Prior DWI admissible at trial on East Hanover man’s death

• Appeals court: Comment that blamed victim not admissible
• Drunken driving suspect in Ralph Politi death drove over lawn, damaged her car, earlier in the day

A state appeals court Thursday ruled that Vanessa E. Brown’s prior drunken driving conviction can be used against her at trial and it upheld a judge’s decision to limit what a jury can hear about Brown’s remarks about the 2012 crash that killed East Hanover community leader Ralph Politi Jr.

The appellate panel upheld pre-trial rulings made last September by Superior Court Judge Robert Gilson in the case of Brown, who is charged with aggravated manslaughter and vehicular homicide in the May 5, 2012 killing of Politi, 49, as he loaded items into his pickup truck in a parking lot at 30 Ridgedale Ave. in East Hanover.

Gilson, after hearing from multiple pre-trial witnesses, ruled that a Morris County jury could not hear that Brown told police that Politi “came out of nowhere” and hit her because the testimony would be too prejudicial to her. Gilson’s ruling was based, in part, on Brown’s professed willingness at trial to cast no blame on Politi for his own death.

The judge had ruled that Morris County assistant prosecutors could use other statements by Brown to prove alleged recklessness, including her remarks that she didn’t know what happened. The prosecutor’s office appealed suppression of the comment “he came out of nowhere.” While the appellate court concluded that Gilson did not abuse his discretion in suppressing the comment, it said he could reconsider that decision based upon how trial testimony unfolds.

Prosecutors also want a jury to hear that Brown had a DWI conviction from 2009 in Tinton Falls, when her blood alcohol content was .194 percent, or more than double the .08 percent level at which a motorist is deemed legally intoxicated. Noting that Brown is accused of having a .133 percent BAC in the Politi homicide, Gilson had ruled that the 2009 DWI conviction could be revealed to jurors for the limited purpose of showing she had knowledge of the dangers of drunken driving.

Defense lawyer Gerard Saluti had appealed admission of the prior DWI at trial.

A Parsippany resident, Brown, now 34, is accused of being under the influence of alcohol and cocaine on May 5, 2012, when her Toyota Camry veered off Ridgedale Avenue and ran down Politi, who briefly survived catastrophic injuries.

In addition to some of her statements at the scene, authorities have video surveillance that shows the crash and statements from people who observed Brown earlier in the day drive over a lawn, damage her vehicle spoiler and drive away while the spoiler dragged on the road.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@dailyrecord.com.