Irvin Jackson | Homicide Watch Trenton

Jury deliberations begin in Zaire Jackson’s murder trial

Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 18:51:31 -0500

Defense attorney Steven Lember (left) and defendant Zaire Jackson listen to testimony at Jackson’s murder trial in Mercer County Superior Court. (GREGG SLABODA — The Trentonian)

The fate of alleged killer Zaire Jackson hangs in the balance as a jury of his peers deliberates on whether he is guilty or not guilty of murder.

Jackson, 22, of Trenton, has been charged with murder, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose on allegations he knowingly procured a handgun without a permit and used it to kill an acquaintance who had disrespected him.

The victim of the slaying, 22-year-old Irvin “Swirv” Jackson, was shot in the head and killed in broad daylight at 1:59 p.m. Monday, April 9, 2012, on Moses Alley near North Hermitage Avenue in Trenton. Zaire Jackson, who was not related to the victim, was 17 years old when the murder occurred.

In the criminal trial, all 12 jurors must be unanimously and firmly convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of Jackson’s guilt on each charge to convict him on all counts. Likewise, all 12 jurors must unanimously have reasonable doubt about the defendant’s guilt to acquit him.

In closing arguments Tuesday morning, Jackson’s pool attorney Steven Lember asked the jurors to return a verdict of not guilty on all three counts, saying his client had no motive to murder the victim and that the state’s case is “full of holes” that introduce reasonable doubt into the equation.

Lember said the state has relied upon two “so-called eyewitnesses” in its prosecution of Jackson — testimony from criminal defendants Casey Corker and Robert Patterson — and said they are “two of the least reliable” witnesses who could ever be called to testify in a court of law.

“Both of them say initially they didn’t see the shooting,” Lember said of Corker and Patterson, adding both of them later changed their tune after they got arrested. Surveillance footage at the intersection of North Hermitage Avenue and Moses Alley “simply doesn’t support what these eyewitnesses say occurred,” Lember said of the two witnesses who had identified Jackson as the killer. “They made it up.”

“Reputation, respect and revenge: That is what this case is about,” Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Skylar Weissman said in his closing arguments Tuesday.

Zaire Jackson, also known as “Cory” and “Philly,” had “dealt drugs to hustle,” Weissman said. “He had a reputation to uphold.”

Weissman said the defendant, days after the murder, told police in an interview that he was arguing with Irvin Jackson on Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012. The assistant prosecutor accused the defendant of being armed and “walking around with a weapon” on that “holiday day.”

Later that day inside a city home, a man known as “Techs” placed a gun to Zaire Jackson’s head, and Jackson believed Irvin Jackson was responsible for Techs being at the house, Weissman said.

Then when Zaire Jackson was relaxing inside another Trenton house that was shot up later that evening — a shooting that almost struck him in the eye — the defendant believed Irvin Jackson was one of the individuals responsible for that shooting, Weismann said.

“This is all about respect, all about reputation,” he said. “He has to show he’s this tough guy, that he makes money.”

Following an eventful Easter Sunday, cellphone records show Zaire Jackson’s mobile device went “silent” from 12:30 p.m. to 2:03 p.m. on Monday, April 9, 2012, and further show he fled into Bucks County, Pennsylvania, following the 1:59 p.m. slaying, Weissman said, adding, “Phone records don’t lie, ladies and gentlemen.”

The jurors began deliberating Tuesday afternoon following closing arguments and jury instructions. The jurors, however, did not reach a verdict on Tuesday, prompting Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson to dismiss the jurors for the day and instruct them to continue their backroom deliberations at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Expert: Alleged killer Zaire Jackson did not write ‘snitch letter’

Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman — Wed, 08 Feb 2017 17:41:06 -0500

Defendant Zaire Jackson listens to testimony at his murder trial in Mercer County Superior Court on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017. (GREGG SLABODA — The Trentonian)

A threatening “snitch letter” that a Mercer County Correction Center inmate received that was allegedly intended to intimidate him from testifying in Zaire Jackson’s murder trial was not handwritten by the defendant.

