Trials and Verdicts
Crystal L. Sanders
Professor Roshanna S. Parker
CRJ 100 – Intro to Criminal Justice
February 25, 2015

Bergen County v. Baksh and Roberts
On August 12, 2010, Officers Saheed Baksh and Jeffrey Roberts were the first to respond to Bogota after a high-speed chase that started when two suspects fled the scene of a home that they attempted to burglarize. When apprehending the suspects, one of them reached for what Baksh suspected was a gun and the officer fired two rounds, both of which missed the driver. It was believed that both officers failed to immediately report the shooting and that officer Baksh removed the shell casing from the crime scene and at first had denied that he had even discharged his weapon. …show more content…

The DNA matched Roscoe Artis, who lived near where the victim’s body was found and had a history of convictions of sexual assault. Artis had confessed to rape and murder of an 18 year old girl only weeks after the murder and considering the similarities in both crimes, it’s shocking that officials kept their focus on McCollum and Brown even after they said they were innocent. Their convictions were based on coerced confessions and their exoneration was based on DNA evidence that proved that neither of them were at the scene of the crime.

References
JEAN RIMBACHEmail: "2 RETURN TO COUNTY COPS AFTER ACQUITTAL." Record (Bergen County, NJ). 2014, June 07: L1.
WECT Staff. (2012). Guilty: Plea deal reached for men involved in riot before hankins’ death. Retrieved from http://www.wect.com/story/18780887/plea-deal-reached-for-man-involved-in-riot-before-marcus-hankins-death
WECT Staff. (2012). Arrests made in connection to death of marcus hankins. Retrieved from http://www.wect.com/story/17103356/arrests-made-in-connection-to-death-of-marcus-hankins
Katz, J. M., & Eckholm, E. (2014). DNA Evidence Clears Two Men in 1983 Murder. Retrieved from