Judge Keeps Mosley’s Bail at $1 Million; Faces Charges in Angstadt Slaying

COURT HOUSE – Aug. 18, four months after first appearing before New Jersey Superior Court Judge John C. Porto and nine months since being charged as one of the suspects in the murder of 15-year-old Nicole Angstadt, Charles Mosley, 34, of Middle Township, awaited a decision on his bail. 
At his initial bail hearing, Mosley’s defense attorney Ed Weinstock, of Weinstock and Associates of Atlantic City, won a reprieve after notifying the court that he had just received volumes of discovery evidence from the office of Assistant Prosecutor Robert Johnson and needed time to go through it since the charges were so severe.
Origin of the charges
While in custody for an unrelated robbery charge, Mosley and co-defendant Derrick Powers were charged with the murder of Angstadt. Her body was discovered in the crawl space of a vacant Rio Grande home Dec. 13, 2015.
Mosley faces first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated assault, sexual assault of a minor, desecration of human remains, and hindering apprehension charges. If convicted, the charges could result in 30 years in state prison with an 85 percent serving time minimum.
“Johnson Factors”
Entering a plea of not guilty for his client, Weinstock moved to lower the amount of Mosley’s bail from $1 million, the maximum level as set by the charges, to the minimum $250,000.
Weinstock addressed the bail-setting criterion known as Johnson factors. Derived from a 1972 NJ Supreme Court case, the Johnson factors are a list of considerations that a judge uses to ensure that a set bail is not excessively burdensome and used to unjustly confine a defendant.
Weinstock told the court that being a lifelong resident of Middle Township; Mosley resided with his mother, who lived locally, and had an employer still interested in retaining his services.
Defense versus Prosecution
During this appeal, Weinstock also directed attention to the strength of the prosecution’s case against Mosley.
Claiming that Miranda Rights discrepancies had occurred, Weinstock quickly moved from that to the allegation that the evidence gathered seemed to indicate strongly co-defendant Powers was the prime suspect.
Reinforcing this claim, Weinstock continued, was the existence of up to three witnesses naming Powers as the main culprit for the crimes, with one witness stating that Powers had confessed to his primary role in the murder.
State’s Case
When it was Johnson’s turn before the judge, the assistant prosecutor moved quickly to deconstruct the image of Mosley that Weinstock had tried to create.
Johnson cited a list of 10 prior criminal convictions that included; second-degree robbery (2002 and 2003), alluding arrest (2004), joyriding (2007), burglary (2011), third-degree aggravated assault (2011), another burglary charge (2012) and resisting arrest (2012).
In addition to these were two bench warrants issued for his arrest due to Mosley’s failure to appear in court on two previous occasions.
Regarding the Angstadt case, Johnson was equally fluent in the factors linking Mosley to the crime.
The prosecution had accumulated 60 compact discs of evidence that included DNA results, witness testimony and even a confession by Mosley that he had participated in the dismemberment of Angstadt.
For those reasons, Johnson implored the judge to leave the bail fixed at $1 million cash.
When Johnson referenced the “sawing-off” of Angstadt’s leg, Heather Bradley, Angstadt’s older sister shook her lowered head in horror, while other family members could be seen to wince or tear up. Up until that moment, the family of Angstadt had seemed in better spirits than they had previously.
Judge’s Ruling
With both sides having finished their presentations, Porto ruled that the preponderance of serious charges and the severity of their respective degrees far outweighed the points Weinstock had brought up for lessening the bail.
Porto ruled for the prosecution’s request, and bail was kept at a ‘cash only’ maximum amount of $1 million.
Mosley will appear in court Nov. 18, 2016, for his last status conference before the trial set for Jan. 27, 2017.
To contact Christopher Knoll, email cknoll@cmcherald.com.