COURT HOUSE – A judge ordered Jerry Rosado, accused by the state in the rape of Susan Negersmith, a tourist found dead in Wildwood over Memorial Day weekend in 1990, released from the state’s custody March 30.
Rosado was held in custody for over 11 months on a sexual assault charge prosecutors brought more than 30 years after the alleged incident. He is currently in the hospital recovering after having his leg amputated due to complications from diabetes, his lawyer said.
“There are no longer sheriff’s officers standing at his bedside,” Eric Shenkus, the lawyer, added.
Shenkus said Rosado, born in 1959, will remain in the hospital due to his medical condition. He was arrested in April 2022, accused of sexually assaulting Susan Negersmith, who died after a night of heavy drinking in September of 1990, in Wildwood.
Negersmith’s cause of death was, at first, ruled accidental. However, six years later it was changed to “homicide”. No one has ever been arrested in her murder.
New DNA analysis conducted using a suspect profile identified from semen found on the victim identified Rosado as a person of interest 30 years after the death. He subsequently submitted a DNA sample to police and was eventually arrested, not charged with murder, but with having sex with Negersmith when she was too intoxicated to consent.
On March 29, the appellate court directed the trial court to dismiss Rosado’s case, after a panel of three New Jersey Appellate Division judges agreed it was not brought within the statute of limitations.
Presiding Judge Bernard E. DeLury Jr., the trial judge, who denied Rosado’s motion to dismiss the charge in a 34-page decision issued in August 2022, signed an order to release Rosado on his own recognizance in the wake of the appellate decision reversing his prior ruling, the Herald is reporting exclusively.
Rosado was granted a stay in his case pretrial to appeal DeLury’s decision on the motion to dismiss.
The case against Rosado has not been officially dismissed by DeLury, after prosecutors represented their intention to appeal to the New Jersey Supreme Court. DeLury held a telephonic conference with attorneys on both sides first thing in the morning March 30. ‘
Later that afternoon, Shenkus told the Herald the appellate court “had granted a stay, pending the filing of an emergent motion on short notice. The State has until April 4 to file that motion in the Appellate Division. The defense has until April 10 to respond. This means that the appellate order to dismiss the case is stayed pending a decision on that emergent motion.”
MaryAnn Spoto, a spokesperson for the appellate court, confirmed that schedule for the Herald, but did say no temporary stay had been obtained.
Chief Assistant Prosecutor Saverio Carroccia, who participated in the conference call on behalf of the state, did not respond to a voicemail from the Herald March 30.
An order from Judge DeLury filed just after 9 a.m. March 30 set the terms for the ROR (Release on Own Recognizance) bail order. Rosado must appear for future court proceedings in the matter, keep pre-trial services aware of his contact information and home address, and agree to waive rights to extradition proceedings.
All three judges on the appellate panel agreed it should be dismissed, so it is not a case subject to automatic review, Shenkus said. The state will now have to convince the Supreme Court to hear the case.
Rosado will likely remain free until then. The Supreme Court simply agreeing to hear the case will not be enough to put Rosado back in the state’s custody pending the outcome of prosecutors’ appeal.
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