The murder and weapons convictions of Darius D. Bolden—sentenced to 45 years for a deadly Jersey City shooting—have been overturned after a state appeals court found multiple trial errors.
Bolden, now 39, was convicted of shooting Jason Dunbar on Fulton Avenue on August 27, 2019.
However, the appeals court ruled that the trial featured several critical missteps, including the improper use of police interrogation footage, unauthenticated video evidence, and inappropriate remarks made by the prosecutor.
The court also ordered a new hearing to determine whether Bolden’s cell phones—used to place him near the scene—were legally seized.
Prosecutors argued Bolden shot Dunbar in retaliation for a widely shared Facebook video that showed Dunbar pushing Bolden to the ground during a fight. They claimed Bolden felt humiliated and acted out of revenge.
But the appeals court found the fight video had been admitted without proper authentication, and a witness had testified about it based on hearsay.
Another major issue involved Bolden’s police interrogation video. Detectives repeatedly suggested Bolden was lying and offered personal opinions—conduct the court said may have unfairly swayed the jury.
The video also captured Bolden requesting a lawyer, which the prosecutor referenced during closing arguments. The court said this could have misled jurors into interpreting Bolden’s request for counsel as an admission of guilt.
The court further criticized the use of phone data charts presented through witnesses who didn’t prepare them. While not enough on their own to overturn the conviction, these contributed to what the court called the overall unfairness of the trial.
As a result, the Appellate Division overturned Bolden’s convictions for:
-
First-degree murder
-
Second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose
-
Second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon
A separate drug possession conviction, which resulted in a three-year sentence and was unrelated to the murder, still stands and was not part of the appeal.
If prosecutors decide to retry the case, the appeals court emphasized that it must be done fairly and in line with legal standards.
The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, which tried the case, is still reviewing the court’s decision and has declined to comment. The New Jersey Office of the Public Defender, which represented Bolden, has not yet responded to a request for comment.