J. Wright Leonard, a high-profile board certified forensic document examiner, testified Wednesday at Jackson’s murder trial that a comparative analysis of the defendant’s handwriting versus the handwriting of the so-called “snitch letter” has led her to conclude that Jackson did not write the threatening note.

Prosecutors have alleged that Jackson, also known as “Philly” and “Cory,” wrote the letter or had an associate write it and send it to Casey Corker to scare him out of testifying against him.

“You a dead man walking,” reads a portion of the letter Corker received when he was incarcerated at the county lockup. “If you go to IA [internal affairs], I know.”

Although Leonard determined that someone other than Jackson wrote the letter, she conceded under cross-examination that she “cannot dispute” the possibility that someone can “dictate” a letter for someone else to handwrite.

Jackson, 22, is accused of shooting and killing 22-year-old Irvin “Swirv” Jackson in broad daylight on Monday, April 9, 2012, which was the day after Easter Sunday. Zaire Jackson, who was not related to the victim, was 17 years old when the victim was gunned down in an alleyway off North Hermitage Avenue in Trenton.

Jackson’s aunt, Tanika Cromwell, testified under oath at Jackson’s murder trial on Wednesday and said her nephew and Irvin “Swirv” Jackson were “sociable” and well-acquainted with each other.

Zaire Jackson used to live with Cromwell at her former Rowan Towers residence at 620 West State Street in Trenton.

Cromwell said she knew Irvin Jackson and said Irvin Jackson and Zaire Jackson grew up together and often stayed at her house along with her biological children.

Cromwell said she witnessed Zaire Jackson get into a fight with an acquaintance named Kevin Robinson at a city park on Easter Sunday 2012. She said the fight lasted “a couple of seconds” and that she did not see her nephew in possession of a handgun during the physical altercation.

Robinson, Irvin “Swirv” Jackson, and another young man stayed overnight at Cromwell’s house on Easter Sunday 2012 and left during the early morning hours of Monday, April 9, 2012, she testified.

Meanwhile, Zaire “Cory” Jackson on that Easter Sunday night was staying at a house on Murray Street that was shot up.

If there was any beef, gripe or feud between Zaire Jackson and Irvin Jackson, Cromwell said she had no knowledge of any animosity between the two acquaintances.

Shortly after the victim was shot and killed execution style, the word on the street was that Zaire Jackson murdered Irvin Jackson. Cromwell said she had heard the talk of the streets but testified that she does not believe everything she hears on the streets.

With the Jackson murder trial winding down and Thursday expected to unleash inclement weather, the trial is expected to resume either on Friday or next Tuesday at Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson’s courtroom.

Zaire Jackson’s murder trial heats up

Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman — Tue, 07 Feb 2017 20:44:33 -0500

Zaire Jackson listens to testimony at his murder trial on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017. (GREGG SLABODA — The Trentonian)

When Zaire Jackson was 17 years old, two detectives at Trenton Police headquarters questioned him extensively in hopes of getting the city teenager to confess to murder.

The officers warned Jackson that he would eventually have a criminal trial and told him the jurors would want to know if he was a “ruthless thug” or a person who “just made a mistake” in the shooting death of 22-year-old Irvin “Swirv” Jackson.

“I didn’t do it,” Zaire Jackson, who was not related to the victim, said during the intense police interview on April 20, 2012.

Jackson, now 22, continues to deny any wrongdoing as he defends himself in a court of law on allegations he murdered Irvin Jackson in broad daylight on Monday, April 9, 2012, which was the day after Easter Sunday.

The trial

On Tuesday in Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson’s courtroom, the jury in Zaire Jackson’s murder trial viewed the video recording of Jackson’s April 2012 interview with police — a lengthy session that defense attorney Steven Lember described as “an interrogation.”

Trenton Police Detective Scott Peterson and Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office investigator James Francis in the video used a variety of techniques, including fabrications about evidence, to get Jackson to crack, but the defendant did not take the bait.

The officers told Jackson that “a lot of people” saw him running past Hermitage Avenue and up Moses Alley with a gun in his hand. The officers also implied that multiple surveillance systems captured Jackson on camera and suggested that they had data from cellphone towers proving he was at the scene where the victim was shot and killed execution style.

