Carmine Neri, shown in his arrest mugshot, is facing a murder charge.
A Wildwood Crest man charged with murder in the shooting death of a family member will claim he acted in self-defense, his attorney said Wednesday during a court appearance.
Carmine Neri, 63, is accused of killing Joseph Falciani, 41, on Feb. 12 at a home on East Cresse Avenue in Wildwood Crest.
Court documents described Neri and Falciani as family members, but did not divulge their exact relationship. The documents also said that a 10-year-old child in Neri’s care was in the house at the time of the shooting.
Neri, who has been in jail since his arrest, appeared Wednesday in state Superior Court in Cape May Court House for his pretrial detention hearing.
However, the hearing was pushed back to March 5 by Judge Christine Smith after Neri’s attorney, Matthew Portella, complained that he had not been given a copy of the autopsy report of Falciani’s death. The autopsy was done on Feb. 16.
“I find it highly unusual that it’s two weeks into a homicide (investigation) and the state doesn’t have at least one report,” Portella told the judge.
Assistant Prosecutor Edward Shim said he had not yet received a copy of the autopsy report, so he was unable to share it with Portella.
“I don’t know when the reports will be coming, judge. We’re not just going to willy-nilly prepare a report because Mr. Portella wants one,” Shim said.
Smith directed Shim and Portella to speak on March 4 to see if any reports would be available by then leading up to the March 5 detention hearing.
“If you still don’t have reports by Tuesday the 4th, I don’t want everybody spinning their wheels and have a repeat of today. If we need to bump it out for another week, we will,” Smith said of the possibility of rescheduling the hearing even later.
Portella disclosed to Smith that Neri intends to plead not guilty and will claim self-defense in the shooting.
Shim responded by saying that Neri had not yet made any statements to investigators to back up his claims that he acted in self-defense.
“If self-defense is where he is going, and the state is anticipating that, then of all the people who are on this planet, here is the person who would be the source of that information,” Shim said of Neri.
Shim’s remarks prompted Portella to note that he intends to protect Neri’s Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination and wouldn’t rush to have him testify.
“I know Mr. Shim was maybe chomping at the bit to hear the story from my client, but that’s not happening,” Portella said.
The Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office said in a Feb. 13 news release that statements from two people present at the time of the shooting indicated that an argument between Neri and Falciani escalated into the fatal shooting at the East Cresse Avenue home.
A single gunshot was heard, and witnesses discovered Falciani lying at the top of the staircase, according to the release. Neri was found in the living room with a gun in his jeans pocket when police arrived, the prosecutor’s office said.
Lifesaving measures were attempted, but were unsuccessful. Falciani, who was shot in the chest, was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
Neri has been charged with murder, child endangerment and a weapons offense. He remains in custody in the Cape May County Correctional Facility.
An affidavit of probable cause says that while in jail, Neri made multiple phone calls on Feb. 13 to a witness of the shooting and tried to convince her “of his version of the events leading up to the incident.”
“Neri tells (the witness) multiple times that he needs her to help him in an attempt to get her to change her interview and that if she doesn’t help him, he will be in prison for a long time,” the affidavit said.
The affidavit also said that the witness told Neri not to contact her, but he did so anyway. The name of the witness was redacted from the affidavit.
