No Appeal for Weehawken Officer who Beat Black Teen to Death

The state Supreme Court has ruled that it will not hear an appeal of the sentence of former Weehawken Police Officer Alejandro Jaramillo, who was convicted in the beating death of a Union City teenager, authorities said. Former Weehawken Police Officer Alejandro Jaramillo was convicted on May 1, 2006 of assaulting Jose Luis Ives Jr. in front of the boy's Union City home in July 2003 while off-duty. In July 2006 he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

In August a state appellate court upheld the sentence following Jaramillo's appeal in which he claimed the trial judge made mistakes when giving instructions to the jury. He also argued his sentence was excessive. The appeals court rejected those arguments. Witnesses said Jaramillo, who was off-duty at the time, punched Ives several times after a dispute involving Jaramillo's car. The boy suffered a fractured skull and died several days later. Jaramillo was sentenced to eight years in prison on the assault count, plus seven more years for filing false reports on the incident. The jury acquitted him of manslaughter.

The state Supreme Court said it would not take up the case in court papers filed on Nov. 19. [MORE]