Joanne Chesimard accomplice gets parole in trooper's death
FILE — A portrait of New Jersey State Police trooper Werner Foerster is displayed during an event unveiling a monument in his honor, Nov. 18, 2015, in East Brunswick, N.J. A split New Jersey Supreme Court granted parole Tuesday, May 10. 2022, to Sundiata Acoli, a former militant convicted in the 1973 death of Foerster, in a case that has resonated for decades and been a thorny issue in U.S.-Cuba relations.
In Tuesday's 3-2 ruling with Chief Justice Stuart Rabner not participating, the court held that the state parole board didn't meet its required burden of demonstrating there was a substantial likelihood of Acoli committing another crime. “However despised Acoli may be in the eyes of many because of the notoriety of his crime, he too is entitled to the protection of the law — and to the fair and impartial administration of justice,” Albin wrote.
Acoli was known as Clark Edward Squire in 1973 when the car he was riding in was stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike for a broken tail light. According to court documents, Acoli’s gun went off during a struggle with Foerster, who had responded as backup. In a dissenting opinion, Justices Lee Solomon and Anne Patterson wrote that the parole board's decision was supported by the evidence and should be left undisturbed.
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