Overview
- Harris Jacobs, 28, was found guilty in a retrial of second-degree knowingly leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle accident in the 2022 death of pedestrian Orlando Fraga.
- Defense attorney Lou Barbone says the governor’s counsel notified Jacobs early that morning that a pardon had been issued before the verdict, and he plans to seek vacatur of the conviction.
- The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office condemned the clemency, saying the intervention of political power and connections can render a jury’s decision meaningless.
- Prosecutors and trial accounts say surveillance video showed Jacobs stopping near the scene and checking on Fraga, then leaving without calling police after phoning his father multiple times.
- Former Gov. Phil Murphy’s final-hours clemency actions included 97 pardons and 51 commutations, with separate grants such as a sentence reduction for Mordechai Berkowitz also drawing scrutiny.