“I ain’t kill Swirv,” Jackson said in the police interview.

“Yeah you did, bro,” one of the officers said in response.

“You did something stupid, man,” one of the detectives said.

“I didn’t kill him. Feel me?” Jackson said in response.

“If you keep telling yourself, you’ll eventually believe it. … I believe it was self-defense. You are 17 years old. Let me help you,” one of the officers said to Jackson.

“I ain’t do it. I wasn’t there,” Jackson said in response.

The officers told Jackson he could set himself free by telling the truth and told him he was a “cold-blooded killer” who needed to “accept responsibility” for the victim’s death.

“I didn’t do it,” Jackson said after about two hours of questioning from police.

“All right,” an officer said in response. “I know that you did, though.”

Cross-examination

Nearly five years after questioning the defendant at police headquarters, Detective Peterson testified as a witness under oath Tuesday at Jackson’s murder trial.

Steve Lember, who is representing Jackson as his pool attorney, on Tuesday cross-examined Peterson in ways that got the detective to admit he had used techniques of fabrication in a failed attempt to get Jackson to confess to the murder.

“You wanted to see that my client was guilty, because you believed he was guilty,” Lember said to Peterson. “You lied to my client repeatedly in that interrogation.”

Police only had one low-quality video that appears to show a person running up Moses Alley from North Hermitage Avenue in Trenton’s West Ward. Mercer County Assistant Prosecutors Skylar Weissman and Mike Mennuti played that video in court Tuesday, giving the jurors a chance to see what was happening at the intersection of North Hermitage and Moses Alley in the moments before and after a shooter killed Irvin “Swirv” Jackson.

Peterson on the witness stand described it as a “very poor” and “choppy” video and conceded the video in and of itself is not definitive proof that Zaire Jackson was chasing after Irvin Jackson up Moses Alley toward Murray Street, which is the area where the victim was fatally shot once in the head. A ballistics report shows police found a projectile in the victim’s head and one embedded in the ground near the victim’s body, according to Lember.

Days after the April 2012 murder, detectives told Jackson they had cellphone tower data on his whereabouts, but the reality is that it was not until 2013 when police finally obtained a warrant to get access to Jackson’s cellphone records.

Contrary to what he previously said, Peterson on Tuesday admitted he had never believed Jackson acted in self-defense and said police wouldn’t have set the defendant free if he had confessed to murder.

Police say events that transpired on Easter Sunday 2012 — when Zaire Jackson got into a fight earlier in the day and later was relaxing inside a house that got shot up in the night — prompted the defendant to allegedly settle a beef by murdering Irvin Jackson.

The murder trial is scheduled to resume Wednesday morning at the Mercer County Criminal Courthouse.

Zaire Jackson’s murder trial approaches as Isiah Greene’s retrial lingers

Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 18:09:05 -0500

Nearly five years ago, a then-17-year-old Zaire Jackson allegedly shot and killed a city man execution style.

Jackson, now 22, will finally have his day in court to defend himself before a jury of his peers.

Jury selection began Tuesday at the Mercer County Criminal Courthouse for Jackson’s imminent murder trial.

Jackson, a Trenton resident also known as “Philly” and “Cory,” is accused of shooting at 22-year-old Irvin “Swirv” Jackson in broad daylight and then chasing the victim down and fatally shooting him in the head April 9, 2012.

Irvin Jackson, who was not related to the defendant, died in a West Ward alleyway off North Hermitage Avenue.

Zaire Jackson has been charged with murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon.

Retired Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson has been recalled to the bench to preside over Jackson’s trial.

Meanwhile, the murder retrial for alleged killer Isiah Greene remains in limbo as a jury on Tuesday indicated it was nowhere near reaching a verdict.

“At this time we are unable to reach a unanimous decision,” the 12-member jury said Tuesday afternoon in a written message read aloud by Superior Court Judge Anthony Massi.

