Haddon Heights shooter Leslie Nelson loses appeal
Leslie Nelson, who killed two law enforcement officers and critically wounded a third during a 1995 standoff in Haddon Heights, has lost another legal battle.
Leslie Nelson, who killed two law enforcement officers and critically wounded a third during a 1995 standoff in Haddon Heights, has lost another legal battle.
A two-judge panel Thursday denied an appeal by Nelson seeking a hearing on her claim that she received ineffective counsel during her sentencing and an appeal.
Nelson, 58, challenged the consecutive life sentences handed down to her for the murders of John Norcross and John McLaughlin.
Norcross, a Haddon Heights police officer, and McLaughlin, an investigator with the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, were killed while attempting to serve Nelson with a warrant to search her home for weapons.
Norcross' brother Richard, also a Haddon Heights police officer, was wounded. Nelson was sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting Richard Norcross.
She opened fire with an AK-47 assault rifle on the officers who had gone to her Sylvan Avenue home. Nelson was arrested after a 14-hour standoff.
She was condemned to death, but the state Supreme Court twice overturned the sentence and sent the case back to Superior Court. The high court cited flawed jury verdict forms and inappropriate comments from a prosecutor.
In June 2007, prosecutors agreed to abandon a third attempt to obtain a death sentence. New Jersey abolished the death penalty months later.
Under the agreement, Nelson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to back-to-back life terms in prison. She will not be eligible for parole until she serves 65 years.
In the appeal denied Thursday, Nelson contended, among other things, that her attorney had failed to argue for concurrent sentences and that the sentencing judge violated her rights by denying her request to waive her appearance at the sentencing.
In the ruling, the appellate court said Nelson knew that she faced consecutive sentences under the plea agreement. It said the judge had fully addressed Nelson's claims.
"The judge," the court said, "found these arguments were procedurally barred," but addressed their merits nonetheless and found them lacking.
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