It's just a few weeks into the new year, but the state Superior Court vicinages in North Jersey are bustling with plea hearings, jury selection and judges' opinions, while some criminal cases are getting started and others have come to a halt with motions and evaluations.
NorthJersey.com has gathered a list of cases that are tentatively expected to head to trial this year -- with some as early as next month. But it's important to remember that the wheels of justice sometimes turn slowly.
"The trial calendar is dynamic, and it is based on scheduling that entails courtroom availability, the judge's availability and the ability of the attorneys involved, among other factors," Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella told NorthJersey.com. As such, any trials that are listed are considered tentative and are subject to change.
Additionally, other trials may move forward this year, while those listed may not move to trial if plea deals are struck or motions are filed in a push for extensions. See what 2025 may have in store:
Two North Jersey men charged with attempted murder after a shooting in Hackensack in May 2023 are tentatively headed to trial in February.
Bryant Dula, 30, of Little Falls, and Najee Lloyd, 34, of Wood-Ridge, were allegedly involved in a shooting in an area adjacent to Carver Park that injured two people -- one of whom was struck and taken to the hospital, the other grazed, officials said. Prosecutors say the men can be linked to the shooting through surveillance video and phone data. During the incident, Dula allegedly fired 25 rounds from an "assault rifle," according to arrest documents.
Judge Vincent Militello is presiding over the case. Dula is represented by defense attorney Gregory Aprile and Lloyd is represented by defense attorney Harley Breite. They both are expected back in court for a hearing on Feb. 24.
A Garfield man serving a 65-year sentence after he was convicted of killing a man near a Cliffside Park bus stop in 2012 is expected to have a new trial in April.
A state appeals court threw out Michael Sampson's conviction in 2019 and ordered that his charges be heard in two separate trials before a new judge. Several issues have played out in the case since the decision, including a lawsuit he filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in which Sampson made claims of false arrest, unlawful seizure of property and excessive force, among other allegations. The lawsuit has weaved its way through the court system, and it reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit last year.
He has a pretrial conference scheduled in state Superior Court in Bergen County on Jan. 28, court records show.
Sampson, 50, was found guilty in the 2012 shooting of Hector "Tito" Zabala, of Fairfield, who was shot five times as he covered his face with his hands and arms in self-defense inside a vestibule in Cliffside Park. Sampson, who said he shot Zabala to protect himself, his wife and her friends, was found guilty on eight of 10 counts, including murder, possession of a gun and drug possession.
Sampson is representing himself in court. Judge Kevin Kelly is presiding over the case.
Jairrod J. Shannon, 23, of Teaneck, who was charged with fatally shooting another man at a local park in 2021, is tentatively headed to trial on April 1.
Shannon was charged with first-degree murder after authorities allege he killed Maximillian Reyes, 20, also of Teaneck, at the township's Ammann Park on June 5, 2021. Reyes called 911 and was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died.
Police say Shannon allegedly lured Reyes to the park via text message with the pretense of selling him Percocet. The men had allegedly argued and threats had been made via text a month before the incident, authorities said.
An AR-15 rifle bolt was found near Reyes' body, and Shannon owned a rifle without a buttstock, which is why the bolt fell out, police contend. Shannon's DNA was also found on the bolt, authorities said.
Judge Kevin Kelly is expected to preside over the case. Shannon is represented by defense attorney Scott Finckenauer.
Emilio Rivera, a nurse charged in connection with the death of a disabled man from East Hanover in November 2023, is tentatively scheduled for trial on March 24.
Rivera, 30, was employed by Bayada Home Health Care and was assigned to provide nursing services to Matthew Rossi, 19, as the teen traveled daily to and from CTC Academy in Oakland. Rossi, who was nonverbal and had congenital muscular dystrophy that required him to use a wheelchair to get around, often needed mucus cleared from his mouth and airway, so he traveled with a nurse who would clear his secretions, the Rossi family said in a lawsuit filed in 2023. On Feb. 10, 2023, Rossi went into distress on a bus ride home and became unresponsive after Rivera purportedly failed to take the proper actions, which ultimately resulted in the teen's death, officials said at the time. The family accuses Rivera of failing to suction and clear Rossi's airway, failing to perform CPR and failing to call 911.
The 30-year-old Carlstadt nurse was handed a superseding indictment in October that led to an additional charge of third-degree hindering for providing false information to a police officer or an investigator. He was also indicted on charges of second-degree endangering a person with a developmental disability and third-degree neglect of a disabled person.
