yet.

“We’re reviewing our appellate options,” spokeswoman Casey DeBlasio said.

Because the appellate division issued this ruling, the prosecutor’s office would have to take their appeal to the state Supreme Court, if they choose to appeal. If the Supreme Court reverses today’s appellate decision, then the conviction would stand. If they uphold it, or do not take up the appeal, then Negrete will get a new trial.

Today, the prosecutor’s office would not say what they plan to do if the gang leader comes back to county court, but they could offer him a plea deal or take him to trial for a third time. Negrete has been incarcerated since his arrest more than eight years ago.

Contact Brendan McGrath at (609) 989-5731 or at bmcgrath@njtimes.com.

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