With the jury at an impasse, Massi instructed the jurors to continue deliberating for the rest of the afternoon, reminding them that “each of you must decide the case for yourself” and that “you are not partisans; you are judges of the facts.”

Despite Massi’s motivational pep talk, the jurors remained at an impasse and the judge excused the jury for the day about 4 p.m. Tuesday and instructed them to return at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday for continued deliberations.

Like Zaire Jackson, Greene, 23, of Trenton, has been charged with murder and weapons offenses for a crime he allegedly committed when he was a teenager. Greene has been accused of shooting and killing 24-year-old city man “Ace” Quaadir Gurley at the city’s Donnelly Homes housing complex in the early morning hours of July 21, 2013.

Greene’s initial murder trial in October 2015 ended in a mistrial as 12 jurors failed to unanimously decide whether he was guilty or not guilty. His retrial could prove to be déjà vu.

Mother of teen says police didn’t have permission to question son in murder case

Isaac Avilucea — Thu, 18 Dec 2014 10:20:40 -0500

The mother of a Trenton teenager testified police didn’t have her permission to interview her son about potential involvement in the 2012 shooting death of a 21-year-old city man, contradicting a claim from police that they took proper steps before interrogating the underage suspect.

Tonyell Jackson, the mother of Zaire Jackson, recalled at a Miranda hearing she was with her two children at a city motel April 20, 2012, when she was visited by three plain-clothes detectives. She recognized one as Detective Otis Wood, who testified he stood by watching while another detective went over the form with Tonyell Jackson.

Police needed the form before they could interview Zaire Jackson, who was 17 at the time, about the April 9 murder of Irvin “Swirv” Jackson, an unrelated man who was shot in the head in broad daylight on Moses Alley near North Hermitage Avenue.

Tonyell Jackson said police never informed her they had arrested Zaire Jackson for robbery and that he was back at police headquarters, sitting in an interrogation room. She said detectives only asked questions about her son’s whereabouts, which contradicted Wood’s testimony that she signed the form and waived her right to be present at the interview because she was “fed up” with her son and could no longer control him.

Testimony about whether Tonyell Jackson signed the form is crucial because detectives acknowledged they lost it. The filled-out form, bearing Tonyell Jackson’s signature, was never produced in court, and Scott Peterson, the Trenton detective who reportedly went over the form with Tonyell Jacskon, didn’t testify at the hearing, which resumed Wednesday.

Jackson’s attorney, Steven Lember, who is arguing tape of the interrogation shouldn’t be allowed into evidence, said the loss of the form is “very upsetting.”

Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Kimm Lacken wants a jury to see parts of the interrogation at trial, even though Zaire Jackson didn’t admit to the murder during the two-hour-long interview with detectives. In fact, his attorney said, he denied 38 times that he killed Irvin Jackson.

Judge Robert Billmeier heard from three witnesses, including two who testified on behalf of Zaire Jackson, and listened to both attorneys’ summations. But he didn’t rule on the evidence matter and is expected to issue a written opinion at a later date.

For part of the hearing, James Francis, a detective in the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office’s special investigation unit who worked on the homicide case with Peterson, was back on the stand to finish his testimony.

On cross-examination, he admitted he told Zaire Jackson he believed he had killed the victim in self-defense only to get him to confess. He also said a “fatherly figure” routine, in which he slung his arm around Zaire Jackson’s shoulder and lectured him, was done solely to “develop a bond” he planned to exploit.

“That was nothing more than a tactic to get him to confess,” Lember said.

Lember also asked Francis about a part of the tape when Zaire Jackson is heard expressing a “desire” for his father, Ronald Cromwell, to be present at his interview. Cromwell, testified that he is not Zaire Jackson’s biological father, but was the “father figure” in his life since he was 1 year old. Zaire Jackson does not have a relationship with his biological father, the man testified.

Cromwell said Zaire Jackson was living with him around the time of the murder. He said he heard rumors that Zaire Jackson was involved in the shooting death of Irvin Jackson, but never asked him about it because he “didn’t want to know if he did it or not.”

Cromwell was allowed over strenuous objections from Lacken to testify that he would have instructed Zaire Jackson not to speak to detectives and to get an attorney if police had contacted him and said they had his stepson in custody.