State Superior Court Judge Ralph Amirata in Morris County recently denied a motion by Rivera's defense attorney, Terrance Turnback, to dismiss the indictment. A motion on whether a jury can hear evidence on Rivera's prior crimes, wrongs and/or acts -- called a Rule 404(b) hearing -- will be heard on Feb. 5.
Several motions and appeals to higher courts have delayed the criminal case against Tyrell Lansing, who is charged with murder in the shooting death of a 35-year-old Cedar Knolls man in Morristown in 2021. Lansing, 31, who has ties to Morristown with a North Carolina address, could head to trial this year, provided all motions have been addressed.
On Feb. 20, state Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor is expected to hear testimony from a defense expert and determine whether they will be allowed to share their conclusions at trial. Lansing is represented by defense attorney Sharon Kean.
Lansing was indicted in January 2022 on charges including first-degree murder, but he has contended since his initial appearance in October 2021 that prosecutors have the wrong person who shot and killed Raijah Scott, 35, of Cedar Knolls. Lansing previously declined a plea deal of 30 years in prison in exchange for a guilty plea to murder.
Police responded around 1 a.m. on Aug. 18, 2021, to Clyde Potts Drive for a reported shooting and found Scott with multiple gunshot wounds, prosecutors said. Lansing allegedly fled the scene in a Hyundai Elantra with co-defendant Dequan McDaniel, of Dover, and the duo were pulled over in Oklahoma the next day. Lansing and McDaniel will have a joint trial. McDaniel, who is represented by defense attorney William Johnson, was charged with hindering.
A Hunterdon County corrections officer charged in March 2023 with sexual assault may head to trial by late winter or early spring in Morris County.
Jared Green, 35, of Pohatcong in Warren County, was indicted in December 2023 on a total of 39 counts that include first-degree sexual assault and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, court records show. Green allegedly sexually assaulted a child multiple times between 2011 and 2018 in four townships in Hunterdon County, authorities said. Green, whose alleged transgressions are not related to his job, has been suspended without pay.
Green's case is being heard in the state Superior Court in Morris County to avoid a conflict of interest in Hunterdon County. He is represented by defense attorney Joseph Corazza, and Judge Stephen Taylor is presiding over the case.
Shawn Kelly, a former Paramus firefighter accused of killing a man in a West Milford boat crash in 2016, will likely face the start of his trial in February, with potential jurors being picked this week.
Kelly, now 50, was arrested in August 2018, nearly two years after the Sept. 5, 2016, evening boating crash that took the life of Edwin Lane, 72, and seriously injured three other people. Lane suffered a skull fracture and died a month later.
State Superior Court Judge Justine Niccolai in Passaic County is presiding over the trial, with jury selection having started last week. Niccolai has ruled on several motions filed in the case over several weeks.
On Jan. 9, Kelly's defense attorney, Patrick Jennings, fought for dismissal of the indictment, which Niccolai denied later that day. Jennings has vehemently denied that there is medical or legal evidence that shows his client caused Lane's death, contending it was "impossible" for prosecutors to prove due to an "unsubstantiated autopsy report." Assistant Prosecutors Timothy Kerrigan and Matt Benzoni, who will assist as second chair at trial, have contended that Lane's death was the result of skull fractures from the crash; Jennings argues neurologists discharged Lane from the hospital after the crash, and 33 days later he died as a result of cardiac arrest. Lane, he contends, had a prior heart condition.
"Maintaining this second-degree charge borders on misconduct, it is that egregious," Jennings argued in the hearing, adding that had someone hit the boat that Labor Day evening and been charged in this case, it should have risen only to a fourth-degree assault charge.
Kelly, who was alone, is accused of slamming his 20-foot Wellcraft into another boat, an 18-foot Bayliner with four people aboard -- Edwin Lane, his wife, Mary, and Robert Roon and his wife, Eileen. Robert Roon was in critical condition after the crash, but he, his wife and Mary Lane have since recovered, Eileen Roon told NorthJersey.com in 2018.
Kelly was indicted and pleaded not guilty in February 2019 to second-degree charges of death by vessel and leaving the scene of a boating accident resulting in death. He also faces charges of leaving the scene of a boating accident resulting in serious bodily injury and assault by vessel.
Email: lcomstock@njherald.com; Twitter: @LoriComstockNJH or on Facebook.