Judge Signs Order Dismissing Complaint Against Man Accused of Sex Assault in Negersmith Cold Case

COURT HOUSE – The state Appellate Court shot down an attempt by the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office to freeze the proceedings against a man they arrested in a 32-year-old cold case while they ask the Supreme Court to reconsider a recent Appellate Court decision dismissing the charges due to an expired statute of limitations.
A trial court judge subsequently signed an order April 12 dismissing the complaint against Jerry Rosado with prejudice, meaning it cannot be recharged by the state. 
Rosado had been released from the state’s custody, after being held 11 months, on his own recognizance March 30 by Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury in the wake of the Appellate Court’s decision.
The order dismissing the case, also signed by DeLury, drops all conditions associated with Rosado’s release, ordering the defendant “fully restored to his liberty without condition.”
Rosado was charged with sexually assaulting Susan Negersmith, a tourist visiting Wildwood from New York in 1990. She was found dead behind a local restaurant/bar and, after originally being ruled an accident, her cause of death was changed to a homicide years later. No one has ever been charged with her murder.
A suspect DNA profile identified in 1990 was sent to a lab in 2018 for genetic genealogy analysis, which led to Rosado being identified as a person of interest in the sexual assault crime, according to court documents. 
After identifying Rosado, the state obtained a warrant to get his DNA, records indicate. Rosado was charged in April 2022 and held without bail pending trial.
Eric Shenkus, the deputy public defender who has successfully represented Rosado, argued the crime had a five-year statute of limitations in 1990 and, as a result, Rosado could not be prosecuted for it 32 years later. He was unsuccessful in arguing that to DeLury, the trial court judge, but on appeal, the decision was reversed.
Prosecutors’ emergent motion for a stay, pending the disposition of a petition for certification to the Supreme Court, was denied April 11, according to MaryAnn Spoto, communications manager for the New Jersey judiciary. Essentially, the stay would have kept DeLury from signing the dismissal order until the Supreme Court decides if it will hear the case.
The petition asking the court to take up the matter is pending before the Supreme Court, Spoto added. Shenkus, Rosado’s lawyer, said he will get an opportunity to respond to the state’s petition.
“It will be entirely up to the Supreme Court to grant that petition or not. They can deny it, which means that the dismissal stands. They can grant it, which still means that the dismissal stands, but that full briefing and arguments would be held before the Supreme Court sometime next fall/winter,” Shenkus told the Herald in an emailed statement. “Only if the Supreme Court decides after that that the Appellate Division was in error would the complaint be reinstated.”
The defense lawyer didn’t seem concerned that the Supreme Court would have anything different to say than the appellate panel.
“I am confident that the well-reasoned opinion of the Appellate Court will withstand any challenge, and that the charges against Mr. Rosado will remain dismissed,” Shenkus stated.
Chief Assistant Prosecutor Saverio Carroccia did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the matter.
To reach Shay Roddy, email sroddy@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 142.