STATE v. PAYNE

A-25 September Term 2023 088925.

327 A.3d 1196 (2025)

259 N.J. 452

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Celestine PAYNE, Defendant-Respondent.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Decided January 13, 2025.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Timothy P. Kerrigan, Jr., Chief Assistant Prosecutor, argued the cause for appellant (Camelia M. Valdes, Passaic County Prosecutor, attorney; Timothy P. Kerrigan, Jr., of counsel and on the briefs).

Colin Sheehan, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for respondent (Jennifer N. Sellitti, Public Defender, attorney; Colin Sheehan, of counsel and on the briefs, and Alison Gifford, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, on the briefs).

David M. Galemba, Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause for amicus curiae Attorney General of New Jersey (Matthew J. Platkin, Attorney General, attorney; David M. Galemba, of counsel and on the brief).

Kevin R. Li argued the cause for amicus curiae Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey (Pashman Stein Walder Hayden, attorneys; Kevin R. Li and Claude Heffron, on the brief).

Alexander Shalom, Newark, argued the cause for amicus curiae American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (Lowenstein Sandler, and American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey Foundation, attorneys; Alexander Shalom and Jeanne LoCicero, on the brief).


In 1991, Celestine Payne poisoned her husband Alphonso Payne to collect his $39,000 life insurance policy. She then enlisted her children and a tenant who lived with her family, Eugene Cooper, to help her dump Alphonso's body on the side of a road...

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