Lacken said the testimony shouldn’t have been allowed because it was speculative.

“Counsel is asking him to testify with hindsight goggles,” she told Billmeier.

Lacken established on cross-examination that Tonyell Jackson was the only one with parental rights because Cromwell never married into the family, nor had he been appointed Zaire Jackson’s legal guardian by a court.

During closing, she attacked Tonyell Jackson, saying she was “lying” about not signing the consent form because she felt “guilty” for not being present at her son’s interrogation. Police, she said, had no reason to lie about the form, which is used as an “added measure of proof” that shows steps were taken to contact a juvenile suspect’s parents. But ultimately, she said, Zaire Jackson was properly advised of his rights.

“It’s very unfortunate the state doesn’t have it,” she said. “But it doesn’t kill the case because it’s not a legal requirement. He was almost 18 years old. He knew what he was doing.”

Detectives grill suspect accused of killing Irvin “Swirv” Jackson

Isaac Avilucea — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 19:50:51 -0500

City homicide detectives grilled Zaire Jackson in a small interrogation room inside the Trenton police department for more than two hours in April 2012. But they never got him to bend to their will.

They were hoping Zaire, in custody on an unrelated burglary charge, would supply them with a much-needed confession so they could string him up for the murder of Irvin “Swirv” Jackson.

Jackson, who is not related to Zaire Jacskon, was shot in the head in broad daylight on Moses Alley near North Hermitage Avenue on the afternoon April 9, 2012.

The tape of detectives’ two-hour interrogation of Zaire was played in court Wednesday during a Miranda hearing before Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier. At one point during the April 20 interrogation, Trenton police Detective Scott Peterson called Zaire, 17 and just 34 days shy of his 18th birthday, a “ruthless, cold-blooded killer” and said he had “no doubt” he killed Jackson. He warned Zaire a jury would not believe his story if it went to trial, and that they would want to see remorse, not defiance, from the killer.

“Don’t give a f--- about life,” Peterson told Zaire. “Not a care in the world. Nothing saving him. I guess that’s how you wanna be looked at. It’s a shame.”

Detectives employed various tactics to try to get Zaire to crack. They told him several witnesses identified him as the gunman in the brazen shooting. They said they obtained video surveillance that corroborated those witnesses’ statements and showed Zaire was in the vicinity of the shooting when he claimed he was with a friend most of the day. They said they believed Zaire acted in self-defense and they could help him if he just confessed.

It’s unclear if any of those claims are true or merely a bluff to con Zaire into a confession. Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Kimm Lacken declined to comment about the case following the hearing.

Zaire’s defense attorney, Steve Lember, wants statements his client made during the interrogation suppressed because he said it’s unclear whether his client’s mother, Tonyell, signed a consent form that would allow detectives to interview Zaire, who was a juvenile at the time, about the homicide without his mother being present.

Two detectives testified they met with Tonyell at a hotel on April 20, 2012, and she signed the form hours after her son was taken into custody on an unrelated burglary charge. But the consent form was never produced during the hearing, and it’s unclear if police are still in possession of the consent form. The hearing broke before Lember had an opportunity to cross-examine James Francis of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office’s special investigations unit about specifics of the interrogation. Francis was assigned to work on the homicide case with Peterson.

Detective Otis Smith of the U.S. Marshals New York/New Jersey Regional Task testified he helped arrest Zaire as the suspect in the burglary case. When Smith brought Zaire back to the Trenton police department for booking, he was approached by detectives Peterson and Francis, who wanted to interview Zaire about his possible involvement in Jackson’s death. Smith, who had worked in Trenton police’s burglary investigation unit, was asked to reach out to Zaire’s mother since they had “good rapport.”

Otis said he eventually got in touch with Tonyell, and he, Peterson and Francis traveled to a hotel she was staying at with her children after they received threats in the wake of Jackson’s death.

Otis said the woman signed the form and waived her right to be present at the interrogation because she was “fed up” with Zaire and could no longer control him. The detectives traveled back to police headquarters, where Zaire had been left in an interrogation room for five hours.

