Man gets new trial in 1991 killing
Annie4007
The New Jersey Supreme Court yesterday overturned the murder
conviction and death sentence of Charles E. Reddish Jr., in the
slaying of a special-education teacher in her Cherry Hill apartment.
The court's decision means that Reddish, 43, is entitled to a new
trial in the slaying of Yeda Sharon "Dede" Rosenthal, 32, a teacher of
autistic children who disappeared in 1991 and whose body has never
been found.
The court said it found fault with the judge's instructions to the
jury.
When a Camden County jury decided in 2002 that Reddish should get the
death penalty for killing Rosenthal, he was already serving two life
sentences for the 1995 ax murder of his girlfriend, Rebecca Wertz, 43,
and the rape and kidnapping of her then-14-year-old daughter.
Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi said in a written
statement that his office would retry Reddish.
"We are surprised and very disappointed in the Supreme Court's
decision. We have communicated the result to Dede Rosenthal's family
members, and they are understandably quite upset," Sarubbi said.
Blaine Rosenberg, 61, Rosenthal's half-brother, who regularly attended
the trial and penalty-phase hearings, traveling from his home in
Toronto, was distraught and sobbing hours after he heard about the
court's ruling.
"They're treating the criminals with all the respect they can get, and
the victims and the victim's family they treat like dirt," Rosenberg
said.
Rosenberg said he had not yet dared to break the news to his elderly
mother, and his own health has suffered through the long ordeal. But
he vowed to not give up.
"Until the day I die, I will fight," Rosenberg said. "I will see this
man put to death one way or the other."
The New Jersey Office of the Public Defender, whose lawyers
represented Reddish, applauded the decision.
"The Public Defender is pleased that the New Jersey Supreme Court
overturned the conviction and the death sentence of Charles Reddish
following its determination that he did not receive a fair trial," the
office said in a statement.
Ironically, perhaps, one of the grounds on which Reddish sought to
have his conviction and sentence overturned was that he was not
allowed to represent himself at trial. The court chose not to rule on
that matter.
Rather, the court ruled that Superior Court Judge Frank M. Lario
should not have let the jury know that Reddish was under arrest for
another crime when he confessed to killing Rosenthal, saying the
information was prejudicial. At the time, in 1995, Reddish was in
custody for the killing of Wertz, his girlfriend, in their Burlington
Township home. In a compromise, the Rosenthal jury was not told what
the other, unrelated charge was, but was permitted to learn that
Reddish's girlfriend was dead.
The court also faulted Lario's instructions to the jury regarding the
lack of a body. The court found that the judge's instructions tended
to favor the prosecution's case, and did not adequately point to
arguments that favored the defense.
In 2001, a jury found Reddish, a man with a history of drug abuse and
family problems, guilty of suffocating Rosenthal during a break-in at
her apartment. Reddish, who was a maintenance worker at the Cherry
Hill apartment complex, told police he stole $80 from Rosenthal's
purse after she was unconscious. He said he came back later, removed
her body, and left her in a field of weeds along Route 130 in Salem
County.
"I liked her," he said on a tape played during his trials. "I thought
she was very nice. I knew she lived alone."
After his statements to investigators, he accompanied them on a search
for the body, which proved unsuccessful. Reddish was offered a deal
that would have spared him the death penalty if he helped authorities
find Rosenthal's body, but he reneged. A separate jury decided in 2002
he should be executed.
Under the court's decision, prosecutors will have to re-present the
case to another grand jury if they plan to seek the death penalty.