FREEHOLD - About six weeks after a Monmouth County jury convicted Brookdale Community College honors student Raquel Garajau in the murder of her pot dealer, an alternate juror came forward with allegations of juror misconduct.
“I believe that (defendant) did not receive a fair and impartial trial by fair and impartial jurors, the alternate juror wrote in an email to Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley, who presided over Garajau’s 2018 trial.
That information was revealed Tuesday in a decision by appellate judges rejecting Garajau’s appeal of her conviction in the murder of marijuana dealer Trupal Patel.
The appellate judges, upholding Garajau’s conviction, dismissed her claim of juror misconduct as well as 10 other arguments seeking a new trial.