Francis testified he and Peterson read Zaire his Miranda rights before they began interviewing him around 5:20 p.m. Francis stressed police followed protocol and Zaire was treated properly. He said he even bought the suspect McDonald’s and left him unshackled in the interrogation room so he’d be more comfortable speaking with detectives.

Zaire was asked to tell his story.

Zaire claimed he had nothing to do with Jackson’s murder. He described a hard-luck life that included a strained relationship with his mother, who would often drink to the point of intoxication and bring several paramours around the house. He had gotten kicked out of his aunt’s house recently after he refused to turn himself into police on the burglary warrant. He was bouncing between the home of his stepfather, Ronald Cromwell, and a friend.

Zaire said he had taken to selling drugs on the streets. He was apparently making enough money to gain the attention of some local hustlers, who he said had robbed him days before Jackson’s death.

Zaire also described another incident at an Easter cookout the day before Jackson was killed. Zaire said he got into a verbal altercation with another man. That man pulled a gun and put it to Zaire’s head. Zaire dared him to pull the trigger. “If you’re gonna shoot me, shoot me.”

Zaire claimed Jackson was one of the men who de-escalated the situation. Zaire said he and Jackson exchanged words before he left the home with a group of associates. Later that night, Zaire said, someone shot up the house he was staying at.

Detectives were unmoved, calling his story “bulls***.” They said witnesses told them a different story and focused on Zaire’s actions on April 9.

They suggested Zaire went after Jackson because he was scared for his life and had to strike preemptively to avoid getting killed himself. After all, Peterson said, “Swirv is not an angel.”

The detectives did the bad cop/good cop routine to wear down Zaire from his “tough-guy” persona. Francis lectured Zaire for several minutes, acting as a fatherly figure. Zaire was mostly silent.

“You got dealt a bad hand,” Francis told Zaire, at one point placing his hand on his shoulder. “My personal belief: It was self-defense. Let me help you.”

“I wasn’t there,” Zaire said.

Francis told Zaire he couldn’t even look him in the face and deny it. Then he picked up his notepad and left the room, replaced by Peterson.

Peterson made Zaire recount his alibi. Zaire said he woke up around noon or 1 p.m. the day Jackson was killed. He called up a friend and had him pick him up. They hung out for a few hours before Zaire said he had him drop him off at his girlfriend’s house, where he stayed overnight.

But Peterson didn’t buy it and told Zaire to confess.

“Are you a ruthless thug or did you make a mistake?” he said. “You heard the expression the truth will set you free. There’s no doubt in my mind you did it. And if I can see, don’t you think that 12 people in the jury will see it? This is never going away. But you have an out. You take the out now or you’re never gonna get it again.”

Trenton cops: Man shot in head, killed

Trentonian Staff — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:26:45 -0400

A 22-year-old Trenton man by the name of Irvin Jackson was shot in the head and killed Monday afternoon in an alley in the 100 block of Hermitage Avenue.

The motive in the daylight execution of Jackson, 22, was not known.

The men at Ben’s Furniture across Hermitage Avenue said they heard four loud reports.

“I was on my lunch break next door, and I heard Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Four shots,” said John Moore. “I looked out the windows, and I saw the boy laying down.

“There was a crowd around him,” he said. “He was a friend; they were just trying to tell him to stay strong.” Shop owner Ben Lashley said he also heard four shots.

Officers responded to shots fired about 2 p.m., a police spokesman said.

The victim died at Capital Health Regional Medical Center’s Fuld trauma unit, becoming Trenton’s sixth homicide victim of 2012.

Trenton activist and Trentonian TV host Darren Freedom Green was at the hospital; he tweeted this: “police wagons and sheriffs are by Emergency exits ... Family members and friends are irate and in shock.”

Later in the day, two sheets were tacked up near the Hermitage Grocery, as grieving friends wrote “R.I.P. Swurv” in Sharpie. A man sat alone quietly on a bench near the canal.

A man with two children had just gone by in the bright sunshine and wind, toward the Cadwalader playground.