Court overturns conviction

By Nathan Mayberg
TRENTON — A man in jail for allegedly killing another man during a 2008 fistfight outside Legends Resort in Vernon, was ordered a new trial on Tuesday by the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division.

The panel found "serious trial errors" in the case of Jacob Gentry, a Tennessee man who was convicted of manslaughter and endangering an injured victim at a 2011 trial over the death of David Haulmark. He also was aquitted of a homicide charge but was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The three-member circuit ruled that the lower court had failed to properly instruct the jury that self-defense was an acceptable defense in a manslaughter case even if a fight involved mutual combat.

The higher court found the prosecution's use of Gentry's brother's alleged statements to police was "hearsay and clearly inadmissable" and violated Jacob's right to confront witnesses against him and due process. Prosecutors used statements the brother, Jarrod, allegedly made, but the appeals court panel said the brother should have been tried together with Jacob and his statements should have been made on the witness stand where he could be cross-examnined.

The court found that the trial judge erred in blocking the defense from entering evidence about Haulmark, including allegations of domestic violence and other aggressive actions.

The defense had also argued that the sentence was "mainifestly excessive."

Gentry, who was working on a pipeline in Pine Island, N.Y., was accused of being aided by his girlfriend Emily Henry and his brother, Jarrod Gentry, in the beating death of Haulmark. Gentry had denied that he was aided by the two, who were found guilty of lesser charges at separate trial. The appeals court ruled the three should have been tried together.

The appeal was handled by Steven Kirsch, a public defender at the state appellate division

Thomas Militano, who handled the case at trial, said he is "happy with the decision," by the court. He raised objections to some of the prosecution's tactics and forwarded them to the appeal attorney.

Militano said Gentry had been harassed and beaten by Haulmark and his friends numerous times before the fatal incident. He had returned that night to the resort to drop off a friend at the bar, Militano said. Video showed Gentry and Haulmark giving each other a handshake inside the resort's bar before they went outside, off camera, in the early morning hours.

The appeals court found the evidence showed that Haulmark was a 235-pound former football linebacker, who outweighed Gentry by 80 pounds and had a history of aggressive actions along with other friends who resented Gentry because he was scrawny, dressed oddly and had "a beautiful and flirtatious girlfriend."

During the fight, Militano was allegedly tackled, choked and bitten by Haulmark before kicking him in the head to get him off him. Henry admitted to using pepper spray against Haulmark to stop him. Henry spent more than three years in jail after pleading guilty to the charge.

One resort employee testified that Haulmark had threatened to kill an employee at the resort, harm her family and burn her homes down.

Another pipeline worker testified that Haulmark threatened to break his neck and harm his girlfriend.

Messages left with the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office were not immediately returned.