TRENTON – A witness to a fatal shooting in a Trenton alley in 2012 received a “snitch letter” warning him not to go to authorities, according to prosecutors.
The witness, Casey Corker, testified earlier this week that he believed the letter came from Zaire Jackson, 22, who is currently on trial on a murder charge in the killing of Irvin Jackson, 22, who was not related to Zaire.
But Zaire Jackson’s defense attorney called handwriting expert J. Wright Leonard Thursday to testify that Jackson did not write the letter calling Corker a snitch.
Leonard compared the note to a sample of Zaire Jackson’s handwriting, saying that everything – from the formation to size of the letters – was different about the two pieces.
“There are many inconsistencies,” Leonard said of the two pieces, adding, “It’s very clear that the writer of the note is not the writer of the prepared specimen.”
Casey Corker, a witness who claimed he saw the shooting, testified earlier this week that he received a threatening, anonymous note after the shooting. Corker believed the note, which referred to him as a “snitch” and told him not to go to authorities, was written by Zaire Jackson, Mercer County prosecutors have said.
Corker is currently serving a 15 year state prison sentence for shooting two men during a 2013 robbery in Trenton.
Accused killer denies involvement
But Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Mennuti, who referred to the note as, “the snitch letter,” suggested during cross-examination that, while Jackson may not have written the letter, he could have dictated it to someone else.
Leonard was one of the most recent witnesses to testify this week after a trial that included testimony from various people who knew Zaire Jackson and Irvin Jackson as well as police who worked on the case.
During opening statements in the trial last week, prosecutors said Zaire Jackson killed Irvin Jackson over “street code.” Mennuti told jurors that Zaire Jackson believed Irvin Jackson had disrespected him and that he was responsible for shots that were fired at Zaire Jackson’s house the day before the killing.
Defense Attorney Steve Lember, meanwhile, has maintained his client’s innocence, arguing that the two men were friends and that the witnesses who claimed to have seen the shooting were unreliable.
The trial is nearing a close but final witnesses are expected to testify Friday or Monday.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman.
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