Newark -- Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray announced today that an Essex County grand jury has indicted Wacoa M. Stanford, 44, of Newark on three counts of perjury for lying during jury selection.
Stanford was a deliberating juror in the trial of State v. Travis Hartsfield, who was charged with murdering his 20-month old daughter, Asiyah Hartsfield.
Assistant Prosecutor Roger Imhof, who presented the case to the grand jury, said during jury selection Stanford knowingly concealed that she had a prior disorderly person conviction and that she had previously been investigated by the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services for allegedly abusing her twins but the matter was eventually dropped.
Stanford brought up the issue of the DYFS investigation during deliberations and other jurors believed it was unduly influencing her ability to be fair in the Hartsfield case, a matter that a juror brought to the attention of the judge.
When questioned by the judge, Stanford denied she had raised the DYFS matter before other jurors, a statement that was refuted by 10 of the deliberating jurors, according to Imhof. The trial judge determined that because of her dishonesty she was not fit to serve as a juror. She was removed from the case and an alternate was brought in to replace her. Jurors began their deliberations anew and ultimately convicted Hartsfield of murdering his daughter. The case was tried by Assistant Prosecutor Michele Miller.
Today, an indictment was returned charging Stanford with three counts of false swearing. Two of the counts for false swearing are a result of her failing to disclose, on Sept. 23, 2014, during jury questioning that she had previously been accused of a committing an offense and her prior DYFS investigation. The third count of false swearing was for lying to the judge at sidebar on Oct. 24, 2014. She told the judge she did not discuss her prior DYFS involved in the jury room.
Stanford is expected to be arraigned in March. The date has not been set yet. These are accusations. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they enter a guilty plea or are found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Photo :Hartsfield