Judge: Jury Won't Hear Accused Drunken Driver's Comment About Victim

The jury won't be permitted to hear certain comments made by Vanessa E. Brown, the Parsippany woman charged with driving under the influence in the May 2012 death of East Hanover's Ralph Politi Jr., according to the Daily Record. 

Brown, 33, is accused of being under the influence of alcohol and cocaine when her Toyota Camry ran down 49-year-old Politi, who was loading items into a truck outside his business, Politi Auto Parts, at 30 Ridgedale Ave. in East Hanover.

Superior Court Judge Robert J. Gilson released a written decision on what statements and conduct may be used against Brown in trial. Among his rulings:

• The jury will not hear Brown's comment to police that Politi “came out of nowhere’’ and hit her because the judge determined the testimony would be too prejudicial to Brown.
• Prosecutors are permitted to refer to Brown's proven “prior bad acts and other crimes,” including evidence that she drove under the influence of alcohol and cocaine on the day Politi died. 
• The judge said that prosecutors may introduce testimony—with a limited scope—from two witnesses who saw Brown drive her car over a residential lawn prior to the May 5, 2012, accident.
• Prosecutors can show that Brown's 2009 DWI guilty plea in Tinton Falls for driving while impaired on the Garden State Parkway.
  
  

Brown, who has been held in the Morris County jail since her arrest last May, is due in court Oct. 7 for a status conference.