Dr. Divyendu Sinha (1961 ~ 2010)

info@divyendusinha.com

Case history

Dr. Sinha Case Updates

June 25, 2010 - Dr. Divyendu Sinha, 49, a brilliant scientist was attacked and severely beaten near his home in Old Bridge, NJ on the night of June 25, 2010 by five teenagers; Dr. Sinha never regained consciousness and died in a hospital on June 28, 2010.
- All five proprietors of the crime were arrested immediately after the incident.
- The prosecutor asked that they be tried as "adult" and the judge agreed to that.
- All five were released on bail.
October 3, 2010 - Julian Daley, one of the defendants was rearrested on October 3, 2010 when he violated conditions of his bail by showing up Sunday afternoon at a pick-up football game on the grounds of theCarlSandburgMiddle School. Bail conditions require him — and the other four teenagers — to stay away from any school property as well as from all school functions and classes. In addition to staying off all school property, the bail conditions require the defendants to remain under house arrest between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Judge Bradley Ferencz took this violation seriously and raised his bail from $450,000 to $600,000, which was posted by his family.
April 2, 2011 - Julian Daley went to a basketball game at Veterans Park in Old Bridgeand got involved in a large brawl. He is alleged to have knocked down one person and trying to chock him. He was rearrested. The Assistant Public Prosecutor asked for bail revocation. The Judge increased the bail to one million dollars and stipulated that the $600,000
April 12, 2011 - Superior Court Judge Bradley Ferencz ruled that some text messages exchanged by the defendants can be used to show they conspired to hide their alleged roles in the "wilding" attack on April 13, 2011. He ruled 25 messages were admissible. At a future hearing he will rule on whether nine other messages and several Facebook entries can also be used against the teenagers.
June 9, 2011 - Superior Court Judge Bradley Ferencz ruled the statements to police by Steven Contreras linking him and four other teens to the killing of an Old Bridge man last June are admissible in his trial on June 9, 2011. Contreras told investigators on both days that his friends, Julian Daley, Chris Conway, Christian Tinli and Cash Johnson "were looking for a fight" as they cruised the township that night after drinking several bottles of malt liquor. The four teens allegedly punched Sinha to the ground and then fled.
Aug. 22, 2011 - Steve Altman, the attorney for Mr. Conway had filed a motion indicating that he was going to engage a neuro-radiologist to review the medical reports of the two hospitals where Dr. Sinha was treated. The judge had set 8/22/11 for a report on the progress. However, later on Mr. Altman decided not to use nuero-radiologist’s observations.
March 26, 2012 - Christian Tinli was arrested and charged with two counts of forgery and two counts of writing bad checks. On March 15, employees at the Old Bridge Check Cashers store on Englishtown Road reported a man tried to cash two U.S. Postal Service money orders made out to himself.
April 10, 2012 - Jury selection began on Tuesday in Superior Court.Testimony could begin as early as Friday(4/13) in the trial of Steven Contreras. The trial is expected to take about four weeks.
April 10, 2012 - Christian Tinli's lawyer, John Koufos, admitted fleeing the scene of an accident that left a teenage pedestrian seriously injured and then persuading an employee to take the blame. He will no longer represent Tinli in this trial. Attorney Joseph Mazraani today told Superior Court Judge Bradley Ferencz that he has been talking with Tinli’s family for two months about taking the case, and the family has been seeking a loan to cover legal fees. However, the family won’t know about the loan until the end of April. Ferencz ordered Tinli to file an application for a public defender, but won’t have a lawyer appointed until next month to determine if Mazraani is taking the case.
April 12, 2012 - The second day of jury selection in the trial of one of five co-defendants accused of fatally beating an Old Bridge man ended with a testy exchange between defense attorney Hassen Abdellah and state Superior Court Judge Bradley J. Ferencz after three of seven potential jurors dismissed by Abdellah appeared to be of Indian descent.
April 13, 2012 - Alka Sinha’s testimony this afternoon followed opening statements before Superior Court Judge Bradley Ferencz. During an afternoon of dramatic and emotional testimony today, Sinha, 47, recounted the events of June 25, 2010, when, authorities say, four Old Bridge teenagers on the prowl for someone to hurt attacked Divyendu Sinha as he walked with his family toward their home on Fela Drive.
April 17, 2012 - Casey Raymond testified that before the assault on the Sinhas, she was at a local schoolyard with the co-defendants and overheard Tinli tell Johnson that he “was looking to ‘F’ somebody up” as he punched his right fist into his open left hand.
April 19,2012 - Anthony Martino testified how he was followed by Steven Contreras and four other teens as he drove to pickup with a friend that night. Martino’s testimony potentially shows Contreras acting as more than a mere driver that night because Martino testified that Contreras accompanied the other four defendants in pursuing him that night. Under New Jersey law, defendants can be liable for the acts of others when the consequences of their actions are reasonably foreseeable and are a natural consequence of their conspiracy with others.
April 20, 2012- Sgt. Paul Miller testified about his investigation, which included an audio interview with Contreras on June 26, 2010, during which Contreras detailed the events of the previous evening. On the tape, Contreras is heard telling investigators that the other four co-defendants in his car talked of “looking around to see if they could find people to get into a fight” and how Daley said he was “looking to ‘F’ somebody up."
April 24, 2012- In the videotaped statement, Contreras outlined to investigators how he watched from a distance as the four co-defendants attacked what he said he initially thought was another group of kids. “I never saw the family,” said Contreras, who told investigators that he knew his friends were “going to ‘F’ them up.” Contreras also told investigators that he “knew something bad was going to happen” as he pulled up the car at an intersection on Fela Drive, where the Sinha family was walking.
April 25, 2012- Four co-defendants accused in fatal beating of Old Bridge man revealed to jurors. They stopped in front of the jurors, many of whom looked startled, and Miller identified them as Contreras's co-defendant.
April 26, 2012- Gilmurray, a computer forensics specialist from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, testified about literally hundreds of text messages that were deleted by the co-defendants in the days immediately before and after the attack on the Sinhas
May 1, 2012 - The prosecution says Steven Contreras is a murderer who acted as the “master of ceremonies” when he drove around with four other teens who fatally beat a man taking a late-night stroll with his family in Old Bridge on June 25, 2010.
May 4, 2012 - With unanimous decisions reached on nine of 10 counts, the jury in the murder trial of Steven Contreras is expected to announce its final verdict when it returns to Superior Court on Monday.
May 7, 2012 - Steven Contreras was convicted this afternoon on conspiracy charges, three counts of aggravated assault and hindering the apprehension of others.
Nov 27, 2012 - Steven Contreras Pleads Guilty to 2nd Degree Reckless Manslaughter in a Plea Bargain Deal.
Feb. 7, 2013 - Daley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, aggravated manslaughter and — in an unrelated case — aiding the burglary of his neighbor’s house.
July 30,2013 - Christopher Conway pleads Guilty to Aggravated Manslaughter in a Plea Bargain Deal
August 14, 2013 - Alka Sinha, wife of Dr. Sinha, testified in court, stating that she recognized one of the defendants, Christian Tinli, from a preliminary hearing in 2010
August 15, 2013 - An Old Bridge police officer testified in court today, stating that the elder son of Dr. Sinha, Aashish, recognized the defendant Julian Daley from high school, and conveyed that information to police while being questioned the night of the incident
September 30, 2013 - Jury acquits Cash Johnson and Christian Tinli of all major charges, finding them guilty of only simple assualt.